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THE
/^/ "^^r
ORIGINAL
Secession Magazine
Vi\\-'\b
flew Series.
VOLUME XIX.
I « • • »
• - • - » • '
< t . *
• « ■
k * • •
EDINBURGH ; ROBERT ROBERTSON, 35 Lutton Place.
GLASGOW : DAVID BRYCE & MORISON BROTHERS.
MDCCCXC.
THE tv:>V \'¥K
PUBLIC LIBPARY
94061V
ASr'^'". LFNOX AND
TILD.- N FO"N OATIONS
Coi^an (fc Co., Limited, Gmeral Printers, Perth.
. • ' • •
^ f
« • •
INDEX
The Papera printed in Italics are for the Young,
A PAQX
AVJoenoe, Total, 831
k<. tjonta, Treasarer's . . . . 227. 655
Ai'i 10 lAteUeciaal W'ork, B«Uglon as an 504
\ ken, In Memory of Mr. W. f . (Poetry) 596
Ai>2rev Lang on George Wiabart . . 52Q
i New Volume 1
\ Wonl for the Saffeiing 824
B
'i^^i TreoiHrtf The 3S5
5 V< Qautiona 47, 108, 175. 289, 831, 404
487, 545, 606, 719, 772, 827
i Mical Id«a of the State, The 3, 71, 1S7, 298
r nb{)laee of KnoXf The 165
i^t^sed hi Christ. The Kationi .. .. 506
t 9 in Chunk, Th* Restless .. ..113
'I Holders and Collectors, List of 857, 782
'''"ihi, John .. 180
Laciianan, Creozge .. .. .. .. 799
O
^ -^^cbiama of the Keformatlon . . 66, 120
• rind Provinces of India . . . . 883
' ' '''i^en, Strmous to Ihe .. . . 48, 291
< nritiaa Ufe, Words for the 361, 428, 489
* ^ristlan Socialism .. .. 452,528
< ar^-tiaa Growth 721
' burcb of Scotland iiM a Liturgy, Did
^ ., 807
■ /T*pa»umi to th€ Heavenly World 110, 177
333
'oreelhis 438
''-•i-r^, Kftp hsrtoJter 51
'cren&nt, A Personal 595
D
WTiaity of Christ, Paul and ..576
L»ati88, Our Pontion and its . . 729
^fta^dhtrY(n^Ilg,Th^ 407
Ecciaisstlcal InteUlgence 62, 124, 188, 292
S48, 428, 488, 560, 618, 719, 780, 841
\vsQS«Uim 293
^"•^nifelistte Work 819
ino^iiitic Wosk : ita Weakness and
Stwigth , .. 820
F
S l'^i^UmJ>,A 608
^ Hrtim Mtnionary : His Work and Mo-
f V V\7^ W
i; '"reign Hisdoo, Our 46, 100, 186, 325, 468
542,604,835
G PAOK
Gambling .. * 421
George Buchanan 799
George Wishart, Mr. Andrew Lang on 520
Glorious Return, The 8Srt
Grandma's Tunes (Poetry) . . . . 174
Growth, Christian 721
H
Hebrew Prophecy 6tW, 744
Highlands, The Beligion of the 25, 00, 15S
312, 395, 535, 573, 792
House Inspection. A .. ,. 20, 80
Hymns in Public Worship, Psalms and
586, 747
I
Idea of the SUte, The Biblical S, 71, 137, 298
India, Central Provinces of .. .. 8:33
Inspection, A House .. .. 20,30
Invalid, Letter to an 17s
J
James Smellle, Edinburgh, Letter of
the late 328
John Bright .. .. 180
K
Keep her to her Course 51
Knox, The Birthplace of 105
li
LiTBRATURB —
Memoir of Dr. William Robertson . . 64
Irisli Protestants and Unionist Leaders 59
Eassiys on Sacred Subjrtcta .. ..114
Bible Class Handbooks—
("hrifitian Conception of God .. 117
Exodus: A Commentary :. .. JMl
St. John's CJospel 417
Church and State 7(UJ
History of First Reformed Presby-
terian Congregation 119
Devout Breathings of a Pious Soul . . 120
Mr. Parlane's Bundle 121
Perfectionism 122
The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit .. ISl
Bible Class Primers-
Historical Connection between Old
and New Testament . . 183
An Exposition of the Shorter Cate-
chism 419
The Seven Churches of Asia . . 612
The Life of Abraham 766
The New Movement in Free Church 184
Tales of Science 338
«•
"A
IV
INDEX.
PAQK
The Prophdt Jonah 340
Oar Children for Christ 340
SermonB 312
Keglster of Ministers, etc., St. Andrews 415
aiimpaes of Christ 488
The Church Standing of the Children i88
What I saw of India and iU People . . 6-18
Katherine Von Bora 54tt
History of the Westminster Assembly 611
The Yonng Mann Text Book . . . . 612
The Gospel in Great Britain .. .012
The Revelation of John . . 770
The New Apologetic 838
Dr. Elmslie 839
Lamft, A FolcUd 608
Letter, Pastoral 87
Letter of the late Rev. J. Smellie .. 323
Letter from Mrs. Blakely 327
Letter from China 329
Letter to the Editor 613
Lig^htkouse, The 829
Liturgy, Did the Church of Scotland
USB a 807
Lo^ can tic, ii^/tat a 610
M
l^Urk Guy Peat^e told us. IVhat Afr. . . 411
Mission, Our Foreign 45, 100, 186, 325, 468
542. 604, 835
Missionary, The Foreign : His Work and
Motive :>()
Missionary to the New Hebrides : John
G. Paton , 14r
N
Nations Blessed in Christ, The . . . . 596
New Scotch Theology, Thoughts on 513, 566
New \olume, A 1
Note, Editorial 776
Notes by the Way .. . . 59, 344, 420, 776
Notes on Recent Synods and Assemblies
194, 010
o
Obituaries .. 355, .151, 781, 843
Ordination Charges 47"i, 7.'>7
Outlook, The 425
P
Pastoral Letter 87
Paton, John U., 2hIiBsionary to the New
Hebrides 145
Paul and the Divinity of Christ . . . . 576
Personal Covenant, A 595
Position, and it» duties, Our 729
Power from on High .. 367, 390
Prophecy, Hebrew . . /OO. 744
Psalms and Hymns in Public Worship
580, 749
Q
Questions, Bible 47, 103, 175, 289, 381, 404
437, 545, G06, 719, 772, 827
R PAOJC
Readings in First Samuel 498, 563, 737. 735
Reformation, Catechism of the . . 66, 129
Religion of the Highlands, The 25, 90. 158
312, 396, 535, 673, 792
Religion as an aid to Intellectual Work 504
Reports —
Foreign Mission Committee .. 237,690
Home Mission and Congregational
Committee 253,684
Public Questions Committee .. 261,701
Magasine 275.609
Hall 277,672
Temperance 281,676
Finance 065
Restless Boy in Church, The (Poetry) . . 113
Return, The Glorious 386
Revolution Settlement, The 11
Revolution Period and Some of its Results
1.V2
8
Sabbath School Teacher and His Work 459
Samuel, Readings in First 498, 653, 737, 785
Seraphim and their Service, The . • 371
Sertftans to the Chiidfen .. 48, 291
Settlement, The Revolution .. 11
Sfunu'f'inkes, ike Three .. 112
Socialism. Christian .. 4.V2, 52S
State, The Biblical Idea of the 3, 71, 137, 298
Suffering, A Word for the (Poetry) . . 324
Synod Meeting 201,630
Sy nodical Committees 1889-90 .. ..225
„ 1890-91 .. .. 05S
Teacher, The Sabbath School, and His
Work 459
Thoughts on the New Sootch Theology 513
6(«>
Three Snmv'Flake*, The ll'J
Total Abstinence ^31
7 reasure, J he Bet t .. .. .. 3; 5
Tunes, Grandma's (Poetry) .. 174
V
Volume, A New 1
W
Wilderness made a Garden, The . . 441
It^tHter . . . . . . . 4S7
Wishart, Mr. Andrew Lang on George .^20
Word for the Suffering, A (Poetry) . . 3'i4
Words for the Christian Life 361, 428, 4 SO
Work, Evangelistic 319
Work, Evangelistic: its Weakness and
Strength 820
li^'hat Mr, Mark Guy Pearse told «i . . 41 1
Whit a Look can do 610
Young.^ The Eagle and her
407
THE
ORIGINAL SECESSION MAGAZINE
JANUARY, 1889.
A NEW VOLUME.
With our New Year's greetings to our readers, we begin a new
volume. Let it be with the prayer that God may guide us all in the
unknown future to which we are looking forward, and enable us to
do something for the advancement of His cause of truth and righteous-
ness. From the past, as we may glance at it for a moment, there
may come to us memories of failures and shortcomings, but even
these have lessons that may do us good. It is by '' rising on the
stepping-stones of our dead selves to higher things " that we make
the most assured progress. We must indeed " forget the things that
are behind " in the way of not allowing the burden of conscious guilt
to hinder our onward running, but leaving it with Him whose blood
deanseth us from all sin. Still, we must carry forward with us the
lessons which have been divinely taught us in our past experience,
and apply them to our every-day life and work.
If we are to do God's work, the first thing to be attended to is that
self-caltare which the Christian religion demands of us. The tree
most be made good if it is to bear good fruit. Paul's injunction to
Timothy, as a labourer in God's vineyard, is full of meaning in this
connection. " Take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine." Unless
we are diligently cultivating the Christian habits of thought and
feeling, our external work, whatever it may be, will not much help
the cause of the Gospel. It is what we are that gives its measure of
influence to what we do. . The question of personal sanctification is
one that needs to be kept in the front. It is the godly one whom
NO. I. VOL. XIX. A MEW SERIES.
2 A NEW VOLUME.
the Lord sets apart for Himself, and uses for the ODcarrying of His
work. A full surrender to Christ is far more important than great
gifts. The meanest gifts laid unreservedly on Christ's altar — ^put
entirely at His disposal — will accomplish wonders, where the most
brilliant gifts, apart from the entire consecration, will utterly fail.
What .the world needs for its regeneration is Christ-like men and
women, bearing living witness to the supernatural, and to the mighty
power of God's grace to save and transform. In the insidious attack
made upon evangelical religion in the recent novel, " Robert Elsmere,"
it is significant that we have no representative of the out-and-out
Christian. The gifted authoress portrays with great skill many
characters, but this one — ^that of the thorough devoted follower of
Jesus, as a divine Saviour — seems to be beyond her reach. " The intel-
lectual spirit of the age, the agnostic, sceptical, and liberal shades of
opinion, and even blank indififerentism, all have their representatives,
who present their case in the strongest light. Not so with the evan*
gelical belief. It has no representative." This incapacity of the
authoress, intellectually gifted though she be, to throw herself into
the situation of the evangelical believer, destroys the strength of all
her subtle arguments against a supernatural Christianity.
The appearance of such a work, and the position it has gained
reminds us too plainly that the battle of the Faith is not yet won.
Alas ! the attacks upon it are not confined to the ranks of the open
rejecters of a historical and supernatural Christianity. In the current
number of a religious periodical widely read, we find these words :
'' The grpat struggle of the next few years, the first note of which is
already sounding, will be over the question of Inspiration. The old
mechanical theory which regarded the Bible from Genesis to Revela-
tion as equally inspired, equally infallible, and equally authoritative
throughout, ignoring every difficulty of textual criticism, science, and
morality, has long since been crumbling away, and as yet no wider
and fuller conception has arisen to take its place. All that many of
us could assert at present from personal conviction would be that the
Bible contains the record of God's gradual revelation to the world,
but that His revelation is not cooped within the covers of the Book,
and that it is not yet accomplished ; and with the poet who has ex-
pressed the secret feelings of so many struggling toward the light,
we say :
" God is not dumb that He shonld speak no more ;
If thoa hast wanderings in the wilderness
And find'st not Sinai, 'tis thy soul is poor ;
There towers the mountain of the Voice no less . . .
THE BIBLICAL IDEA OF THE STATE. 3
Slowly the Bible of the race is writ,
And Dot on paper leaves, or leaves of stone :
Each age, each kindred adds a verse to it,
Texts of despair or hope, of joy or moan."
The present age seeks thus to he mse above what is written, and the
very foundations of the faith are assailed. It needs a living Chris-
tianitjy based upon a spiritual insight into divine truth, to withstand
these assaults coming both from without and from within. Intel-
lectual argumeots may be overthrown, but this spiritual insight will
remain unshaken amid their wreck.
We take our stand here upon the " old paths " of an inspired, in-
fallible Bible ; and a Bible meant for men's guidance in their corporate
ci^Mcity as communities and nations, as -well as in their individual
capacity. It would be our aim to flash the light of heaven that
shines through the old, yet ever fresh book, upon the questions that
are pressing upon the minds and hearts of men. Our faith in its
God-given power to realise it« own great ideal of the kingdoms of this
world being transformed iuto the kingdoms of our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ, we would cherish and foster. The look of Providence
may- sometimes be trying to this faith, and suggest questions it may
be difficult to answer. But resting it upon the sure promises, it can
bid our reason wait for the eiplanation of the mystery that may
encompass the state of things around us. We may say what the
sweet- voiced American poet sings to the friend who asked him some
baffling questions about these things :
** I have no answer for myself or thee
Save that I learned beside my mother's knee.
' All is of Qod that is, and is to be;
And Qod is good.' Let this suffice us still ;
Resting in childlike trust upon His will
Who moves to His great ends an thwarted by the ill."
THE BIBLICAL IDEA OF THE STATE
IV. sooiALiSM — continued,
Wi have glanced at the Socialism that has Atheism for its basis, and
the overthrow of all existing order, and of all order with divine
authority behind it^ for its object. We have sought to show that it
is founded on ideas of social and civil organisation utterly subversive
4 THE BIBLICAL IDEA OF THE STATE.
of those laid down in God's Word. But there is a Socialism of a
different stamp. It may find fault with the existing order of things,
and may pass condemnation upon States for not undertaking many
. things, but it does not place itself in opposition to all public organised
authority, nor does it seek to effect the changes which it desires by
means of violence. It rather regards its mission as the education
of States into the right idea of their province, and the stirring of
them up to do that work which in the progress of the human race
they ought to discharge. It insists that if its principles were
adopted, and applied to the arrangements of society and the adminis-
tration of the State's functions, abounding social and commercial
evils would be remedied. It manifests keen sympathy with those
who suffer in any way from these evils, and in this way wins many
adherents both from among them, and from among those whose
hearts are touched ^ith their sad condition. It is true that mauy of
these adherents are indifferent to religion and even antagonistic to it|
but yet there are others who claim for their views the sanction of the
Christian religion. While Communism and Atheism are inseparably
joined together, it is not necessarily so with Socialism. And even in
Atheistic Communism there may be discerned a blind longing for a
re-construction of the social life on an essentially Christian basis, in
which consideration for others, and not selfish greed and avarice,
will be the regulating principle. " Between the good and evil in
modem Socialism," as an American writer has recently pointed out,
'Mt is difficult to discriminate. A movement which involves
principles so divergent and even antagonistic as those of the Christian
socialists of England on the one hand, repi'esented by such prophets
of a noble social life as Maurice and Hughes, and those of the
Anarchists on the other hand, represented by such extravagants as
J^is^e, Reclus, and Prince Krapotkine, cannot be justly characterised
in a single paragraph. Yet the candid student of our national life,
who measures currents, not by the driftwood they carry on their
surface, but by the direction which they take, will hardly question
James Russell Lowell's interpretation of the phenomena of modem
Socialism. Socialism means, or wishes to mean, co-operation and
community of interests, sympathy ; the giving to the hands, not so
large a share as to the brain, but a larger share than hitherto in the
wealth they must combine to produce ; means, Sn shorty the practical
application of Christianity to life, and has in it the secret of an
orderly and benign re-construction." This needs to be qualified by
the statement that in many cases it means no doubt the application
of what are really Christian principles, but the application of them
apart from Christianity, and with a rejection of its teaching.
THE BIBLICAL IDEA OF THE STATE. 5
Martenaen in his masterly and intensely interesting work on
"Social Ethics,'' divides Socialism into three distinct classes —
the Utopian^ the dream of a perfect society that has found embodi-
ment in certain famous books — the Rewdutionary^ which we may
identify with Communism as we have sought to describe it — and
Eikie to which he applies the term Christian, but not without laying
himself open to challenge — which seeks by means of benevolence,
State assistance, and the development of self-help, to ameliorate the
outward condition of men so as to make their moral and spiritual
development the easier. It is, of course,, this last kind of Socialism
in its relation to the State, and the demands which it makes upon it,
that specially comes before us. The subject is thus very much
narrowed, and the question we have to face really is : '' What theory
of the State's functions underlies the demands of Socialism of this
kind, and is it, or is it not, in harmony with the teaching about them
found in our Bibles \ "
Let us inquire, then, into the theory of the State's functions that
underlies these Socialistic tenets and demands. It is not easy to
make a broad generalisation from tenets and demands so varied in
their character, but we may say that they all rest upon the idea that
the State is not only bound to look after the rights of individuals, but
to secure them by active interference in their behalf against all that
endangers them. In this idea, as has been said, " there are assumed
as postulates the ignorance of the individual and the omniscience of
the Grovemment The Government on this view is, therefore, bound,
not simply to abstain from malicious interference with private enter-
prises, not simply so to adjust taxation that all interests may receive
equitable treatment, but positively to exercise a fatherly care over
each and every branch of production, aud even to take many of them
into its own hand. All organisations of private capital are regarded
with suspicion ; they are at best tolerated, not encouraged." Great
reliance is put upon State aid and interference, in the removal of evils
that are injuring the social organism. In this may be discerned a
reaction from the old laisseifaire policy advocated by Adam Smith
in his " Wealth of Nations," and which, ever since the publication of
that epoch-making book, has wielded immense influence. In this policy
the State was forbidden to interfere with the liberty of individuals or
corporations, but was asked to leave them as free as possible to
pursue a development in harmony with their own nature and
teodency. It fulfilled its proper function in taking a general super-
vision, and in seeing that each received justice at the hands of the
other ; but when it entered into the sphere of their action, and inter-
6 THE BIBLICAL IDEA OF THE Sl'ATE.
fered in any way with their freedom, it passed beyond its legitimate
province, and its interference would only issue in harm.
It is curious to note in connection with this, how histoiy in politi-
cal action aa in other things, moves in a circle. The governments of
ancient nations were " unrestrained by any conceptions of individual
liberty; and they specified men's actions to an unlimited extent — down
to kinds of food eaten, modes of preparing them, shaping of beards,
fringing of dresses, sowing of grain, dec. This omnipresent control
whicli the ancient Eastern nations in general exhibited, was exhibited
also in large measure by the Greeks, and was carried to its greatest
pitch in the most militant city, Sparta. Similarly during raediseval
days throughout Europe, characterised by chronic warfare with its
appropriate political forms and ideas, there were scarcely any bounds
to governmental interference. Agriculture, manufacture, trade were
regulated in detail ; religious beliefs and observances were imposed ;
and rulers said by whom alone furs might be worn, silver used,
books issued, pigeons kept, &o. &c" With the rise of industrial
activity, and the consequent withdrawal of attention from military
matters, it came to be felt that this constant irritating interference was
working mischief. Moreover, the new conception of individual freedom
which had been formulated in the Reformation struggle, and of which
the people had got a firm hold, made the old regime impossible. It
was this movement toward individual freedom — toward the right of
the citizen to uncontrolled action so far as consistent with public
safety — that found embodiment in the famous book of our distinguished
countryman. The theory there laid down formed the principles on
which our legislation acted for many years. But now the pendulum
has swung somewhat round to the other side. The material progress
which sprang from industrial activity did not remove all evils. It
soon gave rise to a class of evils which pressed heavily on the con-
sciences of men. It was felt that something must be done by the nation
to remove or mitigate them ; that in their presence the old policy of
latssezfaire would not do; and that for the purpose of preventing
and curing them, restraints must be put on individual liberty, and
the management of some departments of the social life taken in hand
by the State itself. As a concrete example of this we may instance
our Poor Laws, in which the administration of relief to the poor is
lifted from the shoulders of individuals or corporations, whether
spiritual or civil, and undertaken by State agency. The tendency
towards this govenunent interference has been of late years, and is
uuw, very strong The view is, that while past governments may
have failed in acting after this fashion, it has been because they have
not been democratic enough-— have not been sufficiently in touch
THE BIBUCAL IDEA OF THE STATE. 7
vith the people. To use the pitby expressive ^orda of Herbert
Spencer : ** The great political superstition of the past was the
dirine right of kings. The great political superstition of the present
is the divine right of parliaments. The oil of anointing seems im-
awares to have dropped from the head of the one on to the heads of
the many, and given sacredness to them also and to their decrees."
Let but Parliament act as thej wish, they who advocate this Socialism
tell us, and evils that at present afflict society would to a large extent
disappear. We are told that the conflict between capital and labour
will cease, when the State itself becomes the great Capitalist and
takes national industries under its direct management and control.
The promise is given that all evils connected with the land will
greatly diminish, if not altogether disappear when private ownership
is abolished, and the State becomes the sole owner. The nationalisa-
tion of the land is brought forward as a sure panacea for all the poverty
and distress that now exist.
Many of these matters have an economic aspect, the discussion of
which does not lie within the scope of this article. What we are
concerned with, is the theory of the State underlying the demand
for this interference — a theory, which virtually brings the State into
the same relation to its subjects, as the father to the child unable to
care for itself — a theory, in which the action of the State is regarded
as able to work'almost any reformation. Our criticism of it from the
standpoint we have reached in our investigation into Bible teaching,
may be given in a few concluding observations.
It may sound like a truism, but it is one that needs to be
emphasised, that legislation cannot accomplish everything. In civil
government God has put a fence around man's nature to restrain
those evils which if not checked would soon ruin society, and help
him outwardly to the formation of a good character. But all this
help by itself cannot secure this good character in its subject, which,
after all, is the indispensable condition of prosperity and progress.
If there were real goodness in our employers of labour and in those
employed by them, in the proprietors of land and their tenants, the
adjustment of the difference between them would not be a difficult
matter. If selfishness and selfHseeking could be supplanted in their
hearts and lives by love and mutual consideration, the antagonisms
between them that do so much injury and entail so much suffering
would soon die away. These antagonisms are due to faults on both
sides, but perhaps the balance of blame lies on the side of the rich.
A recent writer has said : " The enemies of society are those selfish
rich men and women who owe all they have to it, and who refuse to
acknowledge the debt. I have met in my day with rich and poor,
8 THE BIBLICAL IDEA OF THE STATE.
and I have come to the conclusion that if comparisons are to be
made the rich as a class are worse than the poor. They are certainly
more to be blamed. Agur was right. Poverty is a danger to
character, but the possession of wealth is a greater danger. For it
is a greater evil to deny God than to steal. The degraded poor
threaten society but the degraded rich are the real source of danger."
After telling us in his French Revolution what it meant to be a sans-
culotte or a sans-potato, Carlyle says : " Wherefore .... among
the first inferences this — that if the gods of this lower world will sit
on their glittering thrones, indolent as Epicurus gods, with the
living chaos of igoorance and hunger weltering uncared for at their
feet, and smooth Parasites preaching ' Peace, peace,' when there is
no peace, then the dark chaos, it would seem, will rise — has risen ;
and,, oh heavens ! ka$ it not tanned their skins into breeches for itself f
That there will be no second sans-culottism in our earth for a
tbousaud years, let us understand well what the first was, and let
rich and poor of us go and do otherwise** But ere they will do
otherwise they must be imbued with these holy principles of love
and mutual consideration. When our national poet spoke of a time
when men should be brothers all over the world, what he meant was
not the impossible dream of an equal distribution of all possessions
and gifts, but the social recognition of true manhood, in spite of class
distinctions, wherever it was found — '' the extending of the area of
thb noble manhood through the ape and the tiger dying out of
humanity, and the exchange of individual and natural selfishness for
mutual consideration, and a passion for the common advancement."
In so far as socialism is leavening society with these principles it is
doing a good work, and striking at the very root of abounding evils.
But it is Christianity alone which can overcome and eradicate this
natural selfishness, and build up the character on a basis on unselfish
love. The State can do something in the way of removing external
hindrances, but after all very little. The philosophy of Goldsmith's
Traveller looks very simple but contains a good deal of wisdom.
*' How small of aU that hnman hearts endnre
That part which laws or kings can cause or cure."
Nor must we forget that the removal of all sufiering in the
present state of human nature would be a questionable good. The
divine mission of pain and suffering is a subject which has attracted
many minds from the days of Job down to our own. Perhaps there
are no ministries that really accomplish so much good as those of
pain, though they present so stem and forbidding an aspect. Much
of the suffering that falls upon men is curative and educative, and
THE BIBLICAL IDEA OF THE STATE. ^
bj its remoyal there would be taken away a means of raoitil elevation.
The idea of remoYing all suffering, while sin remains, is a defiance of
Heaven's ordinance, which attaches suffering of some kind to sin as
its penalty, and by which suffering is made to reveal the hatefulness
and the evil of siu. In the furnace of pain some of the noblest
characters our world has ever witnessed have been fashioned. In
saying this, I must not be understood as justifying the suffering to
which many are subjected through the inhumauity of their fellow-
men — through withholding from them a just share of the profits,
reaped by their hard labours, or through depriving them in any way
of means of subsistence and self-culture to which they are justly
entitled. The capitalist is laying up in store suffering for himself
and his class, when he selfishly enriches himself at the terrible ex-
pense of the poverty and degradation of those whom he employs. A
time of retribution will come, for the groans of them that are^
oppressed enter into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. The effort to
remove the causes of the suffering thus arising should ever be made,
and we are convinced that nothing but the balm of the Gospel will
effectually heal the sore. Even suffering that flows directly from
evil-doing, and not from the oppression of others, is not to be
calmly and unfeelingly contemplated without any effort to mitigate
or heal it The beautiful words of Whittier are well worthy of being
deeply pondered.
*' The interests of the rich and poor
Axe one and same, inseparable evermore ;
And when scant wage or labour fail to give
Food, shelter, raiment, wherewithal to live,
Need has its right, necessity its claim.
Yea, even self -wrought misery and shame,
Test well the charity sufifering long and kind."
But while all this is true, it must be remembered that so long a4S.
there is sin among men, there will be suffering. The removal of all
suflfering while sin remained would not be a boon but a curse. The
subordination of suffering to moral and spiritual purposes, is an aim
as lofty as the mitigation or removal of the suffering itself.
And we may say further, that there is danger in allowing Govern-
ment interference to be carried too far. The State ought to provide
its subjects with every external advantage it can give for the develop-
ment of their character, and ought to hold the balance of justice
even between individual and individual, class and class, and corpora-
tion and oorporation, so that none hinder the free development of the
other. But to give it a control over the inner working of individual
lO THE BIBLICAL IDEA OF THE STATE.
domestic or corporate life, and the right to interfere as it pleases, is
to yield a power, the exercise of which will be fraught with mischief.
As Dr. Candlish points out in the closing chapter of his admirable
book on the " Kingdom of God ; " " If it is the right and duty of the
State to protect the individual absolutely to the utmost of its power
from all that might injure him, then the State's function is identified
with that of the family ; and the State must have that entire con-
trol which parents have over their children under age. To this sys-
tem of paternal government it is an unanswerable objection that it is
'entirely destitute of that foundation in nature which parental
authority has ; since there is no form of government that has either
that superiority in wisdom over its subjects that parents have over
their children, or that natural affection that parents feel for their
-children. When something approaching to this has been found, as in the
socialistic organisation of the natives of Paraguay by the Jesuit fathers,
the result has been to keep the community in a state of continual pupil-
age. If, on the other hand, it be recognised that the strict and proper
function of civil society is not to protect the individual from all evil,
•as for instance, from natural calamities, or his own folly, but only
from the injustice of others ; then a definite line is drawn and the
freedom of the individual is guaranteed. The State may indeed,
through existing primarily for that end, undertake more ; but only
on the condition that it can do each thing it undertakes satisfactorily
without so relieving the individual of responsibility, as to pacralyze
his energy and power of development. What can be done in this
way must be a question of detail and circumstance in each case."
There is an essential difference, as is here indicated, between the
•ethics of the family, and the ethics of the State. The essential prin-
ciple of the family organisation is generosity or love ; the essential
principle of the State organisation is justice — the vigorous mainten-
•ance of those normal relations among citizens which are needful to
their free development. Hence it is that any attempt to reconstruct
society by legislation alone, must ultimately rest on force as a means
•of its operation — force supporting and enforcing what is supposed to
be justice. This condemns it to failure. Something higher and
more powerful than mere brute force must lie behind the social or-
ganisation that will be permanent and enduring. Such an organisa-
tion will be under the shadow of equitable and just laws, but it will
be sustained and held together by that Christian faith and love in
which is found the correction of human selfishness.
THE REVOLUTION SETTLEMENT. II
THE REVOLUTION SETTLEMENT.
By The Rfsy. Gboboe Ani>er80N, Coupar-Angus.
NoTHiiTG in the early aspect of our country portended the distinc-
tion which it was destined to attain. Tilted up amidst the ocean
waves, it lay remote from civilizing and Christianizing influences,
and was reckoned a region of dread and mysterious horror by
polished continental peoples. Its inhabitants roamed the woods, a
race of savages raised but a few removes above the beasts that
perish. But God out of materials thus utterly unpromising has
evolved a nation, which has proved the admiration and envy of
maDkind. Century after century has His eye been upon it for
good; no weapon formed against it has He permitted to prosper;
and its history is replete with records of His interpositions on its
behall He set in motion the machinery of His providence and
grace, for the redemption of its painted barbarians from the doleful
depths of degradation into which they had lapsed. He led the
Roman legions to their shores, and thereby impressed them with
traces of Roman manners, arts and letters. He sent them
missionaiies of the Cross, and by its sublime doctrines and lofty
morality elevated their minds and purified their hearts. Amazing
vaa the transformation thns effected upon those far-off forefathers of
ouTB. Restless and relentless warriors, they were converted into
peaceful and humane citizens. Druid devotees, they were trans-
muted into reverent recipients of the truth as it is in Jesus.
And when the Grospel light, which had beamed thus benignantly,
had been extinguished by the stifling vapours of the advancing
Mystery of Iniquity ; when clouds of error from the ancient schools,
and clouds of superstition from the ancient temples had enveloped
the Church, and the murky night of the middle ages had settled
down upon the land the Lord again interposed. He raised up John
Wicliffe and Patrick Hamilton as morning stars to relieve the dark-
ness, imtil the Reformation dawn began to touch the mountain tops
vith glory, and Latimer, Knox and others, as lustrous luminaries to
radiate around until its si/n reached its meridian splendour, and men
rejoiced in its unobstructed brightness. Further, when the for-
midable Armada constructed by Philip II. of Spain, and commis-
sioned by the Pope to extirpate Protestantism by force of arms, was
bearing down upon our coasts, and help from man appeared hope
leas, the Lord's arm was again uplifted for our deliverance. He sent
forth His tempest. The great ships were tossed like playthings
12 THE REVOLUTION SETTLEMENT.
upon the rolling billows. They were driven by adverse winds into
unknown seas. Thej were stranded in treacherous quicksands and
dashed in shivers on dangerous rocks. Thej were engulphed in tho
relentless waters, and the corpses of their warrior crews cast up by
the waves to lie and rot on the unconseerated sands that encircle our
island home. And marvellously gracious as were these Divine inter-
ventions on behalf of our nation, they were followed by another not
less gracious, even the glorious Revolution of 1688. To this
Revolution we invite your attention in our subsequent paper. We
ask you to consider it iu respect to the objects which it accomplished
and the obligations which it has entailed.
I. We will consider the Revolution in respect to the objects which
it accomplished. These may be summarized under the three
particulars, relief from civil tyranny, ecclesiastical intolerance, and.
Romish superstition and supremacy.
1st. The Revolution relieved us from civil tyranny, and installed
us in the exercise of representative government. Two systems of
govemmeut, the autocratic and the democratic, have down through
the ages divided the honours in the administration of the affairs of
men and nations. According to the autocratic system, rulers
obtain their authority direct from God, and are answerable only to '
God. To those, who have either been themselves called immediately
of God to govern, or who
" Can boast that they deduce their birth
From loins enthroned and rulers of the earth,"
belong alone the sceptres of majesty and the thrones of dominion.
Into the hands of such has the rod of sovereignty been committed,
and all are esteemed as chargeable with impiety to heaven, who dare
insult them in its exercise with the question, *' What doest thou 1 '^
According to the democratic system, the right and the responsi-
bility of government are vested by God, not in any one in-
dividual or family or class, but in the entire body of citi-
zens. Rulers are chosen by the people, from the people and for
the people. Though seated in the place of power, and wearing
the insignia of office, it is but a delegated authority which they
wield. They are bound to act in conformity to the laws, and if they
violate the constitution they are liable to be taken to task, deposed
as tyrants, and prosecuted like ordinary misdemeanants. This
democratic idea of government, the last four representatives of the
Stuart dynasty detested as the very abomination of desolation, while
the autocratic idea they adored with the most unbounded devotion.
THE REVOLUTION SETTLEMENT. 1 3
James the YI. wrote a book entitled the Basilicon Doron, which he
deemed the y&rj quintessence of political wisdom. He therein
taught as the very truth of God, that kings hold immediately of heaven
and role by Right Divine, and that all who oppose their prerogative
ought to be proceeded against as adversaries of royalty, and rebels
agunst the Most High. And what he thus academically expounded,
he, his son, and two grandsons endeavoured to practically- enforce.
They either abolished parliaments altogether, or else took care to
pack them with time-serving sycophants likely to act in their interests.
Thej treated the people as a nation of slaves, existing only as sub-
jects for taj^ation. Tbey passed Acts of Supremacy, by which they
declared the dominancy of the Right Divine over all other rights and
liberties whatever. They passed Acts Rescissory, by which they swept
away at a stroke all those bulwarks of the constitution, which had
been laboriously built up through the enlightened legislation of two
and twenty anxious years. And dreadfully despotic as were their
measures, the sanctions with which they enforced these measures
were even more dreadful. Any who ventiured to hint the propriety
of resistance, or to protest in terms however humble against the un-
constitutional character of their procedure, were promptly mulcted
in fines, silenced in dungeons, or judicially done to death. The ears
of thousands were ignominiously chopped off, their nostrils slit open,
their cheeks branded with burning irons, and they bearing the traces
of these brutal indignities exposed in derision in the pillory as con-
temners of the Divine Right. The bodies of hundreds rotted in
prisons fathoms beneath the ground, or lay unburied on the wilds,
vhere thej had fallen worn out by want and exposure. The heads
of not a few rolled upon scaffolds, because they would not dishonour
God and themselves, by bowing in obeisance to the idol of the Royal
Sapremacy. Blow upon blow thus fell upon our stricken land. Be-
fore it could recover from the effects of one stunning stroke another
more stunning was dealt against it. Its laws, its liberties, its parlia-
ment^ and its constitution, were all subverted, and a grim tyranny
with its terrible accompaniments of Star Chamber, branding irons,
and bloody scaffolds, erected in their room. It was an appalling
fitate of affairs. Was it destined to continue t Were we as a nation
doomed to groan for ever under a thraldom miserable as that of
Pharaoh, and be ground down under a bondage degrading as that of
Bomba) The Jameses and the Charleses answered — Yes ; but Jehovah
answered — No ; and the earthly prerogative was forced to yield to the
heavenly. The Lord had prepared William of Orange as His instru-
ment for the salvation of a sinking land. The liberator embarked
his army, arranged his fleet, bore away from the shores of Holland,
14 THE REVOLUTION SETTLEMENT.
and sailed right royally across the German Sea. The wind seemed
at his command, and shifted from quarter to quarter, as if to suit the
movements of his ships. He disembarked upon the English coast
without encountering any opposition. The haughty despot was con-
fouuded, and stole away under cloud of night to live a pensioner
upon a foreign prince, and die disgraced in a foreign country. Arbit-
rary tyranny was rolled from off our shores, constitutional liberty
established, and the days of absolute monarchy, so far as Britain was
concerned, numbered aud finished. How marvellous the contrasted
conditions. Free bom, we, as the result of the Revolution, are no
more obliged to bow to the behests of irresponsible legislators or ad-
ministrators. Free to use our Grod-given right of self government,
but not always in circumstances to actively fulfil its needful functions,
we select as representatives those whom we esteem worthiest and
fittest to govern. We empower them to enact for us equitable laws,
and administer them equitably, and render them in the exercise of
their authority a true and hearty obedience. We periodically review
their procedure, approve and retain them in their position, or disap-
prove, dismiss and replace them with others more in harmony with
our views of duty Godward and manward. Even the Sovereign
we accord not our loyal allegiance as reigning by inalienable
right. We simply localise in her one personality, the reigning
power diffused throughout the entire community, and own her
as holding the crown by our common consent^ for our common
advantage. Meditating upon the manner in which the Revolu-
tion was effected, and comparing the bitter tyranny from which
it relieved us, with the blessed liberty which it brought us, have
we not abundant reason to testify, '* This is the Lord's doing, aud
it is marvellous in our eyes."
2nd. The Revolution relieved us from ecclesiastical intolerance, and
reinstated us in liberty of conscience. We utter but the tritest of
aphorisms, when we say that God alone is Lord of the conscience.
Conscience is the creature of no earthly power or potentate, but is
heaven born and therefore freeborn. Its responsibility to God's
authority relieves it from responsibility to every lower authority, and
forbids any other being to come betwixt His bidding and its obeying.
It repudiates creature authority and creature judgment, and recog-
nises that it is its honourable and sacred prerogative to hold directly
of God Himself, and be answerable at His bar at its court of ultimate
appeal. Conscience thus sublimely free could not long co-exist in the
same country with a Sovereign Prerogative, which claimed supremacy
iu all matters civil and ecclesiastical. In the vezy nature of things
one or other must sooner or later give way. The devotees of the
THE REVOLUTION SETTLEMENT. 1 5
Bamlioon Doron, steeped to the lips iu Episcopacy, determined that,
not their Episcopal likings but liberty of conscience must go to the
wall This liberty of conscience found its embodiment and expression
in a church, as to form Presbyterian, as to worship adhering strictly
to the simplicity that is in Christ, and as to everything spiritual,
claiming an absolute independence of the secular power. A church
thas constituted, the emissaries of intolerance could not endure, but
towards its overthrow directed their operations. They obtruded
mitres upon the heads of a select few of its clergy, whom they found
subservient enough to wear them. They transformed its tables for
communion into altars for sacrifice. They imposed upon its ministers
liturgies to cbant and surplices to wear. They inhibited its General
Asaemhlj from meeting, and reared in its room a Court of High
Commission, for the arranging of all causes ecclesiastical. They passed
an act of uniformity, the stipulations of which were so insufferable,
that hundreds of its pastors were driven from their churches and
parishes. Mourning, lamentation and woe overspread the land, but
the throne of conscience continued unshaken. Banished from the
churches, pastors and people betook themselves to the fields. The
Toice of praise and prayer hallowed the wilds. Wooded dells and
fiolitary mountain caves were rendered vocal with the melody of
Paahns. Baptismal rites were administered with water taken from
the moorland bums. The communion of the supper was dispensed
and received in lonely spots far away in the wilderness. But not
CTen labouring under disabilities thus dreadful, would the ruling
bigots allow conscience to act uncoerced. They determined that the
recalcitrant people must be compelled to wait upon the ministrations
of the hireling curates, with whom they had replaced the extruded
pastors. They denounced field preachings as rendezvous for rebellion,
and ordered that all who frequented them be punished with confisca-
tion of property. These unrighteous edicts received the most rigor-
ous execution, and all ranks and classes writhed under the ruinous
oppression. More terrible severities followed. For a minister to
preach in the fields became death, and a price was set upon his head.
To be present at a field preaching in any capacity came to be con-
Btrued into a capital offence. Hordes of profligate ruffians from the
Highlands were brought down to terrorise the country, and rapine,
lost and murder rioted unrestrained. Blood and* murder filled the
hmd. The nation beheld the most venerated of its ministers hanged
like caitifisy the most patriotic of its nobles dragged to the block like
traitors and felons, the flower of its God-fearing peasantry shot down
apoQ the moors like dogs, and its venerable matrons and virtuous
maidens tied to sea-side stakes and drowned by the incoming tide.
1 6 THE REVOLUTION SEITLEMENT.
•
For eight and twenty years of persecution unparalleled, our devoted
^uceators held their point heroically. But there is a limit beyond
which human endurance cannot strain. The tension was then terrible
Had oppression reached its goal ? Had all that wealth of blood and
tears been spent for naught ? Was liberty to be dethroned in the
very citadel of its dominion? Was oonoience, God*s vicegerent
in the soul, to be trampled under foot by a despotic prince and a
tyrannous bench of bishops ? It seemed about to be but was not.
The Revolution, which redressed our civil wrongs, conserved for us
also our rights of conscience. Religious persecution was then sup-
pressed to be no more revived. Nonconformity to the state religion
ceafied from that date to be criminal. While our national churches
now exhibit features, which we as Seceders dare not in conscience
endorse, dissatisfied, we are free to retire and follow our own order
undisturbed. ' No dread of Star Chamber or Board of Inquisitors now
mars our devotions or causes our souls to cleave to the dust. No
shadow of brutal Claverhouse or relentless Dalziel, advancing with
dragoons to break up our assembly or butcher us in cold blood, now
darkens our spirits. No, protected by equitable laws, we may be
said religiously to sit under our own vine and fig-tree, none daring to
make us afraid. We can boldly avow opinions which our ante-Revolu-
tion fathers could only express at the risk of their lives, and un-
cliallenged make strictures upon errors and abuses, the making of
which would have coat them their heads. Contemplating the gulf of
contrast which obtains between our privileges aud their disabilities
may we not well exclaim : " What hath the Lord wrought ? The
Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad."
3rd. The Revolution, relieved us from Romish superstition and
supremacy, and re-established us in the enjoyment of Protestant
principle and ascendancy. The Papacy is neither a purely spiritual
nor a purely secular society. The secular element enters as largely
as the spiritual element into its constitution. It recognises the
jurisdiction of the Pope as but a synonym for the jurisdiction of
Christ, and teaches that all power and authority temporal and
spiritual alike are vested in the chair of St. Peter. It constitutes the
Pope the Vicar of Christ, and reckons him entrusted with all spiritual
power as Head of the Church, and with all temporal power as Head
over all things for its advantage. Spiritually it postures as the sole
repository of saving grace. It unlocks the gates of Paradise to all its
loyal children, and relegates to endless perdition all who disclaim its
exclusive prerogative. It recognises none as ministers of God's mercy
to their fellow-men but such as have received their ordination accord-
ing to its canons. Its baptism alone brings life to the dead in siu.
THE REVOLUTION SETTLEMENT. 1 7
Its consecrated communion bread alone confirms in grace and safety.
Its extreme unction alone enables the dying faithful to depart in
peace. Its holy water is the one specific, by which the wicked angels
may be irarded off the good man's grave. Its costly masses are the
only instrumentalities available for relieving the disembodied spirit
from the unknowa sufferings of the intermediate state. And not a
whit less impiously imperious are its temporal than its spiritual
assumptions. It deems the dictum of the Pope supreme in all matters
social and political. It declares that his decisions are to be withstood
bj none, but that he may annul those of all besides. It demands for
him the right to summon to his tribunal all causes whatever, from
the most momentous affairs of the mightiest empires down to the
minutest concern? of the meanest citizens. It denounces as blasphem-
ous the notion, that, apart from his bestowment any nation has any
right to appoint its own rulers, or administer its own government.
It supports him in challenging an absolute propriety in all kingdoms
as his dependencies, and in all monarchs as his vassals; and in launch-
ing his thunderbolts of anathema and excommunication against all
who dare dispute his Pontifical wilL Such Papal claims, deliciously
ridiculous as they may seem, we are not to regard as mere idle boasts
impossible of realization. History attests how energetically they have
been enforced, and how abjectly they liave been acknowledged. For
centuries in succession the Papacy wielded over the nfuids and con-
sciences and affairs of Christendom a dominion but little less absolute
uid all-enibracing, than that of the Omnipotent, Omniscient, and
Omnipresent Himself. To the Pope, by his legates, inquisitors, and
confessionals, all but every purpose and thought disposition and
affection of all men and bodies of men, was virtually disclosed, and
bj his ghostly and material terrors brought into captivity to his
obedience.
Emancipated from this awful duplex domination at the Reformation,
its chains were being riveted anew upon the neck of our nation.
James VII., an affiliated member of the Society of Jesuits, had obtained
admission to the throne. Promotions and favours were lavished on mem-
bers of the Church of Rome. Romish seminaries and Jesuit colleges
were scattered broadcast over €he country. The Protestant clergy were
ousted, and the noblest of the Protestant bishops consigned to the
Tower. The Romish Church was regularly organised. Romish
bishops were duly consecrated and appointed to their respective
dioceses. A British ambassador, a thing unheard of since the Reforma-
tion, was sdnt to the Vatican. The Pope's Nuncio made an entry to
London amidst extraordinary manifestations of magnificence. The
royal army was reinforced by hordes of murderous Romanist recruits
B
X8 THB REVOLX7TION SETTLEMENT.
from Ireland. All the requisite machinery was in readiness for the
complete and signal destruction of our Reformed religion and liberties.
It was a time most critical. On the Continent, the flourishiug
Protestantism of Bohemia and Hungary had been trodden out by
armies. The Lutheran Church had by the thirty years' war been all
but entirely swept from off the soil of the German fatherland. The
Waldensian confessors had been banished their valleys, and their
lamp utterly extinguished. Was the work of two centuries to be
ruthlessly overturned 1 Was the knell of Protestantism to be rung
out, and the star of Romanism to rise again to the ascendant 1 Was
our country like the Continental countries to be reduced to a mere
feudatory of Rome ? Were we like the Continental peoples to be-
come for this present world mere hewers of wood and drawers of
water for its lordly Hierarchy, and for the world to come the miser-
able victims of its lying vanities 1 Our doom seemed sealed, our day
seemed done, our hope seemed dead, but man's extremity proved
God's opportunity. The Revolution, to the deliverance which it
afforded us from the civil and religious intolerance of our own rulers,
added also deliverance from the idolatry and despotism of Rome.
Romish tenets and Romish tyranny were thereby abjured, and the
national polity settled upon a decisively Protestant basis. It was
ordained that no one but a Protestant should occupy the throne. It
was decreed that none but Protestants should sit in the legislature.
It was adjudged that Protestants only should exercise the electoral
franchise. It was determined that Romanists, because of their prior
allegiance to the Pope, be regarded and treated as a foreign faction,
as really alien as Spaniards or Italians. For over a century this civil
settlement remained'undisturbed. And our deliverance from Romish
idolatiy has been even more enduringly decisive. To this day we
have the unadulterated Bible instead of a cumbrous code of priestly
traditions as our directory. We have the Gospel instead of the
Church as God's grand instrument for our salvation. We have direct
access to a reconciled Qod in Christ, -instead of requiring to supplicate
the holy Joseph to plead with the awful Mother to intercede with
her more awful Son to use His influence on our behalf with the
terrific Father. Compassed about thus with songs of deliverance
may we not well remember the years of the right hand of Him that
is Most High 1
II. This brings us to consider the Revolution in respect to the
obligations which it has entailed. To only three of these will we
allude, viz. gratitude for its accomplishment, lamentation for our de-
fections from the attainments then reached, and improvement of the
privileges that yet ramain to us.
THE REVOLUTION SETTLEMENT. 1 9
lat. The Reyolution has entailed on us the obligation to testify
our gratitude to God for its accomplishment. The Revolution was
emphatically the work of God. It was God who incited the Prince
of Orange to enter upon the enterprise. It was God who inspired
him with a sufficiency of principle to overmaster a natural affection,
which otherwise might have deterred him from sacrificing the in-
terests of James, who was the brother of his mother and the father
of his wife, to the claims of religion and the welfare of the country.
It was God who overruled events in such a manner, that the best re-
presentatives of Europe's statesmanship, chivalry, and piety were by
persecution driven to seek an asylum in the Hc^e, at the very time
when be wanted their counsel, service, and prayers. It was God too,
who braced the Puritans in England and the Covenanters in Scotland
to sustain their seemingly forlorn struggle till he arrived for their
relief. We do not neglect to own our obligation to any who may
have interposed for our escape from physical peril, and shall we
neglect to own our obligation to Him who has interposed for our
escape from civil and religious destruction ) We readily own our in-
debtedness to the human instrumentalities in accomplishing the
Revolution, and shall we evince ourselves backward in owning our
indebtedness to its Great Divine Agent ) Let it not be told to our
reproach, that for the Lord's great goodness we have refused to
tender our tribute of thanks. Let the spirit of our hearts and lives
be, '' O Lord our God we will give thanks unto Thee for ever."
2nd. The Revolution has entailed upon us the obligation of
lamenting our defections from the attainments then reached. Our
national constitution as established at the Revolution was, despiie
some defects the importance of which we dare not minimise, one of
the noblest that the world has ever seen. We have, alas ! miser-
ably faOed to maintain it entire. We have opened the Elector-
ate and Parliament to Romanists. We have repealed our laws
prohibiting Papal Bulls, which are but the Pope's commands to
his British subjects, being brought into the country. We have with-
out the faintest whisper of protest permitted the establishmeut in
our midht of a Hierarchy, which gives territorial jurisdiction to
Romish dignitaries, and the proclamation of Canon Law which every
Romanist is obliged under pain of eternal torment to obey, above
eveiy other law whatever, British law not excepted. We have ad-
mitted the interference of Romanists in the administration of our
educational system, and supported them in opening schools of their
own for the training of all whom they can entrap in the superstitious
rites of their soul-ruining religion. Celebrating our deliverance does
it not become us to combine confessions with our thanksgivings ? Do
20 A HOUSE INSPECTION.
not these defections and similar defections too numerous to enumer-
ate, call loudly for lamentation 1 Let us grieve, and let our grief be
godly and genuine and not merely formal or hypocritical. Let us
remember whence we have fallen and repent and do the first works,
lest the Lord come and remove our candlestick out of its place.
Acting thus, " Who can tell if God will turn and repent and turn
away from His fierce anger that we perish notl"
3rd. The Revolution has entailed upon us the obligation of im-
proving the privileges which still remain to us. Notable amongst
these remaining privileges are liberty of conscience, an unclasped
Bible, and a Gospel unencumbered by Romish traditions. Are we
then on all occasions as careful as we ought to be to maintain a
conscience void of offence toward God and toward man 1 Do we with
all due diligence peruse the Scriptures as able to make us wise unto
salvation f Have we embraced the Saviour whom the Gospel reveals,
and whom to embrace is life eternal t If we have neglected to ex-
ercise ourselves in any of these respects it will be more tolerable for
benighted Romanists in the judgment than for us. They have
never known what it is in religious matters to be answerable to God
alone. The Bible has ever been for them a book in great measure
sealed. Christ has ever remained from them all but entirely con-
cealed behind a host of other helpers. Yet some of them believe
unto salvation. Shall they exchange Papal darkness for the light of
life, and shall we exchange Protestant light for the darkness of death 1
Oh let us lay hold upon Christ as all our salvation and all our desire,
and we shall be privileged to experience a deliverance even more
glorious than that realized at the Revolution. We shall be made to
rejoice in the liberty wherewith God makes His people free and sing,
" Come hear all ye that fear God and I will tell what He hath done
for my souL God hath turned for us our mourning into dancing,
put off our sackcloth and girded us with gladness, that our glory
may praise Him and not be silent."
A HOUSE INSPECTION.
FOR YOUNO MEN.
'* The righteous man wisely considereth the house of the wicked ; but God
overthroweth the wicked for their wickedness." Proverbs xtI. 12.
Wb ask the favour of your company to-day, when we go forth with
this righteous man who is found wisely considering tlie house of the
A HOUSE INSPECTION. 21
wicked, that we may fiud out the results of his inspection and act
accordingly. »
In going forth, however, it is necessary to receive an explanation
of the word, or term ''house/' for in looking over the different houses
mentioned in this righteous man's book — the Bible — we come to
know that ^' house " simply means — a place to dwell in. It may be a
place so small that only one person can live io it, as when the
preacher of Ecclesiastes speaks of the keepers of the old man's house
trembling ; or as when the apostle knows that ''if our earthly house
of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an
house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."
Or, " house " may also be a place commodious enough for a whole
family to dwell in, as when the Master said, "A house divided against
itself cannot stand : " or, as again, where the old chronicle sets forth,
that " there was war between the house of Saul and the house of
David, all the time of Ishbosheth."
Or, the " house " of Scripture, may also be so large as to hold the
entire nation, with all its tribes and families ; as when it is written,
that Egypt was "the house of bondage" to the people of Israel,
from which they at last emerged " a nation ; " or, as again, we find it
written, that soleom warning was addressed to the impenitent and
unbelieving Jews — '* Behold, your house is left unto you, desolate."
Or, still further, this house of the Bible may be a place so small,
that it holds only one person, and yet at the same time, so vast and
capacious, that it can take in all persons, all families, all people, all
nations, all generations, as when we observe its description in Job, as
" the grave^wthe house appointed for all living**
So, with suuh exj lanations as these, and for the purpose of exam-
ining and distinguishing more particularly the varying characteristics
of the different members of that family, whose dwelling-place the
house of the wicked is, it will be more convenient and profitable, to
set these different members of the same family, with their special tastes
and habits, in separate houses, either all in a row, or here and there
in a village. If in a row, let us give the row a name, and let its
name be — Rottenrow.
House No. 1. — Rottenrow.
Now are we ready for the work of inspection, and while we ara not
to stop at every house door, your attention is drawn to this peculiar
dwelling. It has, 'tis true, a strange appearance. At a hasty glance,
you would say, "it surely cannot be inhabited." Why, friend, it is
one of the oldest houses in the country, and it has never failed, through
2 3 A HOUSE INSPECTION.
all the time and tide of human history, to be occupied bj tenants,
male auJ female.
The author of these proverbs walked in his wisdom past its plot,
or acre, or field, long ago, nigh 3000 years ago, and then he marked
it to be all grown over with thorns and nettles, the wall was broken
down, and all around, as now, there were evident tokens of neglect
and decay. He then foimd a man indoors, a drowsy, more or leas
ragged fellow, who, with hands folded, would not begin to work, be-
c luse it was cold, and because he was afraid of the dangers of the
field, the factory, the forest, and who then turned into bed again for
a little more sleep, a little more rest. A man who was content to
slumber when the fields were ploughed and* sown and reaped, through
all the grey and green and yellow of the year, while others suffered,
and toiled and sweat and gathered ; and when there was a full har-
vest and merry homes, he had nothing in there but a beggar's heart.
Now, lest you should think that this wicked fellow died long ago,
even in those times which certain folks regard as in many respects
very obscure, let me ask you if you have not seen him in your own
town, these few years back, or these few weeks past^ or it may be,
even yesterday. Yes, you have seen him — the lazy fellow — with his
hands in his breeches pockets or folded still behind his back. He
can get nothing to do : offer him work — especially of a bracing sort ;
he has a pain in his back, or a stitch in his side, or a weakness in one
of his legs, or a kind of neuralgia that is now in his head and next in
his heart, and where next he is afraid to foretell, or he can't work at
night ; but, all the while, you see that his coat is dusty with leaning
against the wall, and his trousers dirty with sitting on th^ pavement,
his boots are unbrushed, his hair uncombed, his face unwashed, and
the hair that should have been off last week still darkens his cheek,
and carries drops of his last spittle, while itchily he scratches here
and there.
This is the man who wonders if he could not get a ticket to admit
him to the Infirmary, and is ever on the lookout for the house where
they give their ** meat for nothing." *Tis he who smiles over " Sun-
day Morning Breakfasts," and is converted every winter with the re-
newing and stimulating influences of soup kitchens. He will listen
with evident interest — after dinner, at your or the public expense — ^to
ardent^ and impressive, and protracted addresses on the duties of
Christian charicy^ and benevolence, and when he has learned the talk,
he will express himself as greatly " edified," but when the dinner and
the sermon are directed towards the pursuits of honest and sweating
industries, why then, he shows with great ability, the art of "leaving
off" When the talk is of convalescent homes — ^fortnights at
A HOUSE INSPECTION. 23
the coast or in the country — coals and blankets for the poor —
funds for the incurable — ^refuges for this and helps for that — he re*
▼ives and grows earnest, and confidential, and communicatiye, and
will mormar in your ear that, " he would be all right if he could
only get any of these things." But when you begin to speak of work
and that if a man does not work, neither should he eat, then he
slowly turns the other shoulder, and lapses into rest and original un-
concern.
Leave him at the comer of the street, and go before him to his
house, and there look around ere he returns — ^and lo I a toiling
woman, who slaves from early morning till late at night, while the
heart grows weary, and every bone is sore, and the head aches ; and
then hear his acid complaints, within the house, at finding no one
to help him, no one to give him charity, some easy well-peud thing
to dou Hear him grumbling over his large share of the little pro-
vision, and then mark him, resting amid the smoko of his tobacco, till
he can go out again to his toil at the comer of the street. His wife
has heard his stories, his lies so often, that — ^poor body — she be-
lieves him, and endeavours to feed him with too generous sympathy,
and to give him comforts with too laborious care and loss, and if he
can get a pittance from anybody, or board for any of the children,
got without increase of labour and nothing to pay — ^her heart over-
flows with pride, and her tub for an hour is an easy task.
Now, tell me, is not this house on your streets at this hour? Is
not this lazy, heartless, sinful fellow alive this day 9 and so near that
you have discovered him to be a neighbour. And however undesir-
able his acquaintanceship, and loathsome his ways, he has to be
reckoned and dealt with, as a factor in the community — and the
question must be asked in the presence of such a man. How was it
that he came to possess and to show such a detestable character?
This man learned his lazy habits when young. He shrank from
work which tasked the muscles and tired the brain, while still it was
bis early day. He shrank into a comer, or passed by on the other
side, and so his work was undone, or another did it for him. It may
have been an unwise father, or a too indulgent mother, who bore for
him the whole of the burden and heat of his younger days, and re-
fused to make him learn to fulfil his share of a day's darg ; and
when they died, he was untaught, undisciplined, with none of the
chaff of idle ways and unwholesome lusts threshed out of him ; and
80 he at last became a dweller in " the house of the wicked."
Or he was easily discoiu-aged with slight difficulties, ho had no
true, strong, brave heart and stout will. He would not learn to
Inave the storm, to face the battle and the breeze. When knocked
24 A HOUSE INSPECTION.
down, he did not rise again with his soul in a ms, resolved to conquer
or to die, but he lay ignoblj there — a beaten coward — and he has
lain there, ever since.
Yet was he tried and encouraged again and again by influences
from without, and others from within, to betake himself with earnest-
ness and vigour to a nobler, better career, but he resisted all these
friendly calls and powers, and there he is — heartless, hopeless, help-
less.
He was set in a situation, and the expectation was cherished that
he would there bestir himself, and prove worthy of trust. He
married, and gave his oath that he would endeavour to be a help not
a burden, a blessing not a curse. Children came, and again and
again he intended to toil to provide them with bread, and clothing,
and books. But he lost the situation, his employer at last could
stand his intolerable laziness no longer. His oath was not made
good, and his wife with such help as others could give, had to do all her
own work, and what of his her hands could reach. His children
learned amid poverty and privation gradually to provide for them-
selves, and to forget his presence. His house, if his own property,
has been ruined with neglect, and he himself — the muscles that
should have been firm as iron have become limp and weak, the brain
that should have been sound and steady has become feeble and
foolish. He is a prey to quick decay, ready for the sword. He is
taken away and scarce one misses him. His death is a relief to all.
No newspaper celebrates his virtues, no tombstone perpetuates his
worth, no friend delights to hold his memory green and to speak with
affectionate reverence of what in hira they dearly lost. He is over-
thrown in his wickedness. He falls in contempt and shame.
Why should so many families in our land seek to train their g^rls
after the example of this man. Brought up with one object only —
to be well married^ as if this should be the be-all of a right hearted
woman's ambition, and with but little or no provision made for the
common contingencies of disappointment in such ambitions, or
parental misfortune in business.
Not allowed to enter any of those openings for industry, in which
so many women in our time are usefully and profitably engaged, and
not permitted or encouraged to bear the honourable burdens of
domestic labours — how many are there — ^ashamed of their ignorance,
and incapacity in the day of serious trial — ^who have cause to con-
demn such customs as these which are only fitted to produce a
womanhood physically, intellectually, and morally weak ? A woman-
hood unfit to be associated with the manhood of a nation truly great,
and from which it is impossible that the proper strength of the
THE REUGION OF THE HIGHLANDS. 25
natioa should continue to flow. What can be expected from those
whoee wits are only sharpened with gossiping garrulities; whose
strength is only matured with piano exercise, receiving and playing
with or for visitors, and mancsuvring for a catchpenny marriage ; and
whose highest capacities are only tickled and exposed by sensational
religioua persuasions. Surely some of the poorest features of our
national life are to be traced to the trained indolence and vain hopes
uf these members of the conunonwealth.
Let us look into our own homes and see if such idlers as these are
there, who would shirk his or her share of the burdens of the house-
hold, and the cares of his manhood ; and let us be utterly ashamed,
and seek with diligence, and resolution, to something attempt and
wmuihing do, that at last a good and a glorious rest may be rightly
won.
THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS.
BT A HIGHLAND MINISTER.
IX.
AxoNO the Highland ministers of the seventeenth century Mr.
James Eraser of Brae stands very high. Dr. Walker ("The
Theology of Scotland,") says, " The name of Eraser of Brae is one
well known, and very precious to many : a man he was of profound
piety, full of love and devotion to his Master, for whom in the days
of sufTeriug he had bom an unflinching testimony. None is men-
tioned with greater respect by his contemporaries among the good
men of his time." He was bom at Brae, in Resolis, Ross-shire, on
the 29th of July 1639. We have already mentioned his father, who
was the second son of Simon, seventh Lord Lovat, as a member of
the fiimous Glasgow Assembly of 1638, representing the Presbytery
of Inverness. The site of the old mansion-house of Brae is on the
northern slope of the ridge that runs along the Black Isle, and lies
several hundred feet above the level of the sea, commanding
a wide view of the Cromarty Eirth, Mid and Easter Ross, and
the surrounding mountains. One of seven children, James "was
not like to live in infancy but the Lord healed him." His " temper
was peevish and sullen," he tells us in the " Memoirs " written by
himself, and he certainly did not suffer from over-indulgence at
home. He had barely a mile to walk to school, where he made much
progress, although he occasionally played the truant. Before he was
4S6 THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS.
nine years of ago he had a remarkable escape from drowning. He
fell into a deep well surrounded by much grass, and was provi-
•dentlally discovered and pulled out when '* ready to expire." Before
his conversion " he advanced four steps/' in each of which he might
have perished " had he not been beaten out of them." The first
«tep was when nine years of age. He got some prayers by heart,
and in a formal way repeated them moniing and evening, accom-
panied with much inward peace and comfort, while distress of
conscience and terrifying dreams attended any omission of the duty.
This continued for a year, until the death of his father in 1649» at
which time the son had been placed under the strict supervision of a
family chaplain and tutor. The new guardian spoke out strongly
Against set forms of prayer, and UT^ed the boy ** to express the pure
and real conceivings of his own heart," however brief, as preferable
to long prayers taught by others. He was thus led to the second
«tep. His sins of Sabbath-breaking and swearing were vigorously
punished by the tutor who taught him the Creed, t|)e Command-
ments, and principles of religion. He now set about secret and
public duties, taking delight in reading some portion of the
Scriptures morning and evening, and " praying a conceived prayer ac
•some length and with some earnestness." At twelve years of age be
was sent to a grammar school in the South where he was subjected
to such severe discipline — " ordinarily whipped whether he deserved
it or not " — that his very life became a burden to him. Sad spiritual
•decay succeeded all his attempts at self-reformation. He writes, ^' I
prayed, but endeavoured not to take away my sins; my prayers
never killed my lusts, and therefore my lusts killed prayer." Yet
storms of sharp conviction broke in from time to time upon the calm
of his spiritual decay. "I lingered on in this condition three or
four years until I went South again in order to my going to college."
This brought him to the third step. He was fifteen, and fell in with
3, book called " Practice of Piety," probably the work by Bishop
Bayly of Bangor which we find mentioned in the beginning of
Bunyan's awakening, which described the misery of the unregenerate
•and the blessedness of the righteous. Its perusal so affected his
heart that he multiplied good resolutions. He now began a zealous
reformation, and *' made conscience of all duties." He left off his old
sins, lying, swearing, gaming, and idle talk, and became a reprover
of the sins of his class-fellows. '^ In a word, he was a complete
pharisee." But his zeal soon languished. Not finding the same
satisfaction and peace in duties, they began to be a buiden to him,
and soon the old *' pleasures, vanities, and evil company, to which he
had not been mortified, drew his heart away." Then came the
fourth step. He fell in with a book called the ''Seventeen False
Rests," which exposed the vanity of formality in duties. He was
also much impressed by reading in the Confession of Faith " That
though one should form his life never so exactly, according to nature
4ind morality, without Christ he cotdd not be saved." And thus
** what many sermons had failed to do was brought about in a
moment by three lines."
THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS. 27
He now felt the insufficiency of the duties to which he had been
clinging. He saw that he was in an unconTerted state, he began
mourning for sin because of its awful consequences. Then he writes
of wonderful and merciful providences which befell him. The re-
membrance of blasphfcmy he had uttered long before, haunted him
one night on his bed, and filled him with fear and trembling. He
tried to praj, but blasphemies and curses came crowding into his
mind against his will, so that he looked on himself with horror as
f-Qssessed of Satan ; but next day a passage in a boob opened at
nuidom, ** When Satan casts in blasphemous thoughts in thy heart
be not dlBOouraged for they are not thine but Satan's," came as if a
message from heaven with relief to his almost distracted soul. At
another time hearing some speak of the sin against the Holy Ghost
and remembering his blasphemy, he suspected himself guilty, and the
reading of Heb. x. 26, " If we sin wilfully," &c., came like a peal of
thunder into his conscience, and for three days he was sorely tempted.
After multiplied legal terrors "the Lord did at last grant some
deliyenuice by restraining Satan." A year after, on a Sabbath night,
vhile meditating on a sermon he had heard through the day on
'* Terrors of Conscience," he recalled vividly his old sin of blasphemy,
JLod it seemed mors aggravated than ever. The sorrows of d^th
compassed him. " He could not pray, for he saw in Grod's face terror,
wraUi, hatred, and vengeance, and being as if in hell he fretted-
against Crod like the damned." It was the sorrowfuUest night he ever
endured. It occurred to him to seek relief in 9uicide, but that, he
felt, would be rushing ii^to the torments he dreaded before the time.
His only alleviations were that possibly he might not have sinned
vilfully, and that those guilty of the unpardonable sin could never
sQcer^y repent. But in a few days these awful impressions wore
away.
He was now 17 or 18 years of age, and attending the University.
He heard from the pulpit that the Ix>rd's Supper was to be observed
the next Sabbath. He resolved to partake, and yet he '' was under
deep impressions of eating and drinkiDg his own damnation." Ho
knew he was unconverted, and that if he was not savingly changed
before the next Lord's Day there was but little likelihood of his
fntiue conversion. He knew that salvation was of the Lord, he was
stirred np to set about the diligent performance of all the means of
grace. On returning from church he spent the rest of the day in
spiritual exercises, finding a relish he had never known before. On
Wednesday evening he finds on self-examination, by the aid of marks
be had read in books, that there were still no evidences of his con-
version, and he is in a tumult of doubt whether to go forward to the
communion or delay. " Discouragement and despair, horror and
grief did all take hold of him." In his extremity he resolved to set
the next day apart for fasting. " I went to prayer with many sad
complaints, and the Lord, while I was like the prodigal son yet a
great way off, ran to meet me. I addressed myself to speak to the
Lord Jesus, and then was there a gospel view given me of Him ; and
Bfjme considerations and representations of Christ were brought into
28 THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS.
my mind, that He was the Mediator, a friend and Saviour to poor
sinners, their only Helper, the Way and the Truth and the Life that
died for them, and one willing to be reconciled. What shall I say ?
While I was thus exercised, a marrellous light shone on my under-
standing, and with the eyes of my mind and not of my body, I saw
that Just One in His glory, and love, and offices, and beauty of His
person. The sight did so swallow me up that I was speechless, and
only said, What is this 1 And where am I now 1 The glory, love,
and loveliness of Jesus, revealed to me, did ^ery far exceed all that
ever I saw or could see in the world, insomuch that there was no
comparison. I was drawn by this, and after I had recovered, I said,
0 Lord, thou hast overcome me ! Heart and hand and all that I
have is Thine ; I am content to live and die with Thee. Begone
poor world, and beggarly vanities, and despiteful devil and flesh, I will
serve you no longer ; I know now of a master and lover to whom
henceforth I will dedicate myself. Now are all my doubts loosed ;
and now I see that I have not sinned the sin against the Holy Ghost.
What shall I now do for the Lord ? Let heaven and earth, angels
and men, praise Him ; for He hath looked graciously upon me and
that in my low condition. There followed upon this such liberty as
1 thought I could spend the whole night in prayer. This frame con-
tinued in its strength only for a quarter of an hour, and then it
abated as to its measure . . After I rose from prayer I went to the
fields, and there sang songs of triumph."
All his doubts and fears in regard to communicating now vanished,
but he was soon deeply humbled by the Lord's withdrawal of that
comfortable presence which he had enjoyed. He read the descrip-
tion of true conversion in Shepard of New England's " Sound Be-
liever," and feared he had not reached the high standard there in-
sisted upou. He was tempted to regard his past joyful experience a
delusion. He sought the Lord in heaviness of heart day and night,
but ''neither weekly sermons, books, counsels, nor prayers, could
draw Jesus till His hour was come." He admitted afterwards that
he had misunderstood Shepard, he was then but ignorant, and knew
not how to live by faith, and wanting sense he was discouraged.
Amid such feelings and emotions the Sacramental Sabbath dawned,
bringing increased fears and sorrows, which so prevailed on coming
to church that he was tempted not to communicate. While Mr.
R. B. was serving the table he said, '* many will say, oh I I fear to
draw on more guilt in my communicating, but would to God that
there were many of this judgment I But I will tell thee, poor
doubting thing, whether thou mayest come or not. Tell me, wast
thou seeking Christ or not this week 1 It is like thou hast found
something then. And did Christ drop in myrrh in the lock of the
door of thy heart ere He went away? Know it, poor soul, He will
come again, for that is His token ; and thou mayest come here, and
in His name I invite thee." The preacher (probably the great Mr.
Robert Blair of St. Andrew's) could not have conceived words more
suitable for Eraser's distracted soul. He was attracted to the table
but " he found no suitable presence at the time," and great fears
THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS. 29
ensaed. " Tet the same Mr. R. B. did in the afternoon encourage
me again so as I resolved to pluck up mj heart again." The exercise
of all spiritual duties now became very sweet to him, " I grew in the
knowledge of the ways of God ; and the more I knew the more I was
delighted in Hinu Thus was the everlasting seed sown that was the
light of glory then arising upon my soul." But this heavenly calm
did not last long, for a severer storm than he had ever yet encoun-
tered burst in upon him, and be was brought to see the hidden
plagues of his heart. During a lull in the storm he turned to Shep-
aid's *' Sincere Copvert," and " four leaves of it threw him on his
back." He read the book through in the fields, and the power of
God was present. The description of the lengths that hypocrites
might oome, and of the great difficulty of saving conversion, wounded
him through and through. '* My condition was now worse than
ever, and the devil seeing his time entered in with a whole sea of
borrora. Many times did I grovel cm the ground, and seek God's
favour, pity, and compassion ; then was it that my tears were my
meat : then was prayer bitterness to me, and my mouth closed, and
1 as it were bound with bands ; for God was never more terrible
than when I approached Him in prayer." His old sin of blasphemy
lay again heavy upon him. But after much sharp cutting convic-
tion and temptation, the words heaixi during a sermon, "Howbeit
(UA forgave me because I did it ignorantly in unbelief," came laden
with the balm of heavenly consolation to his distressed soul. He
felt that his sins were pardonable, and hope revived " produced a
cheerful endeavour to seek the Lord." He grew in the knowledge
and love of Crod, and sought to instruct others. '* The books I most
read were Shepard, Fenner, Practice of Piety, and the Confession of
Faith." Thomas Shepard, whose "Sound Believer," and "Sincere
Convert " brought Fraser into such sore spiritual distress, w&s born
in Northampton in 1605. He was one of the victims of Laud's per-
secuting fury, and he sailed for Boston, U.S., in 1635. He died in
1649. His writings are full of terror to hypocrites, but are over-
flowing with consolation to the truly humbled. They were very
much read and greatly esteemed in the Highlands in the last century.
When confirmed in the faith Fraser wrote : " The Lord hath blessed
the reading of practical writings to me, and thereby my heart hath
been put into a frame and much strength and light gotten, such as
Isaac Ambrose, Goodwin, Mr. Gray (Glasgow), and very much by
Rutherford's above others, but most of all by Thomas Shepard of
New-England, his works ; he hath by the Lord been made ' the in-
terpreter, one of a thousand,' so that, under Christ, I have been
obliged to his writings as much and more than to any means what-
ever for wakening, strengthening, and enlightening of my soul ; the
Lr>nl hath made him a well of water to me in all my wilderness
stnuta."
Now the young laird of Brae might be said to have landed in safety in
''the desired haven," and to have his ** feet upon the Rock." But mani-
fold were the trying Providences and deep spiritual exercises through
vhich he was painfully led for years after. Jonathan Edwards tells.
30 THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHIJkNDS.
" I have had a vastly, greater sense of my own wickedness and the bad-
ness of mj heart since my conversion than ever I had before." Frajser
says, *' In respect of the Lord's after-dealing with me and of His former
dealing : for He was preparing me before and driving me out of my false
rests. And over thereafter, although there have been temptations
and shakings and interruptions, yet hath that spunk never died which
was kindled, but hath been growing at last, more and more ; some
good ever remained, and, in my sorest decays, the impressions cf
Gbd's dealing at this time remained, so as there was a longing after the
first husband, which was the means to reduce me out of a backsliding
condition." He had been lifted upas it were to heaven, and plunged
into terrible depths almust immediately after, "to let him seethe
evil of his own heart and its exceeding sinfulness, and that by nature
he was a bitter enemy to God and a toad full of venom." He had to
be humbled, to experience the Lord's help in the greatest extremity,
know His justice and His goodness, to be shut up to a life of faith,
and to be fitted to be a spiritual guide to others.
Of the " sad decay of light, life, and consolation " which succeeded
his conversion he gives the steps and causes. The first step waA»
" Unbelief and doubting of my interest in God and His love, through
mistakes as to the nature of sanctification, and by a wrong construction
of providences and iguorance of the Covenant of grace. I could not
believe I w as so happy as to be converted. I thought God did in wrath
take away my terrors, leaving me to the judicial plague of a hard
heart" Fearing when his " heart was in any frame " that it was a
delusion, he became heartless in duties. Sermons did him no good be-
cause not heard with faith. Through unbelief he departed from the
living God to seek satisfaction in the creature. Still he was kept from
despair by hopes that he might yet be converted. The want of godly
company and living in dead formal society brought about further de-
cay. He "became vain and light in his conveisation, complying with
the vain customs around him, so that spiritual duties became a weari-
ness and a burden." He pays a visit to some relations who had much
profession but little corresponding practice of religion, and among*
them he sank into a state of discouragement bordering on desperation.
" A great and long accoimt of sins had run up upon him which he
thought would never be pardoned." Under the terribly hard frame
of his heart and great deadness, he was tempted to believe recovery
hopeless, and that he was a ^* tree twice dead, plucked up by the
roots." Yet, amid all his " sighing and going backward," the Lord
upheld him, and kept in the '' dying spunk " so that all these waters
could not quite extinguish it. He was dissatisfied with his condition,
groaning and mourning when he remembered the days of old. He
prayed, read, and meditated now and then. Even in laughing mad-
ness his heart was sorrowful, and in thinking of his former state he
would sigh, " 0 that it were with me as in months past ! 0 that I
were under Christ's terrors again ! " Rutherford's words, '' A man is
saved in the nick of conversion or else eternally lost^" haunt him like a
ghost. He is encouraged by reading that a man once under convic-
tions may be again converted, and he resolves to retnrn again
THE REUGION OF THE HIGHLANDS. Jf
diligently to neglected duties, although the " irons were rusted, and his
heart was dead and blind." For about twenty days he prayed^
moonied, and complained amid increasing deadness until he thought
he was sealed under the plague of a hard heart, and then, when,
tempted to give over, it pleased the Spirit dui'ing prayer *' to blow,,
and open his heart,'' leaving the conviction that he was not utterly
Thus encouraged ^ he put more irons in the fire," made* vows and
covenants, took to diary-writing and self-examination, and wrote
^ infant notions of practical divinity." But his duties yielded neither
peace nor satisfaction, nor did they mortify sin. Occasional visita
from the Lord kept him from despair. On the point of dying, he
woold be roused up to spend half nights in prayer. Converse with
other Christians, hearing of God's dealings with others, and a power-
ful gospel ministry often revived his swooning life, and brought him
from the gates of death. Wearied with his sins, heart, duties and
cnlargenaents he had next to pass through the painful experience of
having his proud heart humbled. Returning one Sabbath in August
1660 from church unprofited and discouraged, he read in SheparJ*s
" Soand Believer " on the nature of humiliatiou wherein the Lrird
oonvinoes the soul of the equity of His proceeding, causing it to bear
quietly and willingly His appointment without repining. In read-
ing this the Lord opened his eyes and bowed his heart and brought
him to absolute submission. He reads a sermon by Gray on the
words, ^* my son give me thy heart," and seeks earnestly to make the
desired, surrender.
Reading in his '' Memoirs " his description of his wilderness wander-
ings and conflicts at this time, one thinks of a pendulum swaying
from side to side. He sinks and rises.' He drops like a wounded
bird to earth and then rises on soaring pinions after a timo. Now it
is a gospel sermon that revives him, then it is a word from his
^vourite Shepard. The sentence of death is passed on everything
that he has to lean on. His own heart and multiplied duties become
all a barren wilderness, and, as he is sinking in its burning sands, he
is powerfully refreshed and uplifted by the words of Shepard, '' More
are drawn to Christ under the sense of a dead blind heart, than by
all sorrows, humiliations, and terrors." Many times he falls through
unwatchfulness, when he frets that his purposes are broken off. From
the height of his pride and self righteousness he is humbled to the
dost like Nebuchadnezzar, yet he is slow to learn that the Most High
mleth, and when at length the Lord was pleased to show mercy, it
was neither in the time nor manner that he desired or expected it.
" The strongest, last and bitterest enemy the Lord hath,'' he assures
09, ** is spiritual pride, which He abhorreth most, and against which
He setteth Himself mainly. It is hard to get our high conceits d^wn,
to be emptieil of our own righteousness, to get the will broken into
submission to the Lord's will in all dispensations."
Still he found no rest in the exercise of self-resignation. He reads
in Haggai ii, 17, " I smote you in all the labours of your hands, yet
je turned not to me." He applied this spiritually. He had been
32 THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS.
smitten in all his labours, duties, vows, prayers, and meditations, and
he had not yet turned to God by faith, without which it is impossible
to please Him. A hundred sermons had in vain urged him to
believe, but now the Lord persuaded and convinced him that it was
his duty to believe, rolled this stone from the door of the sepulchre,
and answered the manifold objections that began to swarm around to
keep him from believing. He turns up the Scriptures for references
to saving faith, and reads treatises on the subject. He was now
come as it were to a new world, and there was such a stir upon his
spirit as he never found before. Fain would he believe, but he could
not. " I found a spirit of resistance, there was a blindness upon my
eyes, I knew not what believing was, nor on whom. On the one
hand, the Lord by his commands, motives, earnest and real invita-
tions, promises and answering objections, yea, and terrible threaten-
ings hastened me forward, for all doors were shut but this of faith.
On the other hand, ignorance of Christ and of the duty of believing,
and fear of presumption, and believing on my own sttength, did toss
me like a ball. I knew not what to do, but like a weak child stuck
in the birth. Oh, said I, how can I believe f Lord help my unbelief.
My greatest objection was that I did not see the glory of Christ with-
out which I thought there would be only a dead faith." But after
taking his hazard and casting himself on Christ, come what would,
he continued fourteen days looking for some great thing and finding
nothing. Then he is encouraged by Hosea vi. 1, and 2, *' Come and let
us return to the Lord . . . After two days will he revive us," &c.
Then fresh apprehensions of presumption with the sense of un worthi-
ness drove him into prison. He is about to make a doleful complaint
to God, when it is suggested to him, " If thou rejectest my Son will
thy sorrows be accepted by me f " He battles with his fears of pre-
sumption, and is strengthened by Jo^ xiii^ 15, " Though He slay me
yet will I trust in Him," and peace and joy flow into his distracted
soul. " Yet this faith had many cracks in it which encoiuraged Satan
to make an assault." He secretly rested in the act rather than in
the object of faith, and was perplexed when sore troubles and Jong
desertions followed. Nine years after, when reviewing this important
cnsis in his soul's history, he wrote, '' True humiliation does not
consist in legal terrors ; and one sufficiently humbled for sin may yet
be under apprehensions and a sense of deadness ; nor yet in the con-
tinuance of terrors. It is rather in a conviction of the want of all
things, a despair of self, and a justifiyingof Grod in all matters. Yea,
the truest preparations for Christ are a sense and conviction of vile-
ness, guiltiness, deadness, hardness, and blindness, and a wearieduess
with the world and duties and the ill heart."
Having now closed with Christ by faith he continued in some
measure of peace for ten days, but he was expecting some extraordin-
ary impressions of joy. But instead, violent temptations and
atheistical thoughts came flooding into his trembling soul. "His
natural corruptions were stirred more violently than ever in averse-
ness to God." The communion is observed. He goes forward sore
troubled and tempted, and while others are receiving large portions
THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS. 33
of good things^ he is faminhed with hunger, and he longs for a wilder-
ness iu which to pour out the sorrows of a breaking heart. He
battles with his atheistical reasonings. He multiplies means and
duties amid manifold discouragements* He visits Mr. Hog of Kil-
team, '' a godly and prudent man whose company did me much good,
especially his discourses to me couoeming the nature of temptation,
and how the devil beats in temptations violently in the soul without
reason, and dings them in as it were, and threaps by bold assertions
on the soul what he would have it believe. As likewise his prajers
did me good, especially when he spoke of God's condescension, and
man's stubbornness ; and cited Ephraim whom Grod smote, * and he
went on frowardly in his ways ; I have seen him and will heal him.'
Truly I thought mine eyes saw something of a saint and New Testa-
ment spirit in him, and was some way persuaded by seeing his holi-
ness, his cheerfulness in God, and his deep reach in spiritual mysteries
that there was a God, and a holiness attainable. And such was the
power of God in him, that with his seasonable word and prayer he
would charm, and calm, and quiet my storms even when I despaired
of help, and thought it impossible ; though they would return again
when I was gone from him. Surely I received much good by him.'^
But on returning home '^his atheistical thoughts assault him so
violently that his soul is vexed unto death." He wrestles in prayer
and conquers, but after the victory, continues six months " like one in
a dead-throw, with little sense, wrestling with several temptations
and difficulties."
During these years of intense mental conflict, Fraser had been
living for the most part at home with his mother and sisters. His
father at his death, left his affairs involved in great financial diffi-
culties, and there aro frequent references iu the " Memoirs " to the
vexatious pecuniary embarrassments by which the young laird was
hampered. The unskilfulness and negligence of those to whom his
father intrusted the management of his affairs increased the compli-
cations that ensued. By his " father's cautionary for others," there
was a loss of 48,000 merks. Demands were made for the payment
of outstanding debts, and he was prosecuted before the courts of
justice. Then in the corrupt courts of the Restoration period bribery
was common, and as young Fraser was known to be of Covenanting
principles he received but small consideration from the judges. '* An
anjuat adversary " vexed the family for four years for payment of
36,000 merka " To this was added contempt and reproach. I was
the table-talk of the times then, a sign and wonder. The people of
God were grieved. My nearest and surest friends forsook and looked
strange on me, and whoever had anything to say, did now strike in
against me. My enemies rejoiced, and I myself was at first sore sunk.
( and our family were the common proverb among all our neigh-
bours. Now see, say they, what too much religion and conscience
liave done. Others would say, surely were not these dissenters
fanatics, gross hypocrites and displeasing to God, He would not so
testify against them. And I still was the instance and proof they
gave of their blasphemies, and this did wound my heart like a sword.
C
34 THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS.
I continued in this afiHicted, despised, low condition for the space of
six years, and could not borrow £5 upon either my writ or word."
He concludes that the Lord's ends in these trials were to reform and
heal him ; to humble his heart and break its pride, stoutness, hard-
ness, and lightness ; to deaden him to the world and to friends and
relations by finding from them such bitterness, vexation, vanity, and
disappointments ; " and to give me experience of His love in deliver-
ing me out of all these troubles, and supporting me under them,
(Horn. V. 3, 4, 5,) to do me good in my latter end, (Deut. viii. 15,
16,) ; and to fit and enable me to direct and comfort others in their
afflictions. The world and the prosperity of fools have destroyed
many. They have no changes, and therefore they fear ilbt God, and
are settled on their lees. Blessed be the Lord for inward and out-
ward exercises and troubles."
Trials and decays were now from time to time followed by deliver-
ances and revivals. He mentions repeatedly the woes brought upon
the Church and State by the pestilent policy of Charles II. " There
broke out a great sluice of profanity and persecution. The men of
power cried down godliness, the Covenant, and work of Reformation.
Godly ministers were deposed, and wicked scandalous ministers were
set up in their places. None were counted loyal but such as could
swear, and health and godliness was mocked and regarded as crimi-
nal." He lived for a short time in the house of a godly man, an outed
minister, where, through his pious conversation, and more pains taken
in duties, and the Lord's outpouring of His Spirit, and drawing near
to his soul, he recovered much more than he had lost. He benefited
much by bis host's godly spiritual sermons on Sabbath, and he got
some extraordinary visits from the Lord in prayer, reading the
Scriptures, and other exercises. He now gave over hearing the
prelates and curates. For a while he heard without scruple, although
he never could get any good from their ministry. When he came to
church in a good frame he returned dead and heartless. Upou
earnest examination he came to the conclusion " that the naked act
of preaching was not an ordinance of God unless by men sent. The
Church, he saw, could not make choice of men whom God in His
Word discharged. He became convinced that the true visible Church
did not stand so much in the multitude, as in the serious professors
of tbe truth of God, and that these few continuing faithful were
rather to be followed than the multitude." He continued still a while
to attend contrary to his inclination, but ono day he was compelled to
return after setting out Upon this he prayed that if God were dis-
pleased with his going He would give him some sign thereof, and
vouchsafe to bless his private exercises. His prayer was answered,
for one Sabbath afternoon, in private, he gained more life and know
ledge of God than he had done a whole year before, by which he
was much confirmed. In addition '*he was influenced by the
imiversalityof the godly and thetenderest leaving the curates daily, and
the extraordinary influence of God's Spirit on himself and others
when separate from them." He concluded that the consequence of
continuing to hear them would be a hardening and strengthening of
them in their courses, and a destruction of the work of God, an own-
THE RELIGION OF THE HI^GHLANDS. 35
ing of the authority of prelates, and keeping fellowship with the
avowed enemies of the Lord. He was now growing in his spiritual
condition, recovering out of his decays, and increasing in faith, in dili-
gence, and in strength. In the duty of self-examination he discovered
evidences of regeneration and buds of the new nature. The Scriptures
were very sweet, and seasons of retirement profitable. Thus outward
troubles were swallowed up in spiritual consolations. One evening
he was so filled with thoughts of the love of Christ " that he spent
the whole winter night in admiration, aud prayer, with suitable aJffeo-
tton. His very body was weakened with the abundance of the joy of
faith arising from the sense of an interest in Grod, and glorifying God
he endeavoured to encourage others." He received much light,
clearness, and sweetness in writing on the Scriptures. He composed
treatises on afflictions, conversion, and various other subjects, in
which he was extraordinarily assisted while receiving much spiritual
beDefit.
He was now twenty-six years of age. He was exercised with
thoughts of devoting himself to the ministry, and gave over the study
of law which he began to fit himself for civil business. At home he
exhorted and expounded the Scriptures. Troubles and decays were
from time to time followed by deliverances and revivings. When
thirty years of age (in 1669) he wrote the earlier portion of his
" Memoirs," regarding which he says, " I found marvellous assistance,
and found it a blessed mean to warm my heart with love to Christ,
to see through many intricacies of my life which were before as a
mist to me, and did tend muqh to my settling.'' He spoke in public,
as often as four times in a week in Edinburgh. " The scope of my dis-
courses was in exalting holiness ; against a slight work of grace ;
against looseness and laxness ; against formality ; against sloth and
unprofitableness, and pressing them to be doing good ; against dis-
couragement and unbelief, and pressing to believe ; likewise against
complying with the prelates and curates, studying to render them as
odious as I could, and my pains were not in vain." His discourses
were listened to with great acceptance by crowds in private houses —
his plain manner of address and apt similitudes attracting and edify-
ing the common people. He had not received license to preach, but
the times were extraordinary, and he considered himself bound to
employ the gifts and graces God had bestowed upon him in His service.
In 1672 repeated reference is made in the " Brodie Diary " to his
being in Morayshire, where he was privately licensed and ordained
by his friend Mr. Thomas Hog, and other outed ministers. In his
*' Memoirs " there is a chapter on '* My call to the ministry," where,
among other " grounds " he states, " the ministers and faithful servants
of Jesus Christ did solemnly examine my call, and after trial of my
gifts and conversation by several exercises and pieces of trial re-
commended me, being intimately and of a long time acquainted with
me, having preached frequently in their hearing, and having given
proof of my gifts, were so far satisfied with me, that unanimously,
without the least censure, they agreed to trust me in the name of
Christ with the dispensation of the gospel, and declaratively em-
powered me to exercise the office of the ministry."
36 THE MISSION FIELD.
THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY: HIS WORK AND HIS
MOTIVE.
A Sermon preached at Kirkintilloch, September 24th, 1888, by
the Rev. A. Smellie, M.A., Stranraer.
" For the sake of the Name they went forth, taking nothing of the Gen
tiles."— 3 John 7, R.V.
Let us try to picture the circumstances which called forth this short
letter from the Apostle John.
It was the very close of the first century of the Christian Church —
some time probably in the last decade of that strangest and most
wonderful century that the world has known. The Apostle, the last
suryivor of the little company of faithful souls who had held intimate
fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ in the years of His earthly
ministry, was living in Ephesus, the great city on the iEgean shore —
an old man now, with whom it was toward evening and who was soon
to rest from his labours. The care of the churches had fallen on
him, since that day, thirty summers past and gone, when his beloved
brother Paul had suffered beneath the axe of the headsman outside
the gates of Rome. Not very far from Ephesus — not so far as to
prevent the venerable man from entertaining the hope of visiting it
soon — was the Church to one of the members of which this letter
was sent. It was addressed to a Christian named Gains, a good man
and hospitable, a lover of the Master and of the brethren too. But
Gains, kindly and warmhearted as he was, had had a sharp battle to
fight, and found that his conduct was called in question, and was
made the target for many a hard and untender speech. And the sad
thing was that his foes were the men of his own household, his
fellow-members in the church and family of Christ. The trouble
happened on this wise. Some Christian missionaries had come one
day to the city or village in which Gains had his dwelling — men who
hazarded their lives for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, relinquish^
ing home and gain to carry the good news into the dark places where
superstition and falsehood and cruelty were supreme. And Gains,
remembering the Lord's word about the cup of cold water given to
a disciple, had gladly taken the ambassadors of the cross into his
house, and had shown them all attention and care, and had held
them in high esteem for their works' sake. He knew that they were
THE MISSION FIELD. 37
poor ; he Uiougbt of the uDcongenial society which they were certain
to meet at the public ion ; he was convinced that they would bring
a blessing of peace and prosperity to his own dwelling ; and he bade
them welcome with his whole heart He never dreamt probably that
his kindly deed would kludle the bitter hostility of others who
claimed, like himself, to be servants and friends of Christ ; he sup-
posed that eveiyone in the little believing community would be
ready to do precisely what he had done. But he wt\s mistaken.
The great man in the congregation to which Gains belonged was
Diotrephes. His was not a pleasant or winsome character ; he bore
the Christian name without possessing the Christian souL He loved
" preeminence " — ^to be himself always the most prominent person,
to have nothing done without his consent and condescending patron-
age^ to command and govern those whom he should have been proud
to serve. For one reason or another it angered him that Gaius
should have received the strange brethren with such cordiality.
Tou can imagine what he would say ; for objectors of his class are
not unknown, it saddens one to think, amongst ourselves. " These
men are running unsent," that would be one of his arguments ; and
** surely they might have found abundant work at home, round their
own doors, without invading the sphere and province of others;"
and " it is hard that you and I should contribute to the mainten-
ance of every wandering preacher who forces himself upon us ; " and
"who knows what the character of those evangelists was, before
they left home and kindred and gave themselves to this absurd
knight-orrantry f " and ''taken at their best, they are enthusiasts;
they are wof ully lacking in wisdom and prudence ; they do not make
haste slowly ; their words and ways are extravagant, fanatical,
intolerable; and I for one cannot suffer them." So Diotrephes would
talk wherever he found an opportunity, in public and in private, to
his familiar friends and in the meetings of the church. He went
further still. His pride and ambition led him into the grievous sin
of rejecting the authority of the bosom-friend of the Saviour ; he
spoke malignantly against John himself ; he accused him of abusiug
his apostolical office and power because he allowed the missionaries
to go from place co place. Unhappily he had sufficient influence to
cany the majority of his fellow-members along with him. Gains
stood iJmost alone. So fierce and keen did the feeling against him
grow that he was excluded, not by a formal decree perhaps, but
practically and really, from the Christian society of the place.
Those who had been his brethren passed him coldly by ; if he werr
in the right, it was ** with two or three " — the multitude followe
Diotrephes. Was it not a sore experienc0 for the tender an
38 THE MISSION FIELD.
brotherly and loving-hearted man ? There was every reason why he
Ehould do as his neighbours did — peace, good-fellowship, the dislike
of eccentricity, the example of the rest ; every reason, except the
command of the Master, and the dictates of his own conscience, and
the sympathy he felt for the brave heralds of the faith. But he
had his reward erelong, an ample and overflowing reward. He got
this letter of high conmiendation and gracious encouragement from
the most Christ-like man living then in all the world. He, who
lay '' breast to breast with God," was pleased with Gaius, and could
not refrain from telling him so. And it was worth while encounter-
ing the frown of Diotrephes and the harsh judgment of the church,
if John, whom Jesus loved, and who knew the mind of Jesus better
than any other, said " Well done ! " — ^worth while being driven out-
side the camp, if the great Apostle were ready to bear the outcast
company. Tes ; and to-day all of us would willingly change places
with Gaius, while not one of us envies Diotrephes. The mighty
have been cast down from their seats, and the brother of low degree
has been exalted — the brother with whom the rest would hold no
friendly intercourse, because he had- caught too much of the Master's
spirit and reflected too well His glory.
That is the story of Gaius, the dear friend of the Apostle John,
and the brave helper of Christ's good soldiers. I ask your attention
now to one sentence in the letter which the Apostle wrote to him — a
sentence in praise of those missionaries on whose account Gaius bore
"hatred, scoffing, and abuse." " For the sake of the Name," John
says, " — that blessed Name which is above every name — they went
forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles." Let us think, first, of the
magnitude of the work, and then of the power of the motive.
1. The magnitude of the work which the misnonaries were seeking to
do — we may ponder that for a little.
The great world knew nothing of them ; they were poor, un-
noticed, toil-worn men — often men with very little of the world's
learning and culture. To this work of theirs, " not many wise, not
many mighty, not many noble," were called. When they entei'ed a
town, they came to it without observation ; they excited no stir ;
they were not conducted through the streets " with banner and with
music, with soldier and with priest." Yet they had set themselves
to turn the world upside down ; to change for ever its religion, its
morals, its manners and habits ; to give it a new King, one Jesus, a
Jew who had died on a cross. They meant to revolutionize it
altogether. It looked a quixotic undertaking. When the world did
awaken to some understanding of it, its scholars and wits laughed
THE MISSION FIELD. 39
the Christians to seem ; aad its princes and kings persecuted them ;
they had trial of cruel mockings and scourging.-), of bonds and im-
prisonment, of sharp and terrible death. But nothing daunted them.
For Christ their Lord thej laboured and suffered, and thought them-
selves happy all the while. To save the souls of dying men, they
were willing to be accounted fools and to pass through frost and fire.
They have their successors to-day in those men and women who are
trying to transform the waste places of the earth into the garden of
the Lord. Foreign missionaries are the true heroes of our age — an
age from which some men would fain persuade us that all heroism
has vanished and fled. Let us consider how high and spiritual their
Christianity must be — how many gracious features their characters
must display — ^if they are to fulfil rightly the work to which they,
have given themselves
It is a work that demands no ordinary attachment to Christ — an
attachment, indeed, which is enthusiastic and passionate. A minister
of the Gospel at home, who has not a personal experience of the
preciousness of the truth and the gprace of the Master, is one of the
meet miserable of men. But a missionary, who has gone to those
who sit in the shadow of death to tell them of the Dayspring from
on high, and yet does not understand himself the light and peace
and strength and purity which flow from Christ — his is a hypocrisy
sadder stiU. Even a living faith is not sufficient for him — the faith
must be ardent and strong. He must hear the Master's call ringing
through his heart like the clear notes of a trumpet. He must be
convinced that he is summoned by Christ Himself to testify the Qos-
pel of His grace to the multitudes scattered abroad as sheep without
a shepherd. He must keep the day of reckoning always in front of
him when he will give an account of his stewardship at the bar of
his Judge and King. It must be his supreme desire, the very pur*
pose for which he lives, to disclose to a blind and careless world the
sweetness and grandeur of Him who is fairer than the children of
men. No half-hearted loyalty will do. Nothing will sustain his
own soul amid discouragements and defeats — nothing will impress
and melt and conquer those among whom he labours — but an entire
consecration to his Lord. " He has given me my commission, and it
i« not my duty only but my delight to be faithful to Him " — that
mtut be his habitual feeling ; and his motto must be that of Count
Zinzendorf, " Ich hab' eine Passion, und die ist £r, nur £r " — " I
have one passion, and it is He, He alone." But it is not easy, it is
difficult exceedingly, for a weak and tempted man to maintain from
<lay to day and year to year a devotion like this.
The work calls, too, for a very unselfish love. Of the missionaries
40 I^HE MISSION FIELD.
with whom John and Gains were familiar it is said that ** they took
nothing of the Gentiles." They refused to accept payment from the
heathen for whom they toiled and spent themselves. They had a
reason for the refusal — the same reason that Elisha had for putting
resolutely away from him the treasures which Naaman the Syrian
was anxious to heap on him. The heathen must underatand the
absolute freeness of God's grace and love ; how the Lord of heaven
pardons sinful men without money and without price ; how His un-
searchable riches may be had for the asking. They must be taught
the truth, so strange and blessed, that, while '^ each ounce of dross
costs its ounce of gold " in the markets of the world, God and His
salvation are given away to everyone who stretches out an empty
hand to take them. The disinterested spirit of these old preachers
must animate the missionary still. He has to put far from him the
thought of earthly gain or power or glory. He has to break home
ties that are very close and very dear. He has to leave a land of
light and freedom, of pulpits and Sabbaths, for a land of dense
ignorance and gross idolatry and unblushing sin. He must pour all
his affections into his work. He must overflow with kindness for
the darkened souls among whom his lot is cast, exhorting them with
tears, bring them ever on his heart, rejoicing over them as his glory
and crown when at length they are won for Christ. It is a lofty height
to which he must climb ; such unselfish love is hard of attainment.
Then, also, the work needs an unwearying patience. The true
missionary yearns to see fruit from the seed he has sown — green
blade, and ripening ear, and in due season the full com in the ear.
It is not because he covets honour for himself that he is eager for
results ; it is because he pities so profoundly those who are perishing,
and because the progress of the heavenly kingdom lies so near his
heart But the harvest is long in coming ; the progress is painfully
slow. It is not in a day, nor in a year, nor in a lifetime, that
the beliefs and customs of a heathen community are transformed ;
the disciple, like the Madter, seems to spend bis strength for naught
and in vain. One thinks of the Moravians waiting decade after de-
cade among the snows of Greenland without a single convert, or of
Robert and Mary Moffat hoping and praying and toiling in Kuni-
man for those Bechuanas who turned a deaf ear to all their appeals.
O, it is very difficult to be stedfast and immovable and to abound in
the work of the Lord, when the enemy is so obstinate, and men's
hearts are so callous, and the soil is so unproductive — very difficult
not to lose patience, and to grow heart-sick and weary of it all.
Near akin to this quality of patience is another which the mission-
ary must display — that of an abounding hopefulness. When he is
THE MISSION FIELD.
dealing witli an individual soul, he must be convinced that, sunk in
darkness and defilement though it is, Jesus the Saviour is able and
willing to heal and renew it. When he looks abroad over the dis-
trict where he has his home, he must never question that, far from
God and far from righteousness as it is meanwhile, it will yet be a pro-
vince in the Kingdom of his Captain Christ. When his thoughts take
a wider range and embrace the whole round earth, it must not plunge
him into despair, however much it may sadden him, to think that
after nineteen centuries of the Gospel only a third of the world's in>
habitants have heard the joyful sound ; he must believe and be sure
that bj-and-by men " shaU fear the name of the Lord from the West
and His glory from the rising of the sim." There is a fine itentence
m Tacitus to the effect that, though the Roman arras were often de-
feated in battle, they were always victorious in war ; worsted in an
isolated engagement and at one moment of the campaign, they never
£uled to triiunph in the end. That must be the unalterable per-
auasion of the soldier of the cross in heathen lands, if he is not to
lose heart outright. Christ may suffer a reverse here and there,
but His final success is certain — on that belief he must stay himself.
Buty surrounded as he is by superstitions that will not move from
their ancient seats, and by a scepticism which mocks at the setter forth
of new Gods, it is all but impossible for him to maintain a good hope.
Th^re are many other featares of character, as far beyond the
reach of common men, which the good missionary of Christ must
possess. He must manifest an exceptional and maaynsided wisdom,
ndapting himself to different temperaments, able to meet all kinds of
objections and cavils, prepared for every emergency. And his must
be a lof^ courage. He needs all the chivalry and daring and self-
sacrifice of the old knights, if like them he would " break the
heathen and uphold the Christ." It is not often, perhaps, that
the missionary of to-dkj runs the risk of death at the hands of those
whom he is trying to conquer and bless, although the histories of
Coleridge Patteson and James Hannington show that even this
crown is not yet denied him. But he must be prepared to face
death in shapes as grim and dreadful. Martyrdom may come
through an unhealthy climate as well as through the spear-thrust or
the bulletw Ion Keith-Falconer, dying fever-smitten in »South
Arnbia at the age of thirty-one ; the Baptist missionaries on the
Congo, falling one by one at their posts ; the deserted station at
livingstonia with the quiet graves in the wood hard by, of which
«uch a pathetic account has been given us lately by Professor Drum-
mond — it requires no little bravery to encounter contingencies like
these. Thinking of the missionary's life, his disappointments his
43 THE MISSION FIELD.
Bacrifioes, the temper he must display, the work he must fulfil, may
we not say about him that he needs the . Holy Ghost in more aban*
dant measure than other men 1 It is hard to evangelize one's own
heart ; it is harder still to be a preacher of Christ's Gospel by word
and life to careless souls at home ; but it is hardest of all to fight
and sufifer for Him in the dark lands where the glad tidings are
scarcely kno¥m. This is the summit of Christian privilege ; it is
the most difficult and perilous enterprise, too, to which the soldiei^
of the faith can be called.
2. But we must turn now to the other side of the picture. Let us
think of the potver of the motive — the constraining force which im-
pelled the missionary friends of Gains to undertake so arduous a
work, and which sustained them in the performance of it.
" For the sake of the Name they went forth," so the Revised Ver-
sion, following the older manuscripts, translates John's words strik
ingly and beautifully. There was no necessity for anything more de-
finite— ^no call for the insertion of the pronoun or for saying whose
name it is. There is but one Person who can inspire men aud
women to attempt and to canry through an enterprise like this. It
is He about whom the Puritan fathers delighted to say that they
found in the Bible a hundred and eight of His names. It is He
whose worth and glory and love human speech labours in vain to
describe. It is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Prophet and Priest and
King of the church. His name has a virtue and a consolation and a
charm which no other has. It can make him that is feeble as David,
and the house of David as God, as the Angel of the Lord. It can
breathe strength into the weakest of our souls. " For the Name's
sake" — ^let us expand the phrase, that we may comprehend how
significant and how forceful and how compelling the motive is.
It is the name of Saviour. This is what the missionary feels, ''He
loved me as no one else did or can ; He bore the reproach of men,
and the assaults of Satan, and the hiding of His Father's face, that I,
who was dead in sin, might have everlasting life ; He came seeking
me, down from the heavenly country, and out into a world which
received Him not, and along the Dolorous Way, and up the shame-
ful hill of Calvary — seeking my soul through poverty and rejection
and darkness and death, until with an infinite price He ransomed
me. And what would I not do for Him ? How can I sufficiently
show my gratitude to Him 1 His love urges me on ; His exceeding
grace has made me His bondslave. For His dear sake I shall go to
the ends of the earth and welcome the heaviest duty, and carry the '
sorest cross." To live within sight of Bethlehem and Grethsemaue
THE MISSION FIELD. 43
aad Golgotha is to have the strongest of all motives to obedience
And actiTitj and endurance and sacrifice. Shall I tell jou what this
Name prompted soofie of our brothers to do and bear only the other
day 1 They were three negro boys, pages of the heathen king of
U-Oanda. They had been baptized, and their master was bitterly
angry. He commanded them to be tortured. Their arms were cut
otfy and they were bouud alive to a scafifolding, under which a fire
was made, and so they were slowly burned to death. As they hung
in their agony over the flames, the soldiers of the king jeered them, and
told them to pray now to Isa Masiya — Jesus Christ — if they thought
that he oould do anything to help them. And at once the spirit of
the martyrs entered into the lads, and they raised their voices to-
gether, and sang till their shrivelled tongues refused to form the
words — kUla sUm tungitu :
*' Daily, daily, sing to JesuB ; sing, my soul, His praises due ;
All He does deserves our praises, and oar deep devotion too.
For in deep hamiliation He for us did live below ;
Died on Calvary's cross of torture ; rose to save our souIb from woe.**
The name of Saviour has lost none of its old fragrance and precious-
nesa. It is as potent at this moment as ever it has been.
But the name is that of Brother, too. The Christ, who died for
oar sins, lives to-day : death has no more power over Him. He was
not a great and wise Teacher only, who founded a religion among
His feUowmen — a religion which, in virtue of its inherent truth, has
surviTed all resistance, although He who created it is Himself no
more, and " on his grave with shining eyes the Syrian stars look
down." Nay, He still guides the society of His saved ones. He ia
its llTtDg Head ; He is their Elder Brother. And especially is He
Brother of those who dare and sacrifice much for Him. He walks at
their aide ; He breasts the Hill Difficulty along with them. Do you
remember the saying of the younger of the two sufierers at the waters
of Bladnoch when she caught sight of the last agonies of her com-
lianion — " What do I behold but Christ wrestling in one of His
members f " And it was no brave metaphor that she spoke ; it was
the literal truth ; in every furnace in which His servants find them-
selves'there is One with them like the Son of Qod. Indeed He never
leaves them. He directs their movements. He reveals His will at
each fresh crisis of their work. He enables them to accomplish
wonders just as He Himself was wont to accomplish them. He re-
strains the hostility of their enemies. He draws new friends to their
idde. He is the best, the strongest, the tenderest of Brothers — a
very present help in time of need. What stimulus there is in this
44 I'HE MISSION FIELD
thought ! What a motive there is in this Name to toil and watch
and pray !
And the name is that of Advocate. I doubt whether Christian
workers attach sufficient impoitance to the prayers of Christ He is
continually pleading for them ; out of the fulness of His knowledge
and the fulness of His love He asks His Father for the blessings
they require ; He ever liveth to make intercession for them. And
<jod grants Him every request ; He is well-pleased with Him for His
righteousness' sake. Let us consider, for example, how Christ begs
for His servants the gift of the Holy Ghost — the enlightening,
sanctifying, comforting Spirit ; and wins the boon ; and makes it
over to them. What should dishearten them when they have such
a Friend to secure for them such a prize? Men and women for
whom the Lord Christ prays day and night at the throne of God
ought surely to be strong and of good courage. He is acquainted
with each of His missionaries; He is thankful for each, and anxious
for his welfare ; He knows the hindrances and vexations which each
has to meet, his special field of labour, the particular necessities of
his work ; He calleth His own sheep by name in the pi-esence of His
Father, and singles them out from all the rest, and gains for them just
that succour and strength and wisdom which they want. All things
are theirs, because Christ is theirs — Christ who moves the arm and
^ways the heart of the Most High God. Is not the Name mighty
to chase fear and difficulty away and to fill the soul with peace ?
Last of all, it is the name of Lord and King — King of kings and
Lord of lords. They whose daily work it is to exalt it are on the
winning side ; all power in heaven and earth belongs to Him who
bears it. It is long since the heathen were promised Him for His
inheritance, and, though the vision has tarried, it will surely ootne ;
the delay will not be for ever. There are many signs in our time of
the decay of false systems and religions • Christ is gaining a foot-
hold in many lands that were formerly closed against Him. The
blessed process will go on, until the earth is His and the fulness
thereof, just as the incoming tide advances, with many a relapse, till
it has covered the beach at length. And is there not great en-
couragement here to labourers in the mission-field f Let them* strive
to make the Name better known ; for then they will share in the
glory of this latter day which is coming certainly and soon ; they
will help to usher in the new heavens and the new earth wherein
dwelleth righteousness; they will be among those to whom the King,
the Prince Fmmanuel, will turn with pride and joy in the hour when
the City of Mansoul has been made entirely His — those whom He will
THE MISSION FIELD. 45
thank, O how graciously, for bringing about so glorious a triumph.
Assoredlj the motive is a prevailing one.
Ky brethren, I would fain magnify the office of the foreign
inisaionary ; I would persuade you, if I can, to think highly of it.
The work is heavy and heart-breaking. But the honour is great.
Christ and Paul were missionaries, and so were many of the world's
noblest men. The Master takes a special delight in those who go
freely forth, out of love to Him and love to their fellows. He makea
sore that their labour is not in vain, however few the results may be
of which they are aware themselves. And when their earthly task
is done, it is with them as with Mr. Valiant in the story ; '^sp they
pass over, and all the trumpets sound for them on the other side."
And those of us who cannot be foreign missionaries — ought we not
to copy the well-beloved Gaius? He brought forward on their
joomey the ambassadors of Christ — ^brought them forward '' after a
gcdiy sort." The words mean, '* worthily of God;" he treated them
even as €rod had treated him — God whose thoughts and ways toward
him all the days of his life had been most wonderfully kind. If, like
him, we are imitators of such an Exemplar, we shall give the mission-
vies our money, our help, our love, our care, our prayers ; we shall
deal with them as the Father of an infinite majesty and an infinite
mercy has dealt with us. Then shall we share in the commendation
of Gains ; we shall be " fellow-workers with the truth/'
OUR FOREIGN MISSION.
Ws have mnch pleasure in announcing the safe arrival of Mr. and
Mis. Blakely at Bombay on the 3rd November. After spending a
few days in that city they proceeded to Nagpore, where they met
with a cordial reception from the Free Church Missionaries located
there, who have always proved most friendly to our Missionaries.
From thence they went by rail to Eamptee, where one of the Orphan
kda, Henry Firth, was in waiting to guide them through the jungle
on their way to Seoni. The welcome they received from Mr. and
}AxK Anderson and all connected with our Mission was most enthusi-
astic^ and made them feel quite at home. At the time we write they
will have been a month at Seoni, and will be getting familiar with
the people and the work. Now that they are face to face with the
inhi^itants of a foreign land, where there is so much need of earnest
46 THE MISSION FIELD. ^
And energetic workera, they have need of our sympathy and daily
prayers so that they may be strengthened for duty, and eminently
successful in carrying the glad tidings of salvation to old and young.
It will interest not a few to read what Mr. Blakely has to tell con-
iteming the voyage out to India and his first impressions of Indian
life. Writing on the 16th November he says : —
" Our voyage was an unusually pleasant one. The Bay of Biscay
was quite calm, and in the Red Sea we had a head wind all the time,
a very uncommon thing. We only stopped at Port Said and Suez,
and in neither place was there much to see. As, however, it was the
first time I had come in contact with Eastern life, everything was
very interesting to me. We had only two hours to spend in each
place and therefore could not see much. Our fellow passengers were
very pleasant. Among them was a lady going to Seoni. She is a
great friend of Mr. and Mrs. Anderson's and gave us lots of informa-
tion. I held a service every Sabbath but the first one, when every
one was too sick to attend. The Anchor Line allow only one service.
All the passengers did not come, still we had a pretty fair attendance.
We anchored off Bombay about ten o'clock in the evening of the 3rd
November. Nobody went ashore that night. Early next morning
we were all astir, delighted to be done with close cabins, ship fare, and.
all the monotony of a sea voyage. We stayed three days in Bombay.
The heat was so great that we were thankful to get away. The night
before we left a friend took us ixy see the Dwalii or New Year
illuminations. They were very pretty. He also took us through
one of the cotton Bazaars. The shopkeepers have a custom of pre-
senting small bouquets of flowera at the beginning of the year. They
are supposed to bring good luck. We received several. We left on
Tuesday evening at^ six o'clock, and reached Nagpore at half-past
seven on the following evening. The country was very flat. We
were met at the station by the Rev. J. Douglas and Miss Maver— one
of the Zenana ladies. They gave us a hearty welcome. We stayed
four days in Nagpore. Everyone was exceedingly kind to us ; indeed
it was like parting with old friends when we left. Our journey to
Seoni was something quite new to both of us. Mr. Anderson sent
the t09iga to Kamptee and Henry Firth, one of the Orphan boys, to
help us. He proved most useful ; indeed I do not know what we
would have done without him. The road from Kamptee to Seoni is
very pretty. The ground rises and falls a little. The country is
well wooded, and the road itself is much better than many of those
at home. We spent two nights on the way in the bungalows. The
first one, Chor Badi, was a very eerie place. It is in the jungle and
is famous for tigers. We had been delayed, and the last three or
PAGES FOR THE YOUNG. 47
four miles before reaching it were done after sunset. Our driver
made the bullocks go very fast and thej seemed just as anxious to
get on as he was. We passed one place where there were three heaps
of stones in memory of three men who had been carried off by a
tiger. We reached our stopping place all right, but did not get much
sleep. There were all sorts of strange noises. The carts kept passing
all night through, in long streams of fifteen or twenty, heralding their
approach by the tinkling of the bells on the bullocks' necks and the
shouting of the drivers, who kept yelling at the pitch of their voice
to frighten the wild beasts. The mosquitos too kept us busy all
night long. At Korai, a bungalow about twenty-one miles from Seoni,
I received a letter from Mr. Anderson, telling me he would meet us
about ten miles out with a horse tonga. Our first intimation of his
approach was the arrival of James Smellie'on horseback who told us
that Mr. Anderson was at hand. In a few minutes more he was
welcoming us to Seoni. The boys of the school had been given a
holiday in honour of our arrival, and some twenty or thirty of these
came out to meet us along with some of the teachers. By the time
we reached the town there was quite a procession. Such a hearty
welcome made us feel at home at once. They all seemed so delighted
to see the new Sahib and Mem Sahib. Yesterday I stood by Mr.
Anderson's side as he proclaimed the Gospel at a fair about eleven
miles from Seoni, but the account of this I must reserve for another
letter. There have been holidays in the school, so that at present I
have not much to write about."
$agce for the loung^
BIBLE QUESTIONS.
We propose in each Dnmber to give a series of Questions for our young
readers to answer. In the meantime the mottoes adopted by those who send
the most correct answers will be printed in the Magazine. Ultimately their
Dames will appear. They are asked to attend to the following Instructions : —
1. — Thoee under twelve years of age answer the questions on the Life of
Mosea. Others answer the questions on the Parables.
2, — Do not send your name. Write a motto at the beginning of your
paper instead. •
3. — ^Do not write the questions — only the answers.
4. — ^Pnt the number at the beginning of each answer.
.5. —Leave a blank line between each answer and the one following it.
6l — Send your answers before February, addressed 0. S. MagoMnt; the
Rev. R. Morton, 23 James Street, Perth.
48 PAGES FOR THE YOUNGi
IdfE OF M0SB8.
1. — Who were the parents of Moses ? Where do their names appear ?
2. — What were their reasons for sparing him? Why do they deserve
special praise for doing so ?
3. — How are the "bulrnshes " mentioned in Ex. iL 3, connected with onr
word " paper ? "
4. — What benefits would Moses derive from Pharaoh's daughter ?
5. — What good would he derive from his mother's training ?
Thk Pabables of Jbsub.
1. — What is a parable ?
2. — Why did Jesus speak so often in parables?
3. — Read Mat. vli. 24-27, and tell in what respects you think the oolish
man was like the wise man.
4. — What are the floods, winds, and rains that will test whether we are
wise or foolish ?
6. — ^How may we follow the example of the wise man ?
SEKMON TO THE CHILDREN.
By the Rev. P. M*Vicab, Dundee.
" Sappodng Him to be the gaidsnor." JoBirzz. 16.
OtJB object at this time is to speak of the Lord Jesus as the gardener, the
f!ardens He cultivates, the plants and flowers and fruits He produces. It is a
pretty sight to see a well kept garden full of beautiful plants, fragremt
flowers, and delicious fruit. What a contrast to a garden neglected, over-run
with weeds, and studded with thorns and thistles ! The first of these^^ictures
tlescribes the soul of man when created, the second his condition after the falL
When God made our first (Inrents, Adam and Eve, their souls were like
beautiful gardens, full of righteousness, love, and goodness ; but after they
transgressed their natures were filled with the weeds of sin. God, however,
in His great goodness, has made provision for restoring the garden of the soul
to its original beauty, fragrance, and fruitfulness, and the work has been en-
trusted to the Lord Jesus. Now, supposing Jesus to be the gardener in your
case,
TOUB HEART, Y0T7B SOUL MUST 9B HIS.
If a gardener goes into a field, which may be a real wilderness for wildnees
to obtain for himself a garden, the first thing done when the spot is selected
is to mark it off, and thereby separate it from the rest of the field. When thia
is done, the separated spot becomes the gardener's. It may be very ngly when
he gets it, but it is now his property to cultivate and improve. In like
manner, supposing Jesus to be the gardener in your case, you must become
separated from the world, your heart, your soul must be given to Jesus.
Have you given your heart to the Saviour ? We like what a little girl one
day said to her Christian mother, on being shown a picture representing Jesus
holding a child in His arms, while the mothers were pushing their children
PAGES FOR THE YOUNG. 49
towudi Him. '* There, Carrie," aaid her mother, " that is what I would have
done with yoo had I been there." Bat Carrie beautifally answered, " I wouldn't
be poshed to Jesus, I'd go to Him without pushing.'* May each of you do
the same, if you have not done this already, and give Him your heart to be
His garden beautiful and fruitful to His praise 1 But supposing Jesus to be
the gardener yon may rest assured
HE WHX CULTIYATB AXD GABB FOR TOUB SOUL
with skill and patience. One of the first things a gardener does with a piece
of ground selected for a garden is to erect a fence round it, to keep it when
cultivated from being trodden down by eattle or passers by. Well, supposing
Jesus to be the gardener, your soul will have a fence around it. That fence is
fonned of God's commandments. These are to guard us from the dangers to
the soul which exist in the world. In iUostration of this let me tell you the
sabetanoe of a story given by an interesting writer. A pious mother, when
parting with her boy who was going to sea, made him promise, in her anxiety
to keep him from sin, never to taste strong drink. By and by the sailors
tried hard to make him drink, but all to no purpose. At length one of them
said he was sure he would make him. But the boy met all he had to say with
the fifth commandment and other portions of Scripture about obedience to
parents. So the old sailor left him. On returning to the others, he was asked
bow he got on, when he answered, ** Yon can't do anything with him he is so
full of the Bible." Thus was the Word of God a fence to this boy in the hour
of temptation, and we incline to think when a boy or girl takes up a position
like that it must be because Jesus is the gardener.
Then a gardener is careful to prepare the soil for the good seed. He must
dig, cleanse, and enrich the soil. It will not do without either of these pro-
cesses. As the seed will not grow upon the hard earth, the land must be dug :
as it will be choked in impure soil, the soil must be cleansed of impurities : as
it will never thrive in poor ground, the ground must be enriched. Now sup-
posing Jesus is the gardener He will carefully prepare the soil of your nature
by giving you an honest and good heart, that is a heart made new by the Holy
Spirit, wherein will grow the flowers and fruits of grace. ** I want my heart
to be one of the gardens of the Lord Jesus," said a girl to her grandmother,
*' bat I don't know how to keep the young plants growing. I try to be good,
but I so often do wrong things." <* Try to be good," said her grandmother,
'* that is right, but something else must co^ first. Ask God for Jesus' sake
to make you good, and to keep yon good, then your heart will not be like the
ftooy ground, but like tiie prepared soil, and will bring forth the plants the
gardener loves to see." Wherever this is the case surely Jesus must be the
Farther, how skiffitUy the gardener eoioe the seed ? It is where it will certainly
prosper. And when the Lord Jesus becomes the gardener of the heart this is
what He does. He sows the truths of the Bible into the hearts of others, and
when He wants these truths to prosper He is sure to sow them where they
will grow. We dare not say Jesus can be baffled. Little gardeners in the
persona of boys and girls are often baffled to make seed grow when they want
it, bat the Lord Jesus is never so. " Come away," said a little girl to her
* andmother as she twirled her bonnet by the string, *' and see what a beauti-
fal green-house we have made," and away she ran accompanied by a little
brother and sister, carrying a toy watering pan and a noseless teapot filled
D
so PAGES FOR THE YOUNG.
with water. When they arrived at an old wooden tool- house — ^which was
the beautiful green-house — there was a collection of old beef tins, blacking
bottles, and old jugs filled with earth, and in them were daisies, and roses,
and dandelions, while there stood in the principal place an old frying-pan
filled with earth. *' And what is to grow here," said her gmnd mother, giving
the frying-pan a touch with her foot. " Oh ! that's to be the most precious
of all," answered the girl. " We have sown such a lot of beans there, and it^s
to be a bean-field. " The grandmother said nothing. ' ' Why don't you speak ? "
said the girl. *• Will they not spring?" "Oh, yes they will spring, but''— "Oh,
there is to be no buts," interrupted the girl. Well, by and by this young
gardener came to her grandmother, and sorrowfully told that something had
gone wrong with the bean -field, for all the stalks were hanging down their
heads. " The reason is," said the grandmother, *' they have not had sufficient
depth of earth." That's it. The girl was unskilful, sowing beans where they
had no room to grow. She was very anxious to have a bean-field, but she
failed. Jesus never fails in His work. When He wishes the good seed of His
Word to grow He makes it sink deep into the heart prepared by His grace,
where it springs up and bears fruit to His praise.
Moreover, gardeners art very patient. Often they have much trouble in
getting plants to grow in their gardens, and if they had no patience they
would never be able to rear so many pretty plants and flowers. It is the same
with Jesus, " supposing him to be the gardener." He bears with the slaggish-
ness of our nature to yield fruit, and with us, though we may often hinder the
growth of plants by our carelessness. Sometimes boys and girls when they
make gardens get tired of the work, an eave the plants and seed very much
to take care of themselves. The consequence is that the growth in their
gardens is very slow. Indeed, you may sometimes see their tiny gardens
overrun with weeds for want of care and attention. And what a strnggle the
plants and seed have to live ? It will be the same perhaps with your heart
many a time. But supposing Jesus to be the gardener. He will be patient with
you over your failure to take care of your soul, and will teach you by His Word,
and it may be by trial, to be more careful of your soul's welfare. Again, sup-
posing Jesus to be the gardener, think
WHAT THIS GARDEN OF ORACB WILL TIELD.
, We have only space to mention a very few of its flowers and fruits. One
pretty flower is a nmple trust in the Saviour. Trust in the Lord Jesus has
been likened to honeysuckle. That plant cannot stand by itself. It must
have something to cUng to. Give it a cord or pole or branch and it will twine
itself around it, filling the air with its fragrance. Now, supposing Jesus is
the gardener, there will grow up in the garden of your heart the most beautiful
honeysuckle the world has seen in the form of a simple trust in Jesus and calm
resting upon God for everything. And what does it cUng to ? The promises
of God. Another pretty flower which grows in this garden of grace is
repentance. This has been likened to the snowdrop which appears in early
spring and hangs its delicate little head as if sorry for some wrong-doing.
This flower of trne repentance will be found in every heart when Jesus is the
gardener. Another pretty flower is meekness. This is bearing insults without
revenge, and blows without striking back. What a beautiful illustration of
this we have in the Saviour, who when He was spat upon, smitten, mocked.
PAGES FOR THE YOUNG. 5 1
Hid not strike back or retaliate ? There were two boys named Tom Lane and
Ross Carson living in one town. Tom was a great boaster and fighter and was
oontinnally teasing and irritating Ross, who would nol quarrel with him. One
day Tom addressing the other boys said aboat Ross, "Oh, hell stand anything
rather than double np hie little fiat,*' and going up close to Ross knocked the
hooks from under his arm on to the ground. The face of Ross flushed at the
insult, but he said nothing. Stooping he picked up his books and walked away.
Could you do that ? That boy surely had the flower of meekness growing in
his garden. How different it is with many boys and girls ? When they are
angered or injured they strike back, and say, ** I'm not going to let him or
her do what they like." Think what Ross did : better still, think what the
Saviour did.
But a Kreat many fruits grow in the garden of grace, such as thoughtfvlMSs
about others, sympathy with them in trouble, jorgiveness, and rendering ffood/cr
eviL Let me illustrate the last. A new hall was being built in the town
where Tom Lane and Ross Carson lived. Tom proposed to half a dosen com-
panions that they should go up to the top of the half completed tower where
a splendid view could be had. The ascent was by a narrow winding stair*
*'Be careful,** said a voice behind, and looking roncd the boys saw Ross
Carson. *' How came you here, you little coward ?" said Tom, rudely. "The
carpenter gave me leave,** he answered. " But it is a dangerous place." '* It's
likely you think so," sneered Tom. *'Yon*d find the head of a barrel a
dangerous place. As for me I'd like to see the place where I wouldn't go.
Boys, do you see that ?'* said Tom, pointing to some scaffolding which overhung
the pavement. In a moment he was out and walking fearlessly about. The
boys stared in fear and wonder, and begged him to be careful. But he boasted
the more. " Wouldn't it be a long jump to the pavement,'* he said, and as he
spoke he looked down. He became dizzy. The boys got frightened. Suddenly
Ross Carson climbed quickly and noiseleBsly out. In an instant he threw his
arm around Tom's waist and dragged him back. Thus Ross saved his enemy.
That afternoon Boss could not go back to the school. In a few hours about a
dozen of his schoolmates came in upon him headed by Tom Lane, who said,
" I am come to ask your forgiveness,*' holding out his hand. " You've taught
me what true courage is, and made me see what a cowardly sneak I've been."
From that day they were fast friends, and it was all brought about by rendering
good for eviL Kow if yon let Jesus be the gardener these are the kind of
flowers and fmits which will spring up in the garden of your heart.
••KEEP HER TO HER COURSE,"
Bt J. C. Atb.
A Fsw months ago I stood on the bridge of a steamer as she plowed her way
throQgh the scmiewhat troubled waters of the Bay of Biscay. I enjoyed
ittteosely the invigorating breeze as it came in from the Atlantic. Holding
firmly by the rail, and looking out on the ceaseless succession of surging waves,
I beoune wFapt in contemplation of the grandeur and magnitude of the works»
and the mightiness of the power, of the great Author of the Universe.
Suddenly, a voice that rose strong and clear above the rush and roar of the
wavw as they washed the deck, rung out these words, *' Keep her to her
! can't yon see the compass ? what's the good of giving you a course if
53 PAGES FOR THE YOUNG.
every one takes a conne for hinuwlf ? " It was the Captain sounding forth a
needed reproof to the man at the wheeL
Frequently have I reflected on the force and appropriateness of the words
from a spiritual point of view, and have several times made use of them in
that manner.
The following thoughts are snhmitted in the hope that they may prove
a stimulus to many in the right course, as they have been a source of profit to
myself, and have evidently been received with pleasure by others to whom
they have been expressed. We are all more or less familiar with the repre-
sentation of human life under the idea of a voyage. It is in harmony with this
analogy to say that we are all afloat on the sea of life. Now, in order that this
voyage may be a successful and happy one — ^successful in respect of the purpose
of life, and happy in the enjoyment of Him who is the source and object of
delight — ^and that the end thereof maybe an abundant eu trance into the haven of
perpetual bliss — Grod has made necessary and ample provision in the person of
Jesus Christ. Shall we take it for granted that you have accepted of the
" grand gift of eternal life granted by Grod to man " iu the name and through
the merits of His son ? This is surely not too much to take for granted : for
why should any one remain satisfied with familiarity in regard to the terms
of salvation, and not gladly and at once receive the gift so freely offered ? We
may ¥rith safety say that if Jesus, in His divine fulness, has not been ap-
propriated by faith as of Ood made unto us wisdom and righteousness and
sanctification and redemption, then we are not sailing o'er life's sea, but drift-
ing merely. How sad the condition associated with this idea ? How lament-
able not to have any definite and desirMe port in view ? How sure and dire
the destruction which awaits every vessel freighted with an immortal soul
which is thus drifting, dr\fting to endless ruin on the shores of the eternal
world ? But even where the prow of the ship has by divine grace been turned
he&venward, with the compass of unerring truth on board, and the helm of
faith constantly used, it is often no easy matter to "keep her to her course."
There is no doubt the man at the wheel on the occasion referred to found it
difficult to keep the steamer to the appointed course as wave after wave beat
against her and swayed her from it. He may have thought there could be no
harm in allowing her to yield a little bit, and he would bring her round now
and again. But as the compass on the bridge of the steamer, and the compass
at the wheel, worked in harmony the captain at once detected that the vessel
was not being guided according to instructions, therefore he sounded forth the
words of reproof, " keep her to her course ! can't you see the compass ? what's
the good of giving a course if every one takes a course for himself ? " W^ell,
is it not true that when the waves of temptation and of trial beat against an
individual he may be apt to yield just a little in hope of getting easier along ?
Ah ! but the moment we diverge from the instructions and injuhctions of the
compass of the written toord, and would have our own way, that moment is it
registered in heaven by means of the compass of the livino word, becaase
between these there always exists the strictest, most unfailing harmony.
Listen ! then, as from His position in the glory above, the Captain of our
salvation calls upon us in circumstances of trial and perplexity. "Keep her
to her course \ can't you see the compass ? " The Word of God points unerr-
ingly for it points back to Him from whom it came. There is no possible con-
dition iu which one may be placed in life's changeful flow but there will be
found something in the Word which will meet and fully satisfy the wants of
the soul. It says in regard to the Saviour — and this is the course meant for
PAGES rOR THE YOUNG S3
everytriecl and tempted one^" In that he himself hath sufifered behig tempted,
he is able to soccoor thetn that are tempt sd.'* Heb. ii 18. And "There
hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man ; but God is faith-
ful who will not suffer yon to be tempted above that ye are able ; but will with
the temptation also make k way of escape that ye may be able to bear it."
1 Cor. X. 13. It may be His will to cause the broken billows of bereavement to
Sow over the souL Well, what then ? Shall we give way to repining and mur-
muring and questioning and despair? Surely not ! " Keep her to her course !
can*t you see the compass ? " " The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of
trouble; and He knoweth them that trust in Him." Nahum i. 7. "Our
light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceed-
ing and eternal weight of glory ; while we look not at the things which are
seen, but at the things which are not seen ; for the things which are seen are
temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." 2 Cor. iv. 17| 18.
** Rejoice in the Lord alway, and again I say, rejoice." Phil. iv. 4.
Perhaps the wild waves of doubt are now and again dashing in fearful fury
against the soul, under the force of which one may be apt to succumb, or get
indififerent and careless in regard to one's standing in Christ. Oh, let us be-
ware of yielding even for a little while, since thb is only to grieve the Spirit
and woand the heart of the Saviour. Listen to the Great Captain as he again
calls in tones of tenderest love, ** Keep her to her course ! can't you see the
compaas ? " The course is safe and sure. "Stand fast in the faith." 1 Cor.
xvi. 13. "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made
OS free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage," GaL v. 1.
"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus
who walk, not after the flesh, but after the spirit." Rom. viii. 1.
Under whatever circumstances one may be placed, it is surely the be
safest ooQzse to cling close to Christ, to lay hold with firm unfaltering faith on
the nnalterable fact, that " He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life,
and AaH not come into condemnation, but is passed irom death unto life.*'
JohniiL36; v. 24.
The course which God hath appointed for His people is one of holiness. This
is clearly marked on the compass of the written word, " Be ye holy, for I am
holy." 1 Peter L 16.
Even the chastiMment to which the "Father of spirits " subjects His loved
and loving ones is designed " for our profit, that we might be partakers of His
hotineas." Heb. xiL 10.
It is one of the outward marks or manifestations of genuine faith in the
Lord Jesus that the individual seeks to avoid everything which would be
ihooosistent with the profession of that faith. "Keep her to her course ! *'
What is the good of God giving a course if every one takes a course for him-
self? Is it not true that many have drifted far out on the ocean of speculation
simply on account of having failed to submit solely to ihe directions contained
in the chart of heavenly wisdom ?
Oh, that all would willingly and at once yield themselves to God in His own
way. and at His own time. His way va simple, and His time is now. It is the
simplicity of the arrangement of the God of heaven in the matter of human
salvation that many turn into a self-made barrier in the way of their cheerfully
falling in with God's method of deliverance. "His ways are not our ways,
neither are His thoughts our thoughts." Isa. Iv. 8.
Let us then be careful to allow Him to have His way, and having given
ourselves to Him we ought to seek that He by His gracious presence woul
54 LITERATURE.
constantly maintain in ui the conviction that we are His ; that we are not our
own ; that we are bought with a price, even with the precious bloo<l of Chriat.
And may we ever bear in mind that in proportion to the completeness of our
aonender to the guidance of the Spirit of Him who hath called us out of dark-
eas into marvellous light ; in proportion to the steadfastness of our faith in
Him who is our Life and our Hope ; in proportion to our devotedness to the
Father of merci^ and God of all grace ; and in proportion as we realise tde
vastness of eternity with its imperishable issues, and the shortness of time with
it momentous consequences, Mrill be our diligence in disseminating the truth
as it is in Jesus, and our earnestness in seeking to adorn His doctrine in our
lives and conversation
JCitcraturc.
A GOOD biography, when the subject is really worthy of the labour
and skill bestowed upon it, furnishes moat healthful and stimulating
reading. The biographical element in the records of divine revela-
tion, is, as we all know, very prominent. It is through the lives and
experience of noble and great men and women — made noble and
great through the influence of divine grace — that God has been
ploiised to reveal Himself. The men, no less than their sayings and
writings, make known to us God's character and purposes. In
Christ's person, as the " brightness of the Father's glory and the ex-
press image of His Person," we have the perfect and final manifesta-
tion of God. And gbod men still form a bible in which God reveals
Himself to us. They are " living epistles," written with God's own
hand, and bearing witness to the power of His grace to transform our
nature and raise us to a high moral and spiritual level.
lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime.
Viewed, in this ligbt, the biographies of good men, when judiciously
written, are fitted to exert a very healthful and invigorating influence.
Acquaintance with them tends, too, to lift us above the narrowness
tiiat would confine the mighty power of divine grace into certain
grooves of operation. It will show us that its operations are as varied
in their character and results, as are the temperaments of individual
men. The response which each one may give to the movements of
that grace is in harmony with the peculiar disposition with which he
has been divinely endowed, and so the character formed will have
distinctive features of its own. As God working in nature produces
endless forms of beauty — no two flowers being exactly alike — so in
His working in grace there is produced an endless variety of character,
all reflecting His own perfect glory. What in our judgment is one
of the best of our recent biographies, is that which deals with the
life of the late Dr. William Robertson of Irvine, and comes from the
LITERATUREi 55
able and skilled pen of Dr. James Brown of Paisley. (Glasgow:
Jamea Maolehose & Sons, 1888.) This is not the first success Dr.
Brown has achieved in this field of biography, and it will greatly add
to his reputation as a skilful literary artist. He doos not content
himself with giving mere details of outward history, but gives us
glimpses of the inner history, revealing to us what the man really
was in his weakness and in his strength. Like the true artist in
painting a portrait, Dr. Brown not only faithfully pictures the out-
ward features, but presents them as lighted up and glorified by the
beautiful soul that revealed itself through them.
The outward events in Dr. Robertson's life may be sketched in a
few lines. He was born at Greenhill in the parish of St Nlnians,
near Stirling, on May 24th, 1820. He belonged to a gifted family,
und one not more distinguished for its gifts than for its piety. His
father was a man of great natural ability, cultured by a university
education, and esteemed throughout the whole district in which he
lived for his integrity and piety. '' The estimation in which he was
held," writes the biographer of his distinguished son, '' was quaintly
expressed to me by his minister, the late Mr. Steedman, who, after
speaking of Greenhill, where I had been visiting, looked at me with
the peculiar expression which those who knew him will remem-
ber, and said, in the vernacular which he could use so effectively :
' Do ye no' think, Mr. Brown, that John Robertson is just as guid a
man as there's ony use for ) ' "
Young William received the most of his early education under his
father's roo^ under the tuition of his elder brother James, who after-
wards became the loved minister of Newington U.P. Church, Edin-
burgh. The only school outside his early home which he ever
attended was at " The Camp," a row of colliers' cottages at the foot
of the road loading up to Greenhill. Here between his sixth and
seventh years he got the rudiments of education, sitting on the same
form with the colliers' and farm labourers' sons, and mingling freely
with them in their play. One of the " secrets of the power which
the Scottish clergy exercise among their flocks is that the great
majority of them have enjoyed this advantaga No subsequent part
of their training, at grammar-school, college or hall, is more valuable
than th&t which makes them feel their oneness with the class that
generally forms the major portion of Scottish congregations. They
can preach the Gospel to the poor all the better that they know
them as only schoolboys learn to know each other." The delicacy of
health, which to the end continued with the subject of this biography,
at this early stage of his life made its appearance.
So rapidly did William's education and that of a younger brother
make progress under his father's roof that in the autumn of 1832
both were enrolled as students in the University of Glasgow. William
was then only twelve years of age, and his brother was two years
younger.
During his university course, in which he did not in any marked
way distinguish himself, and which was interrupted by wei^ health.
56 LITERATURE.
he acted as tutor to a family at Glendeyon. When his university
training was completed he passed to the Theological Hall of the
Secession Church. The most noted of the professors at that tim^e
was Dr. John Brown, and among his fellow-students were many who
have since risen to great eminence, such as Dr. Ker and Dr. Caim&
But among all the influences under which he was brought at this
period, the strongest, in his own estimation, was that of Thomas De
Quincey, who had taken up his abode in the home of a friend. He
once said to a friend : — " I have had two kinds of education, that de-
rived from books and teaching, and that derived from play and the
exercise of my own mind. The latter, I can testify, is that from
which I have derived the most profit. If I have developed into any
power, it is by casting aside all to which I was trained, and cultivate
ing every faculty that was repressed. I gained enthusiasm from Sir
Daniel Sandford, but no Oreek. I gained no theology from Dr.
Chalmers, (under whom he had sat for one session) but I gained
enthusiasm. I gained no theology from Dr. Brown, but what I
gained was encouragement. I gained more from De Quincey than I
obtained from all my teachers. Dr. Brown said, after hearing my
first discourse, that it was such a discourse as Do Quincey would have
written had he been a student of divinity." It was on the advice of
De Quincey that, after passing through all the usual stages of pre-
paration for the Gospel ministry in tbe Secession Church, he sought
to equip himself still more fully by continuing his studies in Ger-
many. It was at Hall^ he took up his residence, but he does not
seem to have given himself to very hard study. His dreamy nature
could not brook being tied too long to any set task. Because of this,
Tholuck, one of the most distinguished evangelical teachers of the
theological faculty at Halls, used to say of him : — *' Ahl he will never
come to anything ; he is a great idler."
Shortly after coming home from the Continent in the spring of
1843, he was licensed to preach the Gospel Ere long he received
and accepted the call addressed to him by the congregation at Irvine,
and was ordained there in the December of that year. Thus begalti
a ministry which was in many ways a remarkable one. He continued
to minister to this flock of his choice until, in 1870, his health broke
down. It was only at short fitful intervals after this that he was
able to exercise his ministry, and soon a colleague and successor had
to be appointed, who relieved him of all responsibility. For some
years the most of his time was spent on the Continent,
loving and admiring friends enabling him to do this by their munifi-
cent gifts. He threw himself with his whole soul into the quiet
study of the art treasures found in such places as Floreuce, and loved
to conduct to them, friends who might visit the locality, and discourse
about their merits and their meaning in his own mystic, yet sugges-
tive way. The last years of his life were spent in a home in Mid-
lothian, called Westfield, put at his disposal by his friend Dr. Young
of Kelly, whom he used playfully to designate '^ Lord of the Oils.'*
Here, amid the company of congenial friends, who often came to
LITERATURE. 57
TiBit bim, he spent calmly the evening of bis life. Death came ta
bim, however, when he was visiting a sister at the Bridge of Allan.
After, at his nsquest, as he lay on his death-bed, a favourite Passion
Ujnm was sung to him, breatbing the prayer :
Jesn, all f^ace supplying,
Oh, turn Thy &ce on me,
he said, with a smile, " That will do." ** It was," says bis sister
''bis last Like a tired child, sinking to rest, be gathered up those
beautiful features, that grew sublime in death, and as the church
liella b^an to ring for afternoon service he passed within the gate."
This was on June 27th, 1886.
It cannot but strike one on reading this account of his life that,
while he was burdened from early years with delicate health, yet he
might have continued longer in active service had he adopted better
methods of working. Can any read the following account of his
manner of working, without seeing that the terrible strain put upon
his constitution was sure^ all too soon, to wreck it)
" His prepamtions were made at high pressure. He seldom began till the
afternoon of Friday, and he was accusU>med to say, that he considered that he
had made aaUsiactory progre8s,if ,by the time he went to bed, which he never did
till well on in Saturday morning, he had reached the point of thinking that
his text would not do at all, and that he would need to look for another. On
Saturday he appeared at meals, but hardly ever spoke, and only made a pre-
tence of eating. The whole day — which, however, in his case, did not begin
till near noon — was qpent in his study, and he seldom retired to rest till four
or five o'clock on Sabbath morning. ... On the Sabbath morning he seldom
rose till the hour of service was perilously near. He hardly left himself tim&
to dresB, and often did not even attempt to breakfast ; but had to hurry away
as soon as he came downstairs, followed on the road by the straggling members
of his household, who had all been occupied to the last in the effort to get
him ready in time. On one occasion. When he was assisted at a Communion
by Dr. Johnstone of Limekilns, one of the calmest and most methodical of the
elderly ministers of the Church, that divine, who had withal a gift of kindly
humour, said with a smile that the manner in which the household found their
way to church reminded him of the close of the record of St. Paul's shipwreck,.
' And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship. And
BO it came to pass that they escaped all safe to land.' "
The wonder is, that with by no means a robust constitution, and
the putting of such a strain upon it, not that he broke down, but that
he <&d not break down sooner. The habit, which seemed to Tholuck
to be idling, but which was not really so, but of dreamy poetic con-
templation, issuing in deep insight and rare spiritual power, had
obtained the mastery over him. One consequence of this was that,
though he planned many things in the way of literary effort, he ac>
complished nothing. The extracts from his letters i*eveal a rare
gift of literary expression, combined with originality of conception
5^ LITERATURE.
and great powers of imagination. Specially touching and beautiful
are letters written to comfort friends under the shadow of sorrow.
One can understand from them that fascination and charm of his con-
versation felt and enjoyed by evei*y one brought into contact with
him. And the gift of a kindly humour was also his, often filling the
circle gathered around him with rippling laughter, and brightening
his correspondence with inimitable touches.
One aim which he set before him in his ministry was to show what
he conceived to be the true relation between religion and the fine
arts. It was his conviction that music and architecture, painting
and sculpture, ought, in our churches, to be brought into the service
of devotion. In seeking to carry this conviction out in the new
church built for his congregation at Irvine, many things were intro-
duced into the adornment of the building, and into the conduct of
public worship, that were questionable in their tendency. They gave
rise to a good many suspicions, and Dr. Robertson used to tell with
great glee of the caution of his beadle. Dr. Robert Buchanan had
come to preach at his anniversary, and in the interval of worship was
going over the building, while Mr. Robertson was busy in the vestry
with his afternoon sermon. Dr. Buchanan called the beadle to ask
him some questions aiout the bos reliefs in front of the pulpit ; but
the beadle, afraid lest the great Free Church leader meant to make
sinister use of the information sought, became dry and uncommuni-
cative. ** I canna lay't aff to ye, sir ; ye'll need to ask himsel," was
all that could be got from him While his love for art led him, in our
opinion, into mistakes in this matter, yet his love to the old-fashioned
worship remained strong within him to the very end. When Dr.
Kerr, in a speech in the U.P. Synod, made a speech regretting the
exclusion of the Psalms from the praise of the sanctuary, Dr. Robert-
son wrote him a letter, from which we take the following : —
'*No doubt the weird wail of Goleshill at an old Bacrament was very barbarous,
■oompared to the mild prettinem of Bonar and Ira Sankey ! Bat Bomehow I am
barbarous enough to prefer it with • Why art thou cast down ? ' or ' 0 thou,
my soul ! ' The grand march of an old Scotch tune, w ith all its natiye wild-
ness, or of its more harmonious cousin german the chorale, is far finer than the
waltzing devotion of 12th masses, and the light tripping gallopade of a metri-
cal chant 1 Even the ' Seed we bury in the earth * of my lamented Dr. Bruce,
how trifling it sounds at any funeral, even at its own, compared with the
solemn dead march of the 90th Psalm, or truly dirge-like 102ad or lOdrd,
^Such pity,* etc. Or, if hymn they wiU have, why not take the inspired hymn
included in that same chapter, ' Death is swallowed up, O Death,' etc., which
is a burst of thank^ving to Qod who giveth the victory, and not a mere
dialectical discussion. In very many cases I believe a little argument will be
«nough to show that the old is better, and if the new is better, by all means
let us have it. What is wanted is rather revival than reform, and when the
spirit of devotion wells up like a flood, all little dilettante teacups will be
swept away soon enough, and broader, deeper vessels called for, to hold the
overflow. * Stay me withflcigowt, for I am sick of love.*"
Dr. Robertson, too, though catholic-spirited, and able as few. to
NOTES BY THE WAV. 59
enter into sympathy with different types of religious thought and
feeling, stood himself on the ground of the old theology. He dreaded
the time when the " ship of the Church should leave behind her^ on
her voyage across the ages, and lose sight of the great red light of
Calvary, and shining lamp of the Holy Sepulchre of Him who was
deUvered for our offences and raised again for our justification."
At the time of the Luther celebration in 1883 he revisited (Ger-
many, and the change which had then oome over religious thought
within recent years^ is thus referred to :
" There seems a great revival of real evangelical religion since I was here
forty yean ago. Then, one could scarcely find an evangelical preacher ; now,
everyone seems so. And the theological faculty appear to be all Christian.
In lecturing on German student life, as you cannot remember, thirty-five years
ago, I ventured to predict that it must come to this. How glad I am to find
ii. The Lnther festival has brought into prominence justification by faith
slone, and the living personal Saviour. With these even the mass of the
people seem to be inter-penetrdted. Formerly, not only the doctors, but even
my waeherwoinan said, the winds blowing and grass growing, and so forth,
are God, and there Is none else. IHSerent now, I hope the change is really as
great as to me it has seemed within the last few days to be. Many have, with
the poor, gifted Henry Heine, at the last returned, as he says, ' like the pro-
digal to the Father, from the swine-troughs of Hegelian philosophy.' I won-
der if we shall have to come back here to learn our religion, when we too get
weary of these swine-troughs that were shipped over to our side, when the
Germaoa had done with them. We have also had some troughs more British,
materialist^ atheistic, positive, which Scotch people won't long endure, the
national philosophy being — the best kind of it, that is, I always think~<K>m-
mon — — — ^
In the pamphlet entitled Irish Protestants and Unionist Leaders,
(William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh) we have the speeches de-
livered by the leading representatives of the Protestant churches in
Ireland on the question of Home Rule, at a recent banquet given
the Unionist Leaders. They are characterised by earnest conviction
and vigorous expression and are well worthy of being deeply pondered.
fitAtfi fjj^ tije 8Ras«
Thb question of pulpit plagiarism is one that has recently been
brought prominently before the public. Surely if there should be
honesty anywhere, it ought to be in the place where God's message
IS delivered to men. No one need be ashamed to use the thoughts
of others, if they be thoroughly assimilated and made bis own.
There would be no use in reading at all as a means of ministerial
preparation, if help of this kind were illegitimate. It goes with-
6o NOTES BY THE WAY.
out saying that the minister who does not read and in this way seek
stimulus and food for the mind will be the worse kind of plagiarist.
The thoughts that he does give and the language in which he clothes
them, cannot be called his own in any true sense, because they are
common property. He does nothing, as has been said, '' but gather
stones in the highway which belong to every one, and gives them to
the people who sit before him starving for the bread of lifa" He is
thus much on the same level as the man who is so dishonest as to
take another man's sermon and deliver it as his own. All this
plagiarism is a very old thing, and is found sternly condemned in
the writiugs of the prophet Jeremiah. " Therefore, behold, I am
against the prophets, saith the Lord, that steal my words every one
from his neighbour,'' chap, xxiii. 30. The best way to secure fresh-
ness and the best kind of originality is to come prayerfully to the
Bible and a Throne of Grace for a divine message. Then the fresh
grasp of even old and common-place truths will surround the present-
ation of them with new force. In connection with this subject a state-
ment about the published sermons of Ralph Erskine recently rather
startled us. It was to the effect that page after page in these
volumes is taken, often verbatim, from Thomas Goodwin.
♦ ♦
*
The mention of Goodwin leads us to think of the Puritans, and
certainly in the field of spiritual exposition > of Bible truth they have
not yet been excelled. We thoroughly agree with what Dr.
Alexander Whyte of Edinburgh recently said about these Puritan
worthies and their works : " It does not gain a name to him who
says it, but I must add that we have no greater ministers than the
Puritans, no apter scholars, no greater saints. The Germans have
done splendid service with regard to the letter of the Scriptures, but
the true and proper spirit of the Scriptures — that for which they
were created on the earth — we have nowhere set forth, to my mind
and hea]*t at least, better than in the Puritan divines. For the
setting forth of the glorious personal work of Christ, the unutterable
sinfulness of sin, the beauty of holiness, the peace and safety of
justification, the glory and praise of God in all, I would go to those
rich Puritan vessels."
It is refreshing in these days, when the Westminster Confession of
Faith is regarded by so many as an antiquated document^ to hear
Dr. Andrew Bonar, on the occasion of his Jubilee, openly and boldly
avowing his belief in it and attachment to it. This was significantly
done in his reply to the address presented to him from his Presby-
tery. " He had no hesitation in telling the brethren that he had
been true to the principles of the Free Church to this hour. But he
would tell them more : he believed the whole of the Confession of
Faith. He was utterly amazed at the hollow dishonesty of men who
put their names on the day of their ordination to that book, and
then told the people, ' Oh, we believe part of it, but we believe what
^OTES BY THE WAY, 6l
76 lika' Well, he believed everything in that Confession." A dis-
tinguished American divine, Dr. T. M. Ludlow, has also recently
beeo expressing his high admiration of this symbol of Bible doctrine,
lie well remarks that infidelity never put a tithe of the brain power
and study into its systems that the Westminster Assembly put into
the making of this little book ; and expresses his belief that it will
aeyer become obsolete in the reverence of the Anglo-Saxon race until
Msgna Charta and the Declaration of Independence are obsolete also.
The rectorial address of Lord Lytton to the students of Glasgow
University is about the poorest thing of its kind that could well be
imagined. Viewed from a literary and intellectual standpoint, a
rery low place must be assigned to it And viewed from a moral
standpoint it only merits severe censure and emphatic condemnation.
The position be took up in the address virtually was that nations in
their international intercourse are under no obligation to obey the
moral law. To come with such a message to hundreds of young
men, preparing for their life-work, revealed the unprincipled char-
acter of Uie man, and showed how unworthy he was of the position
to which he has been raised. What a contrast does this address
present to that delivered by the late Mr. Forster to the students of
Aberdeen University in 1874, in which occurred these words, " It is
when men have had faith in the Unseen that they have had power
for themselves, and therefore power for others, and thus it has been
that the world has made its steps forward. And if at any time there
has been a nation, more than others possessed by this faith, hearing
the aUl/ram ahove^ seeing the work to be done, the task to be ful-
filled, that nation has led the van in the world's march.'*'
♦ ♦
Signs are appearing of a renewed attempt to effect an incorporat-
ing uDion between the Free Church and the United Presbyterian
Church. At a meeting held last month in Glasgow, in celebration of
the " Ter-Jnbilee " of the Secession, and attended by Dr. Rainy,
strong feeling on the matter found expression. Principal Douglas,
in apologising for his absence, wrote, " I consider our existence, as
two separate churches, to be sinful, and I hold that engagements
have been made by us^ which it is our duty, to carry out at the
earliest possible opportunity, by effecting a union." It is almost
nure in some form or another to come before the supreme courts of
the different churches this year. Warning has already been given
to the leaders of the Free Church, that, though the principal men of
the Constitutional party have passed away, the old legal ques-
tions about property that put a stop to previous negotiations will
again be raised.
*
An alliance has been formed among the nations of Europe for the
suppression of the slave trade on the east coast of Africa. A naval
blockade of the coast is to be maintained, and it is hoped that in this
62 KOTES BY THE WAY.
way a stop may be put to this horrid traffic which Livingstone
designated the " open sore of the world." Portugal until now has
been deeply involved in this traffic, but it has entered into the
alliance. The suspense about the intrepid traveller, Stanley, who
has gone to the assistance of Emin Pasha is not quite relieved by
recent tidings of him. If the latest accounts of him are truthful, it
will not be long until there is some communication from himself.
In reference to the alliance spoken of, the Christian Instructor of
Philadelphia remarks : " Now if these same nations and some others,
including our own, would form an alliance to prevent the rum traffic
with Africa, another act of righteousness would be done, and another
long step taken toward elevating and Christianising the dark con-
tinent." The following is from the ^ew York Witness, and shows
that the devil's agents are much more active than those of Christ :
THE DEVIL'S MISSIOKABY ENTERPRISE
The Rev. S» Augastas Cole, author of interesting works on African secret
societies, customs, and religions, stopped n short time in England during
January, 1887. He remained a week in Liverpool, and made a daily memor-
andum of the shipping returns posted every day in that port as received from
Madeira, where all vessels bound for West or South African ports from Europe
or America stop. During one week these bulletins of the cargoes reporting at
Madeira contained the following amounts of Liquor and Tobacca Brother
Cole vouches for the correctness of the list below, as he daily copied it. The
valuation is his estimate, and may not be strictly correct, but is under rather
than above the trath. This is the terrible List for One Week : —
960,000 Cases of Gin, £240,000
24,000 Butts of Rum 240,000
90,000 Cases of Brandy, 90,000
28,000 Cases of Irish Whisky, 66,000
800,000 Demijohns of Rum, 240,000
36,000 Barrels of Rum, ... 72,000
60,000 Hogsheads of Tobacco 1,800,000
30,000 Cases of Old Tom, 60,000
15,000 Barrels of Absinthe, 45,000
800,000 Barrels of Ale and Beer 1,600,000
600,000 Barrels of Claret, 300,000
500,000 Barrels of Port Wine, 100,000
40,000Ca8es of Vermouth, 3,000
2,800,000 Boxes of Cigars 270,000
£5,116,000
(ScjcleBiststic^I IntelliQenjce.
DuKDEB Missionary Meeting. — A meeting for promoting the in-
terests of our Foreign Mission work was held in the church at Dundee
on Monday evening, 10th December, and was numerously attended.
The Rev. Peter MTicar occupied the chair, and after the opening
devotional exercises delivered an address on the necessity for sua-
ECCLESIASTICAL INTELLIGENCE. 63
tained effort in mission operations in foreign lands. The Rev. Wm.
6. Gardiner, Convener of the Foreign Mission Committee, gave
details oonoeming the present agencies at work in Seoni, referring-
particularlj to the agents, the schools, and the orphanage On the
motion of the Rev. Thomas Hobart, M.A., Carluke, seconded by the-
KeT. Edward White, Kirriemuir, it was unanimously resolved —
" That this meeting hears with great gratification of the continued
pro^rity of our Missionary work in all its branches at Seoni ; and
reaoWes to give continued assistance in carrying on Mission operations
in that part of India where our agents are employed." On the
motion of the Rev. Alexander Stirling, Arbroath, seconded by the
ReT. George Anderson, Coupar Angus, it was cordially resolved —
"That this meeting learns with 'Special satisfaction of the engage-
ment of Mr. Robert Blakely as an evangelist for the foreign field ;
hears with pleasure of the safe arrival of Mr. and Mrs. Blakely in
India ; and resolves to take a personal and sympathetic interest in
their work, and remember them in prayer." These resolutions having
been spoken to with marked effect, it was agreed, on the motion of
Mr. Jack, to accord a very hearty vote of thanks to the speakers. A
liimilar compliment having been paid to the Chairman, the meeting
was closed with prayer, praiso, and the benediction.
Perth Mission art Meeting. — A meeting for deepening the in-
terest of the Perth congregation in our Foreign Mission work was
held in the church there on Tuesday evening, 11th December, and
was well attended. The chair was occupied by the Rev. Robert
Morton, who, after the opening devotional exercises, addressed the
meeting on the Lord's work in foreign lands and the need for
spreading the Gospel far and wide. The Rev. William B. Gardiner
made a statement concerning the present position and future pro-
spects of the Mission station at Seoni, and urged the necessity for in-
creased funds to continue our operations in a foreign land. Resolu-
tions similar to those passed at the Dundee meeting were moved and
seconded, in most telling addresses, by the Rev. Thomas Hobart,
M.A^ Carlnke ; the Rev. Peter M*Vicar, Dundee ; the Rev. Edward
White, Kirriemnir ; and the Rev. George Anderson, Coupar Angus.
On the motion of Mr. James Anderson, one of the elders of the con-
gregation, a very cordial vote of thanks was given to the speakers,
and also to the Chairman, on the motion of Mr. Hobart. After
{ffayer and praise, the meeting was closed with the benediction.
Glasgow. — The eiglith session of the Literary Association, which
meets during the winter months in Mains Street Church Hall, was
opened on Tbursday, 1st November last, with an address from the
Rev. Ebenezer Ritchie, Paisley, Hononaiy President, on " Wanted —
Hen." On the 29th of the same month a lecture was delivered to
the Association by Robert Brown, Esq., PoUokshields, Hononary
Secretary of the China Liberation Society, on " China and the Opium
Trade."
Asoow — Bridgbtok. — ^The Home Circle of this congregation was
€4 ECCLESIASTICAL INTELLIGENCE.
opened for the present session on Tuesday evening, 2nd October, 1888,
by the Kev. John M*Kay, Honorary President, his subject being '' The.
Spanish Armada." In his opening remarks the lecturer referred to the
condition of Scotland and England prior to the Invasion. He showed
that the Papists were a very powerful and numerous party notwith-
standiiig the Reformation. He also referred to various plots set on
foot for the destruction of Protestantism and Queen Elizabeth, and
traced the origin and design of the Spanish Armada. He pointed
out several things in the providence of God which helped to destroy
it effectually. The death of the commander ; the Dutch fleet block-
ing up and preventing the Duke of Parma from joining the Armada ;
Queen Elizabeth's suggestion to send burning ships among the
invaders ; and the great storm which wrecked and scattered their
ships. Mr. John Allan proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. M'Kay
which was heartily given for his able and interesting lecture. The
attendance at the opening meeting was over 50 which augurs well
for the coming meetings. The meeting was then closed in due form
by praise and prayer. — The anniial social meeting of this congrega-
tion was held on the evening of Monday, 17th December, and was
largely attended. The Rev. John M'Kay, pastor of the congregation,
occupied the chair. After tea, interesting and stirring addresses
were delivered by the Chairman on — " How working men should
spend their evenings ;" by the Rev. Mr. Gault on " The Church as a
witness for Christ ; " by the Rev. T. Hobart on ** The duty of main-
taining a devoted attachment to our principles and doctrines ; " and
by the Rev. A . Miller on " The journey of our new missionary to
India." The speeches were interspersed with tasteful music and
well-rendered recitations. After the Treasurer's report had been
read, and the customary votes of thanks given, a very enjoyable meet-
ing was brought to a close by prayer.
Bursary Competition. — The annual competition for bursaries was
held in Mains Street Church, Glasgow, in October last. Conybeare
and Howsou's life of Paul was the book on which the competitors
were examined. The first (Dick) bursary, X8, was gained by Mr.
James Young, Perth, the second, £7, by Mr. James Patrick, Carnoustie.
Both papers were good. Contributions to the Bursary Fund will be
gratefully acknowledged by Rev. W. R Gardiner, Pollokshaws, Rev.
Thomas Hobart, Carluke, or any member of the Hall Committee.
Calls — Unanimous calls have been addressed by the Kilwinning
Congregation to tlie Rev. T. Matthew, Midholm, and by the Dromore
Congregation, Ireland, to the Rev. E. White, Kirriemuir.
Commemoration Mkbtinq. — The Christian Leader of December 6
contains the following : — The Original Secession Church, Bedford
Street, was last week the scene of a service in commemoration of
the bicentenary of the Revolution. The attendance was large, and
addresses were given by the Revs. A. Yuill (who presided), A. Miller
of Kirkintilloch, J. M'Kay of Bridgeton, J. Ritchie of Shottsbum,
and W. B. Gardiner of Pollokshaws. We are sure that a detailed
account of this meeting would have been perused with interest by
our readers.
THE
ORIGINAL SECESSION MAGAZINE
MARCH, 1889.
THE CATECHISMS OF THE REFORMATION.
Thebe were Reformers before the Reformation, morning stars shining
out of the thick darkness before the sun rose to usher in the day*
But no one needs to be told that the Reformation began when Martin
Luther nailed his Theses to the gate of Wittenberg Church on the
last day of October, 1517. Many believed the doctrines of grace, and
guided their lives by them, before that All Saints' Eve. They
thought what Luther proclaimed that " it is a lamentable error for
any one to imagine that he can make satisfaction for his sins, because
God always forgives gratuitously, requiring nothing in return but
holy liTing." But to know how to say what others only think is
what Doakes men poets and sages, and to dare to say what others
simply dare to think makes them reformers and martyrs. And so-
that was a great moment in history when the Augustinian monk,
angry at the false teaching preached at his own doors, and prompted
by the Spirit of God, published to all the world the truth which was
in danger of being forgotten, that salvation, like the sunshine and the
rain, comes to us without money and without price.
The Reformation had begun; but it was established by slow
d^reea. The light of truth, like the light of the morning, shone
more and more unto the perfect day. Just as in the individual soul
tbere is first the instantaneous transition from death to life, and
afterward the progressive sanctification, so in the religious experience
of the young Protestant commonwealths there followed, when the
decisive step had once been taken, an enlightening and confirming pro-
cess. Tear by year they became better acquainted with the faith.
One method especially their leaders adopted for the instruction of
those who had associated themselves with the good cause. It was
NO. U. VOL. XIX. E MEW SERIES.
66 THE CATECHISMS OF THE REFORMATION.
not altogether a new method At an early period of the Church
catechetical teaching had been imparted to the converts who had re-
nounced their heathenism and been baptised. But during the Dark
Ages the duty had been neglected, and the people had grown up
ignorant and superstitious. Here and there, among the Albigenses
of France, and the Yaudois in the Valleys, and the Bohemian
Brethren, instruction continued to be given in this way. But these
were the exceptions. When the Reformers composed their Cate-
chisms, in which by question and answer the cardinal doctrines of
their creed were enforced, they may not have done an original thing.
But they revived a good custom which had fallen almost universally
into desuetude.
I cannot describe all these Reformation Catechisms, nor can I be
very minute even in regard to those which 1 select as representative
and typical. But it may not be uninteresting to recall in some
slight way what the leaders of the new movement did by this method,
both on the Continent and at home, for the advancement of truth
and righteousness.
I,
Let us commence with Martin Luther himself. It was twelve
years after the burghers of Wittenberg heard the strokes of his
hammer, and read the Theses which gave John Tetzel and Pope Leo
such trouble, before he wrote his Catechism. This was what impelled
him to do so. He had been travelling through Saxony at the request
of the Elector John, inquiring into the religious condition of the
people — what schools the children had, what doctrine the ministers
preached, what character these pastors bore. He found much
that saddened him : abuses which he had to rectify firmly, and yet
tenderly, for it required both a strong hand and a considerate heart
to make the crooked places straight. Chiefly he was distressed hy
the want of knowledge, the darkness that might be felt. The German
peasantry seemed destitute of all intellectual and spiritual culture.
The Church of Rome had left them of set purpose in the prison-house,
believing that their ignorance would keep them devout children who
would not question her dogmas too curiously. As he went from
place to place, the resolution grew strong within the Reformer
that he must banish the shadow of death which brooded over the
land. He had been trying to do this for years, but he discerned
more clearly now how the end must be gained. When he was at
home again, he sat down to compose, not a commentary nor a con-
troversial tract, but two Catechisms for the people, a larger and a
smaller. The larger grew under his hands until it was more elaborate
than he meant it to be ; but the smaller was admirably fitted for its
THE CATECHISMS OF THE REFORMATION. 67
purpose Veiy soon no book was better known or loved through all
Gennau J than Dr. Martin , Luther's Kleine Catechumtu, " It might
be bought for sixpence," Justus Jonas said, ''but six thousand
worlds would not pay for it." And another friend declared that " a
better book, next to the Bible, the sun never saw, for indeed it was
the juice and blood, the aim and the substance, of the Bible." It
was in the spring of 1529 that Luther gave it to the world.
The Catechism begins with the Commandments, which are explained
in simple language. It passes to the Apostles' Creed, which it regards
as dealing with three subjects — creation, redemption, and sanctifica-
tion. The Lord's Prayer occupies the third division ; and then there
follow two sections, the one treating of the Sacrament of Holy
Baptism, and the other of the Sacrament of the Altar, as Luther
named the Lord's Supper. This was the whole as the book was first
published ; but to the third edition the author added some questions
on Confession and some liturgical forms for those who sought the
tdrice of a father-confessor. From first to last there are not more
than 6fty questions.
Few of all the Reformer's writings were so useful. The Catechism
reached the humblest of the people. Lijce the Gospel, it entered in
at lowly doors, and was read by those who bound the sheaf or built
the house or dug the grava It contains strong fcod for strong men,
and jet milk for babes, for Luther could express the deepest things
in the plainest words. Shall we imagine ourselves in some village
of Saxony or Thuringia or Franconia on a Sabbath morning, a few
jears after the Kleine Catechismus first saw the light ? It is very
eailj; but the children are gathering to the church, for a special
Bcrrice is held for them before the regular worship of the day begins.
They have sung a German hymn, and now the pastor is putting to them
the questions of Luther's Catechism. There is not a word which the
httle ones do not comprehend. They have come, let us suppose, to
the part which deals with the creed. '* I believe in God, the Father
Almigh^, Maimer of heaven and earth," the young voices say ; and
the pastor asks, *' What does this mean 1 " Immediately the answer
is returned, ^' I believe that God has created me and all creatures ;
has giren me body and soul^ eyes, ears, and all my limbs, reason, and
aU my senses, and still preserves them to me ; and that He has also
given me my clothes and my shoes, my food and my drink, my house
and my home ; that richly and daily He provides me with all needful
Qoorishment for body and life, and guards me from aU danger and
evil ; and all out of pure fatherly divine goodness and mercy, without
^j merit or worthiness of mine. And for this I am bound to thank
^ praise Him, and also to serve and obey Him. This is most Oer-
68 THE CATECHISMS OF THE REFORMATION.
tainly true." And now the sweet voices ring out, ** I believe in Jesus
Christ, His only Son, our Lord." Again the question is put, " What
does this meani " and the answer comes, " I believe that Jesus Christ*
true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true
man, bom of the virgin Mary, is my Lord, who has redeemed me, a
lost and condemned human creature ; has purchased and delivered
me from all sins, from death and from the power of the devil ; not
with silver and gold, but with His holy precious blood, and with His
innocent suffering and dying ; that I may be His own, and live in
His kingdom under Him, and serve Him in endless righteousness and
blessedness, even as He is risen from the dead, and lives and reigns
for ever. This is most certainly true." Or perhaps it is the section
explaining the Lord's Prayer with which pastor and children are
engaged. " Our Father who art in heaven," they say ; and he
asks, "What does this mean?" "God will," they answer, "God
will in this way sweetly persuade us to believe that He is our true
Father, and that we are His true children ; that cheerfully and with
all confidence we may ask of Him, as dear children ask of their dear
fathers." And, at the close of the prayer, " What does Amen mean 1 "
" That I should be sure such prayers are pleasing to our Father in
heaven, and are heard by Him ; for He Himself has taught us thus
to pray, and has promised that He will hear us. Amen, amen — ^that
means, Yes, yes, it shall be done. Amen, amen, das keiszt, Ja ja, es
soil also geschehen" By-and-by the minister reaches the last question ;
and then with another bymn and a fervent prayer, the service closes,
and the young people troop away to their homes.
These are some of Luther's questions and answers, and very simple
and beautiful and touching they are. When the ground is parched
through excessive drought, and men and beasts and trees and flowers
can barely live, it is not the great river which moves majestically on.
within its banks that will restore the lost fertility and gladness.
The thirsty land, which scarcely tastes the nourishment the river
brings, continues to droop and die. But let the rain descend from
its home at God's right hand. Softly and quietly it does its work,
for His machinery is not noisy like man's. Yet the work is effectual.
The rain has touched each blade of grass, and its touch is instinct
with magical virtue. The hills and woods clap their hands; the
flowers lift their heads ; everywhere there is a jubilant life. Like
the influence of the rain was the influence of Luther's Catechism.
Its truths permeated the minds of the German people, and wakened
their consciences, and melted their hearts. Lo, the winter was past ;
the bleak season of spiritual death was over and gone. Luther him-
self was the pupil of the Catechism as well as its parent. When he
THE CATECHISMS OF THE REFORMATION. 69
was tempted of the devil, he repeated its sentences to himself, or
rather, as be said, to God, as an antidote against the fiery darts of
the wicked one. " I am a doctor and a preacher," he wrote, ''yet I
aui like a little child who is taught the Catechism ; and 1 recite woid
by word the Ten Commandments, the articles of the Creed, the Lord's
Prayer, the Psalms ; and must remain, and do cheerfully remain, a
child and scholar of the Catechism."
Tet we cannot hide the fact that the book has very serious defects.
In speaking of the Commandments, it follows the division of tho
Romish Church, omitting the second, and breaking the tenth into
two. It gives too Bipall a place to those doctrines for which its
author oontended with manful energy, and too large a place to the
Sacraments. It raises Confession into a kind of third Sacrament ;
for Luther set a high value on private confession, believing that it
afforded comfort and support against sin. In the treatment of the
Lord's Supper, too, we have indications of that theory of consub-
stantiation, which the German Reformer maintained so strenuously
and so unreasonably against Zwingli. " What is the Sacrament of the
Altar 1 " one question runs ; and the answer begins, " It is the true
body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, under the bread and wine."
We are sorry that there should be such blemishes as these ; yet we
cannot wonder at it. It is rather matter for surprise that Luther,
with all his early associations binding him to Catholicism, and with
opposition to encounter at each onward step, should have advanced so
hr. The task of the pioneer is always difficult and hazardous. Those
who follow do not find the path so rough, and may make greater pro-
gress in it than their forerunner did. They can consolidate the results
he has achieved. They can avoid the mistakes he has committed.
They can press to loftier heights. It is an incalculable advantage to
them that he has gone before. But, defective though his work may
be, it has an honour which does not belong to theirs. He pointed
the way. He took that first step which is so much more difficult
than any succeeding one. They only perfect and complete what ho
has hegun«
II.
We may leave Germany, for a time at least. No doubt we should
risit Geneva next, for the purpose of examining the Catechisms which
John Calvin published there in 1536 and 1541. They are not so
simple and childlike as Luther^s ; but, as we should expect from the
great theologian of the Reformatiou, they are fuller and clearer in
their statement of truth. But their spirit is reproduced in our own
Westminster Catechisms, and therefore we need not linger over them.
70 THB CATECHISMS OF THE REFORMATION.
With an acknowledgment of our reverence for him who wrote them,
to whom Presbyterianism is even more deeply indebted than it is to
Luther, let us cross the English Channel and come nearer home.
Let us look at tbe Anglican Catechism, published first in 1549,
when Edward the Sixth, mtdtis ilU bonis Jlebilts, occupied the throne,
and revised in 1604 and 1661, not altogether for the better.
The Protestant movement never made such progress in England
as it did on the Continent or within our Scottish borders. Partly
this was due to the fact that at its outset it was political rather than
religious. Its aim was to emancipate the throne and kingdom from
the supremacy of the Pope, not to liberate the conscience from the
faith which the Pope inculcated. Henry VIIT. was amply satisfied
when he had substituted Csesarism for ecclesiasticism, the worship
of his own Majesty for that of his Holiness of Rome. It oould not
but be hurtful to the health and vigour of the English Reformation
that it should originate in such circumstances. Its progress, too,
was retarded. So long as it was fostered by Edward YI. and his
advisers, it promised well. But its golden age was short Under
Mary Tudor, " unhappiest of queens and wives and women,'' came
the Papal reaction, when those who clung to a purer faith were driven
across the seas or put to death at home. Protestantism revived with
the accession of Elizabeth ; but the queen had no religious enthusiasm.
As in tbe case of her father, political expediency rather than spiritual
conviction made her the enemy of Rome, and she went only so far in
her allegiance to the faith of Luther as she was compelled to go.
Episcopacy she retained and confirmed, whilst she hated Puritanism ;
and her predilections in regard to church government were typical
of her doctrinal views. All along, she leaned to the sacrament-
arian side and had scant sympathy with those who preached the
freeness of God's grace. These were the difficulties with which
English Protestantism had to contend. Much was achieved, yet not
by any means so much as in other lands where the atmosphere was
less chilling and the sunx)unding8 more kindly.
We have proof of the lack of thoroughness in the Anglican de-
parture from Rome in the Catechism of the English Church. It is
meagre and unsatisfactory. But its brevity is the least of its faults.
Those who hold that '* the sacraments become effectual means of
salvation, not from any virtue in them or in him that doth administer
them, but only by the blessing of Christ and the working of His
Spirit," will be more inclined to find fault with its teaching regarding
the inherent efficacy of Baptism and the Lord's Supper. I have said
that it was twice modified, and on each occasion it assumed a more
decidedly ritualistic colouring. Its assertion of the doctrine of
THE BIBLICAL IDEA OF THE STATE. 7 1
baptismal regeneration, for example, is most empbatio. " What is
jour name ? " the first question is, for the Anglican Catechism starts
bom a mach more prosaic level than any of the others. Then
foUows the enquiry, " Who gave you this name 1 " and in the answer
the old Catholio leaven reveals itself, ''My godfathers and god-
mothers in my baptism ; wherein I was made a member of Christ,
the child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven." It is
strange to find such a theory in one of the books to which the Re-
formation gave birth. Many of the truths brought to light in the
aiiteenth century, after having been obscured so long, are stated
dearly and strongly in the English Catechism. But it does not ad-
rance with the firm step of its neighbours into " fresh woods and
pastures new." It casts a half-regretful look behind as it leaves the
old landmarks, and it never goes quite so far away as the others do.
{To be concluded in our next)
THE BIBLICAL IDEA OF THE STATE.
V. SECULARISM.
Thb idea of civil government that underlies Socialism as a system is
that it stands in a paternal relation to its subjects. A civil ruler is
the father of his people, and ought to look after their interests in the
same way as a father watches over the interests of his children unable
to care for themselves. This gives him the right of interference with
their liberty, whenever, in his judgment, that interference is needful
for tlieir good. As we have already pointed out, the foundation
principle of the family organisation, and that of the State organisation
are not identical. The one is love arising from the natiutil relation-
ship, and the other is justice arising from the arrangements of society.
In the divine idea the civil ruler has not the same right of interfer-
ence with his subjects, curtailing their personal liberty, that the father
has over his children. The moral efiect of this interference,
with the feeling of dependence it ever creates, is far from healthy.
** There is nothing so fatal to the growth of vigour and capacity as
the habit of leaning upon someone or somebody — the habit of sitting
still, and expecting some outside force to remove all the difficulties
of life. This, too, tends to moral decadence, for the sense of duty
72 THE BIBLICAL IDEA OF THE STATE.
must be weakeued by whatever belief leads men to think themselves
in any way entitled to extraneous assistance, or generates in them a
conviction that the world is under obligations to equalise conditions
which are quite as often the outcome of vices and deficiencies
as the undeserved product of blind circumstances."^ Anything
that tends to lower moral fibre in a community — ^to weaken the
sense of individual responsibility and duty — stands in the way of
the highest end of civil government being attained. This is, as our
induction of Bible passages made veiy plain, the development of
humanity in all its elements, moral, spiritual, and physical, accord-
ing to the divine idea. At the early stages of a nation's growth
paternal government may be essential to its prosperity — its
members not being trained to use their powers — but the higher
it advances in all that constitutes true civilisation, the less
will this be needed. While then Socialism in so far as it is a
leaven of virtually Christianising principles, fostering love and
mutual consideration between man and man and class and class, may
do good ; yet as a system, based upon the incapacity of subjects to
look after their own interests, and on the omniscience and omnipo-
tence of civil government, it can only be mischievous. It is strange
to find it, under this latter aspect, so wide-spread in an age like ours
that prides itself in being superior to all that have gone before.
While this weakening of a sense of duty and responsibility may in
this way be charged against Socialism, it results still more directly
and powerfully from another system that now demands our attention.
This is Secularism. It does not deal so directly with civil government
as with the conduct of individual life; but still its teaching and
principles embody very distinct views about the place and function of
civil government. This system may be regarded as a direct product
of the engrossing materialism and worldliness of the time. To adopt
the trenchant words of a writer whom we have already quoted : " There
has never been a period when wealth counted for more than at presents
There has never been a time, it might be added, when the morality
of the means of acquiring wealth counted for less. The greed of gain
overmasters everything. The boldest and least scrupulous attain the
most commanding positions, and though they may be abused they are
none the less accepted as leaders, and yielded to as conquerors in the
battle of life. The poor, of course, see all this, and draw their own
conclusions from it Inequalities exist which are not the
result of superior virtue but of superior vice. Men are rich, not be-
cause they have honestly earned wealth, but because they have
dishonestly stolen it Colossal fortunes are raised upon acts of
< Atlantic Monthly, voL liz. p. 629. .
THR BIBLICAL IDEA OF THE STATE. 73
spoliation no whit more defensible than the plundering of the Middle
Agea, and these ill-won fortunes are held, by the tacit consent of
societjy to be inviolable." Sad to say, this state of things has
obtained under a profession of the Christian name and religion. It
has not been thej who opposed Christianity that did such things, but
they who professedly adopted it. This could hardly fail to create a
prejndice against Christianity, and lead some to seek a science of life
apart from its teaching, and one that would remove the evils that
even Christianity seemed to deal with so ineffectively. Alas ! how
many systems by which men have been led sadly astray have been
produced, and derived their force, from the failure of those who pro-
fessed Christianity to grasp and carry out its principles. Had there
heea a living Christianity in our land in the first half of our century^
infusing its spirit of love and freedom into every department of the
nation's life, neither Secularism nor other kindred systems would
have obtiuned the footing they did. Were the principles of Chris-
tianity more thoroughly applied in domestic, commercial and social
life now, such systems would not long wield the influence they do.
Finding ita origin in this way. Secularism is opposed to the Chris-
riaa religion. Its advocates, however, are far from being agreed
among themselves as to what its exact attitude toward it ought to
be, whether one of open avowed hostility, or simply one of excluaion
and indifference. As expounded by Mr. Bradlaugh, it is based on avowed
atheism, and has for one of its main objects the extirpation of Chris-
tianity as a superstition that has had a most pernicious influence on
human welfare and progress. These are his words as quoted by Dr.
Flint in his masterly discussion of this subject in his Anti-Theistic
Theories : ^* What we say is that theological teachings prevent human
improvement, and that it is the duty of* every secularist to make
active war on theological teaching. It is no use saying, ignore the
clergy. You cannot talk of ignoring St. Paul's Cathedral — it is too
high. You cannot talk of ignoring the Religious Tract Society — it
is too wealthy. You cannot talk of ignoring Oxford and Cambridge
Universities — they are too well endowed. They command too many
parties to enable you to ignore their power, but you may strive to
crush it out a little at a time. You cannot strike all errors efiectu-
^dly at once, but you can strike at some and encourage others to
strike too. This is the secularist's work Paine and Carlisle cut out
years ago. This is the secularist's work Southwell undertook. This
is the secularist's work in which eveiy man has got his share to do
who feels as I feel. The secularist's work which we have to do, is to
cut down the banyan tree of superstition, which tree seeks to send
its roots down into every baby brain, and which holds by the habit-
74 THE BIBLICAL IDEA OF J'HE STATE.
faith of the rich, and by the ignorant credulity of the poor. Every
branch of this superstitious tree bears poisonous frilit ; but before
you can get the branches effectively destroyed you must cut away
the roots as well as gently drain the tree. The upas tree of religion
overspreads the whole earth; it hides with its thick foliage of church-
craft the rays of truth from mankind, and we must cut away its root
and strip away its branches that reason's rays may go shining through,
and give fertility to the human soil, long hidden from their genial
warmth." These are the sentiments, and this the avowed aim of
the man thought worthy, by so many, to a seat of our legislature and
to make laws for this professedly Christian country. But while
this is the relation of Secularism to the Christian religion from Mr.
Bradlaugh's standpoint^ it is differently put by those who own the
leadership of Mr. G. J. Holyoake, a man of a much higher personal
character than Mr. Bradlaugh, and who gave the name to the system
by which it is now designated. He does not wish it to be identified
with an active pronounced warfare against Christianity, but simply
desires this whole sphere to be excluded and ignored. " To ignore/'
he says, '^ is not to deny. To go one way is not to deny that there
may be, to other persons, another way. To travel by land is not to
deny the water. The chemist ignores architecture but he does not
deny it. And so the secularist concerns himself with this world
without denying or discussing any other world, either the origin of
this or the existence of that." His position in relation to the whole
matter is just that which modern agnosticism seeks to occupy, af-
firming nothing about it, but leaving it entirely out of account.
But it is one altogether untenable. If there be a God and an unseen
world in intimate relation with the present life, then the science or
the art which ignores ,them is thoroughly unscientific. A group of
the most important facts that must be dealt with in order to reach
any true science or art of life is simply passed by. The impossibility
of rightly treating the matter in this way has been very cogently
pointed out by Dr. Flint. "Architecture is an art — the art of build-
ing houses — ^and as such it cannot afford to ignore any kind of know-
ledge that bears on the building of houses. An architecture which
took no account of the law of gravitation, and other principles of
mechanics, of the properties of stone, lime and wood, of wind and
water, light and air, would be only the art of trying to build houses
that would not stand, or which could not be inhabited if they did.
Apply this to the case before us. Secularism professes to teach us a
more difficult and complex art than that of building houses — the art
of ordering aright our lives in the world — the art of properly dis-
charging our duties in this present life ; and at the same time Seoul-
THB BIBLICAL IDEA OF THE STATE. 75
arism, as represented by Mr. Holjoake, tells us that we may ignore
the questions^ Is there a God 9 Is there a future world ? I ask if
such Secularism be not precisely like an architecture which would
advise us to take no account in building our houses, of light and air,
and therefore not to trouble ourselves about windows and ventilators?
Give me reason to believe that there is no God and no future exist-
ence, and then I shall have reason to ignore them ; but to ask me to
ignore them before you have done so, is neither more nor less than to
ask me to act like a fool. If I cannot find out that there is a God
and a future life I must be convinced by reason that I cannot If I
can find out anything about them I ought to do my best to find out
as much about them as I can. And whatever I find out or think I
find out about them, I am bound as a reasonable and moral being to
take account of in my conduct in this lifd" The real reason why this
agnostic position is taken up is not to admit the possibility of the
Cbriatian religion being after all true, but to gather into the ranks
of the secularists some who might be frightened at the word atheism.
The elimination of the Christian and even the distinctively religious
element as a means of individual and social progress lies at the very
foundation of the secularist creed.
Now what does it propose to substitute for it ) A knowledge
of nature and the laws by which all its operations are controlled and
guided. They believe, " all nature to be governed by fixed laws in
conformity to which our well-being depends. To teach men to
onderstand and obey these laws is therefore the gveat aim of all their
effortSy both in educating the young and addressing adults." The
good which wise men will alone seek is their good in this present
life, caring nothing for the future if there be such a thing ; and how
best they may reach this good may be learned from a study of
nature. Dr. Blaikie in his interesting tract on Christianity and
Secularism has very succinctly expressed the positive creed of the
latter system In these words : '' True good is that which is in accor-
dance with the laws of nature, especially physiology; and evil is that
which contnuiicts these laws. Duty is synonymous with ascertained
utility to the greatest number; for Providence, Secularism substi-
tutes science ; for prayer, prudence and well-directed labour ; for the
worship of God, the service of man ; for faith, knowledge ; for sub-
mission to authority, reverence for truth ; and for religion, all the
pleasures of domestic and social life." It thus forbids man to look
higher than earth for a rule of life ; tells him to devote himself to a
study of nature that he may acquire all the knowledge he needs for
his guidance ; and insists that his first business is with the present
life only.
76 THE BIBLICAL IDEA OF THE STATE.
Without entering into any full discussion of this creed there are
two things we wish to state in regard to it. The fint thing is
the fallacy lying beneath it, that belief in Christianity necessarily in-
volves neglect of the laws of nature, and discourages inquiry into
them. This is a libel upon Christianity when rightly understood.
By whom have the greatest and most fruitful scientific discoveries
been made? Not by secularists, but by those who were simple
believers in the Gospel. The names of Franklin, Newton, Kepler,
Galileo, Agassiz and Clerk-Maxwell are enrolled among the heroes of
the Christian faith. "The genius, research, originality and fertility of
thought shown by these men were, no doubt, largely due to the
benign influence of Christianity. If any disbeliever in God and
religion has ever made a first-class discovery I have failed to find
any record of it in history. It is the religion of Christ that has
inspired the genius of man, and stimulated his mental activity,
thereby enabling him to reach his highest attainments and to execute
his noblest achievements." Our knowledge of nature would not
have been what it is to-day had it not been for the quickening in-
fluence of Christian truth. And, besides this, Christianity lays upon
us a responsibility to conform ourselves to the ascertained laws of
niture which secularists can never feel. These laws are to us, who
intelligently and cordially accept Christianity, manifestations of the
will of our heavenly Father, and to run counter to them is not only
a sin against ourselves or against society, which is all the length
secularists can go, but a sin against Him. There may have been too
great a disposition on the part of the Church to make light of scien-
tific knowledge, and its usefulness as furnishing guidance in many
ways for our conduct, and incresising our power of doing good. She
may have sometimes been afraid of the light that came from this
quarter, not recognising it as light from heaven, but this must not be
laid to the blame of Christianity itself. The second thing we have to
say about this system is that its motive-power is not adequate to en-
force obedience. It is not knowledge which men need so much as a
sufficient motive-power to lead them to act in accordance with it.
The most intimate acquaintance with the laws of nature may be
l)ossessed and yet there may be constant violation of them. Yea, as
we know to our cost in these times such a knowledge may be used as
an instrument of evil and injury. Now, where is such a sufficient
motive-power to be found 1 Let Dr. Flint answer in these forceful words.
'' The best men the world has seen have confessed in all ages that they
could not find this power in themselves, and were even certain that
it was not in themselves. The more I interrogate consciousness and
histoiy the more convinced I become that they were not deluded,
THE BIBLICAL IDEA OF THE STATE. 77
and that if we feel differently it is not because we are better or know
better than they, but because we are worse and know ourselves
worse. It is only through a power above nature that nature can be
raised above itself, and that morality can be lighted up with the
amotion and inspiration needful for carrying the sage along the
narrow way perfectly, for carrying the ordinary man along it at all.''^^
Take away a personal God behind nature, revealing Himself in
Christ as a €rod of love, generating a grateful love to Him in our
hearts, and you have no power sufficient to secure obedience to laws
that may be perfectly known. The ineffectiveness of the Gospel of
Secalarism to meet the deepest needs. of the human heart was well
illustrated by the incident referred to by Dr. Blaikie in the work to
which we have already referred. Somewhere in the North of Scot-
land a Unitarian minister took to preaching in the streets — a practice
by no means common with them. He spoke of the beauty of good-
ness and invited them to a virtuous and orderly life. A group of
waifs and harlots hovered near, and one of them with sharp mother-
wit, said to him in her native dialect : " Eh, man, yer rape's nae lang
eneach for the like o' hiz." No^ it needs a longer rope — one that is
reached down from a God of love — to lift sinful men and women from
the depths into which sin has plunged them. The teaching of
Secularism in thus seeking to efface religion must weaken the bonds
of morality, and hinder, and not help a right development of
humanity.
We have thought it necessary to go at some length into the system
itself and its teaching that we may see all the more clearly
its bearing upon the biblical idea of the State. Without some insight
into it, its antagonism to the idea the Bible gives us of what a State
should be and should do— -its character and functions— could not be
80 well discerned. As to the essential character of the State
Secularism ignores altogether the divine element in it, the divine
order lying behind it^ which is made so prominent in Bible teaching.
It does not regard it as an ordinance of God— on such an idea scorn
is heaped — ^but simply as a human arrangement for the better attain-
ment of human and earthly ends. It is an instrument which is
found in a rude ' state among the most uncivilised and savage races,
and becomes more and more adapted to its purpose as nations have
risen in the scale of civilisation. It is nothing more than a human
invention, and subject to that supposed law of evolution which is
made to embrace everything. Bulera are really nothing more than
the directors of a commercial company put there by the shareholders
to manage the concern for them and carry out their will. It is to be
' ArUi-Theistie Theorita, p. 244.
78 THE BIBLICAL IDEA OF THE STATE.
feared thai the secularist teaching about the character of the State
is accepted by many who would not adopt their entire system as
such. The power which rulers enjoy is traced to the body of the
people, by which they may be elected, and no further. Rulers are
exalted to the position which they occupy to cany out the will of
them who put them there by their choice, and are amenable to no
other authority. Their responsibility to God frcm whom the power
has come, though it may have come thro%tgh the people, is ignored.
Now what is this but the application of secularist principles to the
State, although they may be renounced in the individual and social
life?
If we thus lose sight of the divine order lying behind these hiunan
arrangements, and of the divine authority with which those entrusted
with civil power are clothed, it is plain that our conception of the
essential character of the State is one entirely different from that set
forth in the Scriptures. We set aside the very thing with which
the Bible almost exclusively deals. It does not give guidance as to
the formation of civil constitutions or forms of civil government. It
leaves these things to be determined by a wise consideration of the
circumstances that may be involved. But it asserts in no uncertain
or ambiguous terms that the institution, in whatever form it may
exist, has its roots in God's will, and that, in so far as it fulfils the end
for which it was called into existence, it has His sanction and autbo>
rity. Opposition to it, as fulfilling these ends, is regarded not simply
as a crime against society, but as a sin against Grod. Obedience to
its lawful commands and subjection to its rule are enjoined not only
for wrath, but for conscience' sake — ^not only as fearing the punish-
ment which disobedience and revolt would entail, but as acknow>
ledging the right which it has, as an ordinance of God, to these
things. When it ceases to fulfil these ends, and tramples upon the
sacred rights of its subjects which it ought ever jealously to guard,
then it forfeits its character as an ordinance of God, and with this it«
claim to the obedience and subjection of its subjects. Revolt against
it, and not submission, may become an urgent duty. This truth has
been written in blood in the history of our nation in its sore and pro-
longed struggle with the claim of the Stuart dynasty to govern by
divine right according to their own pleasure. Bat while we justly
reprobate the thought of the 'Mivine right of kings to govern
wrong," we should at the same time remember that popularly-elected
civil representatives are no more clothed with such divine rights than
ancient kings. A democratic form of civil government — a government
based upon the will of the majority — ^may lend itself to tyranny just as
much as an absolute monarchy has ever done. Voxpopuli is not always
THE BIBLICAL IDEA OF THE STATE. 79
VOX Deu The tyranny of the lawless mob may be the hardest of all
to bear, and may work the greatest amount of mischief. When a
goTerament based upon the democratic idea may pass laws trampling
upon the rights of any of its subjects, it is no more entitled to
reverence and submission than any other kind of government acting
in a similar way. But so long as a government administers justice
between man and man and class and class, it matters not what its exact
fonu may be, then, according to the teaching of the Bible, submission to
it is a moral and religious duty. It is God's will that is made known
to 08 in all its lawful demands, and the protection and facilities it
may give for the pursuits of life and for self-culture are to be received
is dJYine gifts. But the seculitrist, in shutting out this whole region
of thought to which the Bible leads, narrows the horizon to the
earthly and temporal. In doing this he takes away what gives the
highest strength and stability to a nation. Can the highest patriot-
m be nourished on the low earthly view of the State's character
implied in the creed of the Secularist) We question it. The noblest
patriotism the world has yet seen has been based upon the fear of
God. Can the laws passed have sufficient sanction to secure
obedience) We again question it. If the State is simply there for
mj advantage, and rests on no higher foundation, then the laws that
do not seem for my advantage will have no authority for me. Even
if I be told that they are for the advantage of my fellow-subjects or
of humanity at laj^e, and that as serving this end I ought to submit
to them, I would need to be convinced of it, and to be actuated by
such love to my fellow-men as to be willing to make personal sacri-
iiees for their advantage. But what is there in the Secularist creed
or in the Positivist creed with which it is closely allied to generate
and sustain this unselfish love ? Can it supply any power like that
found in the religion of the Bible for producing this? The very
putting of the question in this way involves a negative answer. Take
away divine authority from behind civil Government and the very
foundations on which the social structure rests are destroyed. We
Bhaie in the opinion expressed by Dr. A. Hodge, that " the only thing
that can save society is the recognitioa that it is founded on the
vill of God, and that all authority comes from above downward, and
not from below upward. If in this country of universal sufirage (this
applies specially to America, but has a meaning for us too) we do
not emphasise great principles of duty, we are going to perdition."
The Christian Church as the witness of God in the world will sadly
^il in its mission if it does not insist on this recognition and
naphasise these great principles. The work of civil legislation and
administration n[U8t be left to those who have been specially trained
So A HOUSE INSPECTION.
to deal with it, but the great moral principles which must guide and
control them in it, and guide and control the body of the people
if disaster is not to overtake them, must be fearlessly and constantly
proclaimed. It is as true in the case of nations as in the case of in-
dividuals that if conscience with its sense of duty be dethroned, ruin
is not far away.
And while the State's relation to God must be vindicated against
the baleful teaching of Secularism, so also must its relation to the
higher side of man's nature, that which links him to God. Proposing
a non-religious basis for the constitution of civil government — a
thing, by the way, entirely new and found nowhere in the experience
of the past — it forbids civil government taking anything to do
with religious matters. Man is simply to be viewed by it on the
earthly side of his nature — as having to do only with this preseut
life — ^and all its action is to be limited by this. In the education of
the children — ^a matt<er with which States have always concerned
themselves as intimately connected with the welfare of the people —
provision may legitimately be made for the teaching of everything
but«the religion of the Bible. In making laws and establishing in-
stitutions for the development of individual, social, and national life,
the sphere of religion, and the Church as identified with it, must be
shunned and ignored. This is the position taken up by the secularists,
and by a great many who would disavow their creed as applied to the
individual life. But the duty of the State in relation to education
and the Church is too wide and intricate a subject to enter upon at
the end of an article. It must be reserved for fuller treatment at a
subsequent time.
A HOUSE INSPECTION.
FOR TOUNO MEN.
*' The righteous m%n wisely considereth the hoase of the wicked ; but God
overthroweth the wicked for their wickedness." — Proverbs xxi. 12.
{Continued from p, 25.)
House No. 2. — Rottbnrow.
The next house is even worse in its outward aspect than the first,
for its tenant has more violent appetites, and tempestuous passions.
He looks on the wine — the good and merry wine — when it is red.
A HOUSE INSPECTION. 8 1
stirriDg itaelf arightw He is full of babbling, and he is fond of con-
tention. He has many causeless wounds, and is often like the sailor
vho attempts to lie down to rest on the top of a mast. His eyes
shew redy for he has taken to himself the raging strong drink. See
him seeking it yet again, though parents or children should starve at
home. See him steab'ng the prizes of honest labour, or skulking
away with the rewards of better days, hurrying through the twilight,
or by the edges of unfrequented lanes to the pawnshop, that he may
obtain enough for another mouthful, a stomachful, a body full of the
liquid ferment, which sets him on fire and dies away too soon for his
satisfaction. He feels that he is ever putting this spirituous treasure
into a bag with holes in it, for he can never have enough ; he would
give his all, aye the whole world, aye the whole heavens too, for
aiough. Why can't a man have enough ? a good fill up, and then be
done for ever with cravings after glasses, bottles, barrels, hogsheads,
LTerflowing rivers of beer, gin, rum, brandy, champagne, whisky?
Why, because the dainties in the house of the wicked never satisfy ;
they increase hunger and thirst, or perish in the using ; they but fix
and fasten the chains of slavery upon a growing man, until he cannot
be free, if he would. And so this man is bound by this evil habit,
aud is known as a drunkard. A selfish, heartless, cruel fellow is he,
uiven up wholly to a vile, degrading, unmanly, accursed vice.
Mark how dismal is his house, and how wretched his familv
Consider seriously, with some purpose of heart, the bitter and gradual
changes which have come over this man, and all that is his. Think
of what he was when yoimg, remember his jovial hours when the
serpent crouched out of sight, and the adder was hidden, his laughter
with hb companions, when they sat and sipped together, oblivious of
danger, regardless of harm; the days when a small share of his
honestly earned wage was given for a half gill, or moderate glass ; a
small share, but gradually more and more as an increased quantity
was needed to produce the old exhilarating effect.
Tou have seen the horrid changes gradually stamped upon his
Tisage, upon those dependent on him, and upon his abode as he
addicted himself to the use of alcoholic liquors. His face altered —
not mellowing with the gracious lines of a goodly and contented age,
tinted still with the bloom and freshness of other days — but corrupted
with a stupid, leering, marred, besotted aspect, which repels and
di^usts, having no element in it of strength, or comeliness, or
respect Tou have known his family in their days of happiness and
pnisperity, when comforts seemed to be added daily, and pleasures
&nd songs were multiplied. You knew them, you were made glad in
their midst, and you rather envied their lot. But now how sad and
F
82 A HOUSE INSPECTION.
pitiful tbeir condition. Struggling bravelj, battling bard witb anac-
customed labours and bardsbips, to conceal tbeir poverty, and their
despair, till final issues fell wbicb nothing could undo, and the
sorrowful all was naked and open to the world.
And you have beard in that bouse the songs of the fool, witb no
inspiring issues; the tumults of the mad, witb wreck and injury
around ; the talk of the idiot, wbicb neither informed nor guided ; and
you are not surprised that its comforts disappeared, its degeneracy
became visible, its desolation bastened fai|t, and that at last it fell
utterly and for ever.
Yet tbat hopeless character had bis days of repentance, wben
ashamed of bis excesses, be strove to amend. No man is allowed to
perish so, witbout efforts made of various kinds to save and renew.
This man bad to turn a deaf ear to remonstrances, rebukes, entreaties.
He bad to disregard the pains he suffered in himself, and the grief,
and want, and shame, and poverty, be brougbt upon others witb
heartless persistency. He bad to turn away from man, (who is not
the most patient of friends), and he bad to scout and refuse the long-
suffering goodness of God, ere be became a confirmed drunkard, and
went deliriously into torment. "... Nor drunkards . . . shall
enter the kingdom of God."
You are tempted this day to follow this man's example. Some
friend or neighbour, pleasant, and social, and free, will offer you tbe
gloss of wine or strong drink ; you will enter merry companies at
marriage feasts, anniversary commemorations, club gatherings, public
banquets, who are not afraid of danger. Doctora prescribe it,
magistrates decide it (or so much as tbe community can be judged to
require; and if you would know the measure of a magistrate's
judgment look around througb your towns and cities) and tbe natioii
lays tbe burden of its National Debt upon it But do thou again
consider this man who was destroyed by it^ not in Cornwall or some
distant island of tbe sea, but in tbat bouse opposite your own door,
or right above you, or round the comer. Mark the way be took, the
character be formed, and bow and where he fell, and avoid it, pass
not by it, disregard all sanctions and powers bound closely to it. It
is tbe way to ruin, tbe abode of despair and death.
HOUBB No. 3. — BOTTENROW.
Tbis bouse is a dark abode indeed. So dark and bidden it is, that
it, and tbe characters of tbose who stay in it are not mentioned in
general or particular society ; or if spoken of, then witb an emphatic
(brug as at a matter too loathsome to toucb or say anything about.
A HOUSE INSPECTION. 83
The heads of families do not instruct their sons and daughters about
it, to infuse in them a strong abhorrence of its fleshly iniquities.
Teachers and ministers do not usually, and indeed, in many cases,
never make it a subject of definite, and absolutely necessary, though
difficult teaching ; and so the giddy, and the thoughtless, and the
many uninstructed fall a prey, and the guilt of the same cannot be
laid entirely on their shoulders. Society stamps^ts condemnation of
it, but how late and how partial. The laws of the land condemn it,
but with how little pain and shame. The best of our literature con-
demns it, but how much of our literature winks at it, or is on the
evil side of it. The Bible condemns it out and out with the most
emphatic severity, in all its details, in its conceptions, and progress,
and issues. In this book there is no night, where the workers of
sach iniquities may hide themselves.
But there he is, the man who has let loose the lewd desires within
him ; and issuing from this " house of the wicked " he corrupts
homes, and taints society with foul, immoral, unseemly habits and
deeds. He is avoided, shunned by all who love modesty, truth and
virtue.
This is the man who loves the black and dark night, that the evil
passions raging furiously in his heart, may be concealed from his
Tictims ; or, alarmed and terrified, they would flee from his presence,
as from a corrupting plague, a foul sewer, a pit of deadly odours.
This is the man who will at last lie down with rottenness in his bones,
^ whose iniquities the heavens shall reveal, and the earth shall rise up
against him."
What is it to him, that a girl, having plighted her troth to him,
delivers her honour too soon to his keeping; that that is dearer to every
right-hearted woman than life itself) What is it to him, that his
promise is broken, his vow not made good, that he has flung her aside
to seek another victim, and defile, corrupt, betray others by false
words and foul deeds 1 What is it to him, that there b a sound of
weeping in a quiet home, that a hearth erewhile a place of happiness,
and peace, and modest pleasures, is made utterly desolate, that a
heart is broken, and a grave opened and filled, and one is gone with
her cause to her God and King ?
Her parents, or those who loved her, may
<(
Cro08 her hands humbly.
As if praying dumbly,
Over her breast.
Owning her weakness,
Her evil behaviour :
And leaving with meekness.
Her sins to her Saviour."
$4 A HOUSE INSPECTION.
But he goes forth from his dark abode unstung by remorse, scoffing^
at her shame and wasted life, hiding and forgetting the cruel wron^
he wrought and the Avenger's memory and power. He goes forth
through good society, he is abroad in the highest circles of thia
Christian land, and mothers who have heard of his deed, do not shut
their doors against him, he enters houses with smiles upon his lipa
and corruption in bis heai*t. He seeks to make "one more unfortun-
ate,'' till, it may be suddenly, in a moment, he is overthrown and
called to that strict and awful tribunal, where the wicked are rightly
judged.
" And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defiletb.'^
" The unclean shall not pass over it."
Look within your own hearts, and there you will find desires, and
passions, and lusts, such as are in the bodies given by God to all other
men, which are to be ruled over with a strong will, and a stem pur-
pose, that your's may be a right, a clean, a Christian way. If you
allow these lusts to become your master, not seeking to control them^
they will assuredly issue in misery and shame.
The author of these proverbs saw this man of old, when he was
still a young man. He was looking from his window one day watch-
ing the conduct and actions of a desperately bad woman, whose evil
w^ys he sets forth again and again, and he saw passing by, a youth ^
simple or empty of sense, a young man void of understanding, whose
heart was ever going forth towards unlawful pleasures, and guilty
delights ; and he went away with this woman to her house, not
knowing that her house was " the way to hell, going down to the
chambers of death." And so is a man defiled by his own passions
issuing forth in vile acts, imtil be he ever so anxious, and torture
and labour with himself ever so much, he cannot make himself clean.
The earth and its people to him grow filthy, and the fair heavens be-
come abominable, and his own body, fearfully and beautifully formed^
is made corrupt and wretched, until he is swept away from his pol-
luted place.
Do not die as a fool nor cast the sword vilely away as Saul did on
barren Gilboa ; but bestow your powers and chief est affections on
whatsoever things are pure, lovely, and of good report. Be strong^
to walk in virtue's ways, for great are her rewards, and ever increas-
ing and pleasant her peace.
House No. 4. — Rottbnrow.
You must take particular care in drawing near this house, lest you
should slip and fall. No man is safe in its neighbourhood, yet is it
A HOUSE INSPECTION. 85
erer at hand, and it is difficult, and well nigh, if not altogether im-
po6sihle to avoid finding oureelvea — will we nil we — in its very midst.
Between the man who habitually inhabits it and tlie righteous
spectator, there is ever kept a considerable distance, there is a great
gulf fixed. His vices are so contemptible and detestable, so base and
«vil, that there qannot be the slightest unity of sympathy and feeling
between him and any man, who has any respect for himself, and any
purpose to do that which is honest and true.
He is a skulking fellow, like the dweller in the previous house. He
loves the darkness always better than the light, the night rather than
the day. He seeks always the margin of the hedge, the shadow of
the wall, the obscurity of the darkest road, the dizziness of the twink-
ling light, the indistinguishable cloud.
His house lies very low, and the many paths which lead down to
it are all very slippery, for they have all been well trodden, frequently
in fair weather but generally in foul. Even amongst the righteous,
there are scarcely any, indeed, not even one who has not slidden
down to that house, of himself, or with a push. Yet it is a place of
«hanie, in which no right thinking man can hold up his head, but
from which, with pains and heartburnings, he must, if wise, and on
his knees too, make his escape. It is so low, so much a pit, that no
man can walk there and back with dignity.
Then there are numerous bye ways to this house from all the other
houses in the row, and they are all very slippery, so that there never
fails to be found a crowd of people in or about the house. There are
those who have gone down there once, and never care to haste away;
and there are those also, who, having accidentally, undesignedly, out
of terror, confusion and fear, got on the slippery road, have landed
down there, but are endeavouring with grief, and shame, and earnest
humility, to flee from it to a place of safety and respect.
It is the house of the liar and the thief, the dwelling-place of birds
and beasts of prey.
There he covets greedily all the day long, and his neighbour
findeth no favour in his eyes. To him the whole world belongs, and
all things in it. He acknowledges not his neighbour's right to any-
thing, be knows nothing of fair wages, he cares not for market prices,
he loves and gives himself wholly up to immoral plans of campaign.
He has to be watched like the hawk in the air, the wolf in the
field, the shark in the waters. To be watched with ceaseless dili-
gence, the dogs of justice ever following his steps. He must be
handled with resolute authority, hunted down without mercy, and
destroyed without remedy.
His neighbours have to make high their walls, and close their
86 A HOUSE INSPECTION.
hedges, and strong their bolts and bars, and otherwise by a thousaud
suspicions and a multitude of palisading precautions to shut him out
from their presence and their goods.
It is he who alarms a whole neighbourhood by his midnight
marauding, so that the careful householder, in the midst of his un-
easy rest, will start with a fearful shock at the sound of a shuffling
footfall, or creaking door. 'Tis he who destroys all trust between
man and man, making a man look with a jealous eye on all strangers,
and with cautious scrutiny on all friends. 'Tis he who, with covet-
ous eye, and cruel heart, and swift hand, destroys the friendship that
should exist between men, and makes bitterness and hatred the
general portion. 'Tis he who, with selfish speed, forgetting the claims
of mercy, the demands of law, and the power of God destroys the in-
heritauce and portion of his neighbour and brings swift vengeance
on himself. So that he who once was the joy of a mother and the
hope of a household, who once lifted up his head amidst the honest
and the true, has to be shut up in the doleful prison, and at last shut
out in the awful night of darkness. His house is built on the most
insecure of all foundations, and is finally swept away in the storm of
wrath.
He also learned this sinful course when young. The chaff of evil
desires quickly conceived and early attempted was not at once
threshed out of him ; the weeds of thievish propensities soon mani-
fested when he stole from sugar-bowl, garden, field or neighbour,,
were not pulled out with determined power and wisely proportioned
discipline. The poison of cunningly conceived and craftily executed
schemes, when the youthful rowdy stole and lied and swore was not
ejected with wholesome detestation and steady, sustained, resolute
authority, ^ay, by winking at his vices, and smiling at his dexterity^
and enjoying his ingenuity, and forgetting the vile motives of his
plots, and the canker of his evil intentions, and the rot of his unpun-
ished sins, there is at last nursed, and formed, and finished, a man —
who might have been honest, and trustworthy, and noble — but is
only false, and base, and miserable, fit only to be turned out from
the midst of men and turned away from the presence of God.
Examine your own hearts and test your own lives and see if there
is, or has not been, some of this root of bitterness within you dividing
you from your neighbour and from your God ; none of the poison of
covetousness, none of the weeds of thefts done in your households, or
amid your neighbours ; none of the rot of lies told in your homes
in earnestness or folly, uttered to your fellows, said before your God
Oh ! cast not your stones at that miserable outcast, but think how^
easily we all might be condemned for holding the seeds of the same
PASTORAL LETTER. 87
sinSy though, by the grace of Grod^ we are not so vile and so hopeless
as he. Let us seek with all diligence to have our hearts cleansed,
and our hands restrained, and our ejes aright directed ; that we may
be kinder at home, more merciful abroad, and tbat we may live
nobler, grander, better, more charitable, more self sacrificing lives in
the world.
PASTORAL LETTER.
[Recently there came into our hands the following letter which
oar esteemed brother. Professor Aitken, who has been compelled to
spend the winter in the Isle of Wight on account of his health, sent
to his ooDgr^ation at the beginning of this year. We thought that
our readers would be pleased to read it, and so requested per.
mission to use it, which was kindly granted. We trust that his voice
will soon be heard among us again, and that strength may be given
to him for much work in the Church below. — Ed.]
Ventnor, December, 1888.
Mt Bkloyed Friends, — The tie that unites a pastor and his con-
gregation is a very close one. My interest in you arises not merely
h-om the fact that I have among you many personal friends whom I
love and esteem, and on whose sympathy and help I can ever reckon,
but mainly from this, that you are the portion of the vineyard the
Lord has g^ven me to cultivate, or the part of the flock, redeemed
with His own Blood, Ho has appointed me to feed. It is by my
dealings to you that my faithfulness to Him is to be proved — it is
through you that I am to win the crown of glory, which He will give
at last to all His true servants. How, then, can I but be drawn to
you in interest and love? And as such feelings now glow in my
breast, I wish and pray, that even when absent from you, I might, on
the first Sabbath of another year, impart to you some spiritual gift —
tbat I might now be able to pen such words, however simple, as
would cheer and strengthen you as you set out on another stretch of
yoar pilgrimage course.
Let me remind you, then, this day, of that exceeding great and
precious promise of our redeeming God — " My presence shall go with
thee," (Ex. xxxiii. 14). We know not what the year on which we
have entered will disclose to us — to what scenes of joy or sorrow, of
temptation or danger, its revolving dajs will introduce us. But amid
all the uncertainties of the future we need have no cause of anxiety,
if we are God's people, for this promise of His meets our every case.
It is rich and full, perfectly adapted to all the circumstances in which
«e can be placed. Come joy or sorrow, life or death, severe perdoual
88 PASTORAL LETfER.
affliction, or sorest family bereavement, if we have His presence with
us, all must be well. Wonderful, indeed, it is that such a promise
should be given us — that the great Redeemer should engage
personally to attend us along each step of our course, and be all to us
that He can be. But let us take Him at His word, not doubting or
questioning it, not narrowing or limiting it, but opening our hearts to
its fulness of blessing. This is a tried promisa It was given at 6rst
to Moses in circumstances of great difficulty, and he found it to be
faithful. Such has been the experience of thousands in every age
since his time, and thus attested and confirmed it comes to us this
day, and claims our entire confidence. Let us think for a moment
what this promise implies.
The Psalmist says — **In Thy presence is fulness of joy." This
applies to heaven in its ultimate meaning, but it also applies to earth.
Christ's presence, realised by faith, will make our lives blight and
happy. It will furnish us with the highest of all com[)anionshipy
with the noblest of all inspiration. It will lift us from the low level,
where earthly thoughts engross us and earthly cares burden ufi, to
the higher level, where all these dwindle down to their true insignifi-
cance, and spiritual things are disclosed to us in all their reality
and excellence. It will bring us into Beulah land, where we shall catch
glimpses of the heavenly city. How poor and mean the best of earth's
joys in comparison of the joy of Christ's sensible presence ! If you
know aught of this, you cannot be indifierent to the further enjoyment
of it; and it may be our experience in an ever higher and richer
measure, till at length we see Him as He is, no longer through a glass
larkly but face to face.
The Divine presence secures complete protection amid all danger.
** As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so is the Lord round
about His people from henceforth even for ever. Read the 91st
Psalm for a picture of the safety of the man who dwellcth in the
secret place of the Most High— " He shall cover thee with His
feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust, His truth shall be
thy shield and buckler." Dangers certainly attend our whole path
through life, such as we cannot cop« with. Some of these are plain
and visible, others — and these are the most formidable — are spiritual
and invisible. But how calm and peaceful we may remain amid
them all, if we only lay hold of this promise ! We may be quite sure
that nothing that man or devil can do to us can really hurt us.
"Kept by the Divine power" — that is a pillow on which we may
serenely lay our heads and take quiet rest amid all the storms of life.
The divine presence ^^ith us implies guidance in all perplexities.
Not a day comes round in which some question has not to be solved,
in which some decision has not to be made; and not to speak of
more important crises, the consequences of the course we adopt in
common affairs may be of unspeakable moment. There is a guidance
promised to God's people which shall cover the whole life. As far as
they are living in communion with their Father in heaven they may
be sure that He will not leave them to themselves, but will lead
them into such paths as it will be for His glory and their good to
PASTORAL LETTER. 89
walk in. How far reaching is that word — "The Lord shall guide
thee continually." The Lord's presence with Israel, in their march
through the wiidemess, was manifested in the pillar of cloud and
fire which determined their every movement. Not by such visible
tokens can we expect guidance now, for we live under the dispensa-
tion of the Spirit. But the guidance may be as real, and we. may
be as sure that we have it. How blessed are they who can say —
'* This God is our God for ever and ever, and He will be our guide
even unto death."
But why should I enlarge f Your own meditation will suggest
other similar remarks. The Divine presence will secure the supply
of all your wants, sympathy and support under all your afflictions,
triumph over death and the fear of it, and an abundant entrance
into the everlasting kingdom.
Ere I close, let me ask you to think who those are who may
expect the fulfilment of this all-comprehensive promise.
They are such as are trtdy pilgrims Zionward. . Like Israel of old,
they have a great deliverance to look back on, and a great future to
look forward to. They have been rescued from a worse than Egyp-
tian bondage, redeemed by the blood of Christ and the power of His
grace from sin and Satan and the world, and the hope of heaven has
been awakened in their breasts. Now they desire a better coimtry —
that isy a heavenly — and this hope and desire reconcile them to ad-
vancing years and infirmities, and to all the signs of their approach-
ing departure from this world. At the beginning of a New Year
perhaps they think, with a secret joy — " Now is our salvation nearer
than when we believed." Is this, dear brethren, our position ] Do
we, by OUT whole style of living and feeling, by our keeping aloof
from the vanities of the world around us, and the commerce we
maintain with heaven, do we thus confess that we are strangers and
pilgrims f Then assuredly we are those to whom a gracious God is
saying — ** My presence shall go with you."
Those who have an interest in this promise are such as are
earnestly seeking God's presence. They put the highest value on it,
and above all things deprecate the want of it. Their chief enjoy-
ment in life consists in a sense of it, and their darkest days are those
ill which it may seem to them to be withdrawn. Hence their
earnest prayers for it, so that they can in some measure enter into
the spirit and language of Moses when he pled — " If Thy presence
go not with us carry us not up hence." Is this, brethren, our
exercise t Are we, on this the first Sabbath of another year, con-
straining Christ to abide with us 1 Then, blessed indeed is our case.
He has put these desires and prayers in our hearts, and He cannot
but fulfil them.
In a word, those have an interest in this great promise who are
ever guarding against the sin that grieves away God's Spirit from us.
We cannot have the joy, the strength, the hope which the Divine
presence impat'ts without careful walking and habitual watchfulness.
AH carnal indulgence and wordly conformity, all slackness in duty
and restraint of prayer will cause our** Divine Friend to stand aloof
90 THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS.
from U8. Let us bo jealous over ourselves with a godly jealousy.
I can have no higher desire and prayer for you than that the Lord
would work in you more and more perfectly those conditions of
character, disposition, and habits to which the promise of His
presence is attached. In that case, I am sure the year on which we
have entered, whatever it might bring, would in the best sense be a
happy one.
I have only to add that my health continues to be as favourable as
when I formerly wrote, and that I trust, through your prayers, to be
restored ere long to labour among you. Contmue to pray not only
for my bodily restoration, but for my spiritual welfare, and for my
enduement with spiritual power for what may remain of my ministry.
Commending you all to the care of the Good Shepherd, I ain»
Your affectionate Pastor,
Wm. F. Aitkbn.
THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS.
BT A HIGHLAND MINISTER.
X.
Set apart to the ministerial office, Fraser of Brae looked upon himself
as called to preach the gospel up and down the country, not staying
above a week in one place. ''The chief things I was called to
preach were man's misery by nature, the nature of regeneration and
salvation by Christ ; and my spirit did more freely go out in a gospel
btrain than in a legal." He found a blessing accompanying private
exhortation and instruction, encouraging him to diligent employment
in season and out of season. He writes at considerable length in his
" Memoirs " on " A Minister's work and qualifications," mentioning
among other things : ''To draw souls to, and build them up in
Christ Jesus, is, and ought to be, the great end and scope of all faith-
ful ministers. Christ is the Alpha and Omega of preaching, He in
the centre where all the lines ought to meet ; and where Christ is
not the sense and life of preaching, we lose the text. No secret or
mystery is more needful for a minister than acquaintance with the
depth of the covenant of grace, Christ and faith, the promises and
the law. Ordinarily, before a minister's closing with the work of the
ministry, there is an exercising with great and various temptations,
and the person passes, as it were, under a new work of conversion, of
conviction of sin, and pardon, and justification, intimated into hia
conscience, without which a gracious soul will be very loath to engage
in such a work. So Isaiah was humbled under a sense of guilt, and
made to cry out until by a comfortable voice he is assured that his
iniquity is pardoned and himself justified. There is not only need of
THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS. 9 1
a gift and endowment to preach, but great need of the actual breath-
ing of the Spirit to stir up the gift that is in them ; without which,
though the Lord has been pleased to give them some measure of
taleutfi, jet can thej not preach more than a child. The minister
must have the sense of his charge, the danger of immortal souls
deeply imprinted on hia heart ; it must be clear to him that the Lord
hath called him, and to what he is called, and the weight and import
of his chai^ge. It is a matter of life and death ; hence the charge of
prophesying committed to tl^e prophets is called a burden. He must
love and take pleasure in his work and be reconciled thereto. I
many times found that when I thought I was most enlarged and
most sensibly assisted, either in preaching, or conference, or prayer,
I have done least good ; and on the contrary when I found greatest
deadness and straitness in my spirit in ministerial exercises, I
foimd I have done most good : to show we should not trust in our-
solveSy but in the Lord, in whom alone is the blessing, and of whom
alone is the efficacy of ordinances ; and to encourage ministers under
indispositions and ' out of season ' to be always doing ; for they may
do mc»t good when they think themselves least fitted for any such
thing/' He tells that it was not out of regard to any worldly gain
that he laboured, for he had not one farthing for his ministry for the
first twelve years. He never preached to others but what he had
(Some experience of in his own spirit. Like his favourite Shepard,
who always derived some spiritual benefit from his discourses before
he delivered them to his people, so Fraser tells : '' Every sermon I
preached I had it with some wai'mth and life from the Lord upon my
own spirit ; and I durst never preach that sermon that I was not in
some measure affected with in studying before I preached if He never
gave a mark or sign of grace but what he found in himself, and he
never started or attempted to loose a doubt but by such means as
the Lord had solved it to himself. No wonder that such earnest
conscientious preaching was attended by much blessing, so that he
could write, '* My labours were not altogether in vain, but much
accepted with gracious persons and others, and efficacious to not a
few, and my repute both at home and abroad was more than I desired
or deserved."
The year of his ordination was also that of his marriage. Itinerat-
ing in the South he became acquainted in Edinburgh with a widow,
J — G — , whose husband had died abroad, and to her he was married
on the last day of July 1672. The union was preceded by much
solemn prayer and consultation of the Lord, and was emphatically a
marriage in the Lord. From his own observations we may quote :
" Marnage is one of the most important steps of a man's life. 0 then,
with what fear, and trembling, and godly dependence, should we go
about such a matter I I shall never forget what a minister said
when marrying two persons, viz.. Repentance mends all things but
an ill-made marriage ; it is either a mean of the greatest comfort or
Borrow. . . . The Lord gave me a suitable yokefellow, who did me
good and not evil all the days of her life. In her did I behold a? in
a glass the Lord's love to me, by her were the sorrows of my pilgrim-
92 THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS. ,
age many times sweetened, and she made me frequently forget my |
sorrows and griefs. I had not in herself alone a comfortable relation, j
but I had very much love and respect from all her relations, who
were many, and in whose sight I found favour, so that they considered '
me no longer as a stranger but as their brother ; and many of them I
being lawyers, advocates, and judges, I had their service for nought, ,
and glad were they to do me any good. Nor did their love die with
her, but continued constant to this day, and I know not of one breach
that ever was between us. She was kindly, prudent and well-bred, !
ordered her affairs with great discretion ; was truly religious, and not ,
only would comply with me in any good work and spiritual duty, but
many times would assist, stir up, and encourage and remind me of
my duty. By my marriage I had better and greater occasions of
serving the Lord and His people in the service of the gospel ; for
living for the most part in the South with my wife, I had frequent
calls to preach both in the cities and country, so that few weeks
passed that I did not preach twice on the Lord's Day, and once every
week besides, and sometimes much oftener, and always to great
multitudes, to several hundreds in the cities and thousands in the
country, being much followed where I was known."
Like Dr. Pay son of America he was not long in finding that
marriage rendered him a double mark for the arrows of adversity.
The brighter the light the deeper the shadows fall, and while he and
his newly wedded wife were preparing to return to Brae, there came
a summons to appear before the Council for keeping conventicles.
Our old acquaintance, Bishop Mackenzie of Moray, in whoso diocese
Fraser was ordained, was not likely to regard the new recruit to the
shattered ranks of Presbytery with complacency, and, along with a
Councillor who had a grudge at Mrs. Fraser, he raised the storm of
persecution. Evading the summons by a hurried departure north-
ward brought but slight relief, for his persecutors sent a new citation
to Ross-shire. He was much troubled on his wife's account, fearino:
lest all that belonged to her should be seized. *' However I prayed
to the Lord, and sought advice what to do, whether I should answer
the Council's citation (as my friends advised me) or not, and take my
hazard. The Lord was pleased to clear it to me that I was not to
answer the summons, which light I followed ; upon which I was de-
nounced a rebel and outlawed." Soon after, having occasion to come
to Edinburgh, he had an interview with the Councillor, in whose
sight he found such favour that his enmity was turned' into friend-
ship. In it Fraser saw " the doing of the Lord," although the in-
fluence of his new friends was actively at work in procuring a respite
from trouble, which he enjoyed for nearly two years.
In July 1674 he was summoned along with other ministers to ap-
pear before the Council for keeping conventicles, and, as he did not
put in an appearance, he was anew denounced a rebel and put to the
horn. In consequence of this " 1 was many times made to shift my
lodging ; wa8 frequently in fears and alarms, and preached in great
trials through the lying in wait of enemies ; was several times inter-
rupted in the very act of preaching, by soldiers, that by orders came
THE RKLIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS. 93
to apprehend me. The Lord hy this did manifest His goodness in
preaerring and delivering me. By these tossings my spirit was
rather distempered and jumhied than bettered."
The following year witnessed an increase of the storm. " In August
(1675) the bishops and others, perceiving that the number of dis-
senters increased, and that the gospel spread further and further,
notwithstanding the means used for its suppression, bethought them-
selves of intercommuning. the ministers most active in preaching, and
the chief professors both gentlemen and others." The letters issued
in consequence may be seen in Wodrow (ii. 286). Among the
eighteen ministers thus most honourably mentioned, we find along
with Fraser, Messrs. Hog and M^Killigan, Donald Cargill, John Kiuj^^
and Robert Gillespie. '* For naked preaching we were proceeded
against as murderers and traitors. Ttiey hoped to keep the people
from us or force us, finding no shelter, to remove out of the
land. . . Yet the Lord did wonderfully disappoint them. For myself
never one that cared for me shunned my company ; yea, a great
many more carnal relations and acquaintances did entertain me as
freely as ever they did j nay this matter of intercommuniug did but
exasperate the people against the bishops the more, and procured to
them, as the authors of such rigid couraes, a greater and more uni-
versal hatred ; so that the whole land groaned to be delivered from
them."
Next year ''the Lord took away the desire of his eyes with a
stroke," after four years and a quarter of married life, in the be-
^nning of October 1676, being called away to Northumberland on
business^ tidings reached Fraser that his wife had suddenly sickened
of a fever. Hurrying back he found she had breathed her last four
hours before his arrival at the desolated hearth. His sorrow was
profound. He survived her twenty-two years, but " he never knew
what it was afterwards to rejoice in any outward enjoyment from his
heart, and the whole world looked to him as an empty ghastly room
despoiled of its best furnishing." He had by his wife three children,
4k s(»n, who died in infancy, and two daughters. One of these, Jane,
vaiS married to Hugh Eose the fifteenth Baron of Kilravock, M.P. for
Nairnshire for some years, and Sheriff of Ross.
After his sore bereavement Fraser was in manifold trials and dangers
^ through the lying in wait of those who hunted after him." *' The
bishops knowing that I was a rigid non-conformist, and imagining
nae to be of some parts, and very active in preaching in the fields,
and keeping up the Secession, as they called it ; they therefore stirred
up the King's Council against me, representing me as a person of
very disloyal principles and practices ; so that there was a particular
eye upon roe, and I was one of the three that a considerable sum of
money was proffered for apprehending of, to any person, although
oothing could be laid to my charge of sedition, but only that I
preached without the bishops' authority, and persuaded others from
joinins: with the public courses established by law." Many were the
attempts to apprehend him, but for years he escaped. At length on
Sabbath evening the 28th January 1677, at family worship in the
94 THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS.
house of a friend, he was betrayed by a servant-maid into the hands
of his persecutors. Archbishop Sharp instigated the Provost of
Edinburgh, by the promise of great rewards, to hunt out the ob-
noxious preacher. The maid was bribed, and she basely fixed the
hour for seizing her master's guest Surprised at prayer there could
be no escape or resistance. He was forthwith carried to prison, and
the Provost hastened to the Archbishop who was delighted with the
news of the cunning and important capture. At dawn the joyous
Primate sent orders to the jailor to keep the prisoner in close con-
finement, and to allow no one any access to him until the hastily
summoned meeting of Council could be held that same afternoon. At
five o'clock he was brought before a Committee of the Council lor
examination. He was charged with being, among other offences, a
seditious person, and a very active schismatic ; a person of very bad
principles destructive of all government, and a noted preacher in
field-conventicles. As field-preaching was punishable by death there
was an evident desire that he should be got to acknowledge it, but
he very properly declined throwing away his life so cheaply upon his
own confession. Fraser gives a narrative of his trial in the
" Memoirs," and what he relates is in perfect accordance with the
account of his examination taken down by one present in the court
and preserved by Wodrow (ii. 353 — 4), which is as follows : —
" Lord Halton — What man of trade are you %
" Fraser — ^Would your lordship explain what you mean by a trade ?
" Qu. — Are you a heritor 1
*' Ans. — If that be the thing you mean by a trade, I am.
" Q. — Where lie your lands 1
" A.— In Ross.
" Q. — Are you a preacher 1
" A. — Though by my not acknowledging this, I might put your
lordship to the trouble of proving it, yet I will give you a clear
evidence of my ingenuousness by acknowledging freely that I do
preach, and though 1 be of extraction not altogether despicable, yet
I glory more in that, and in serving God in the gospel of His Son,
than in any other thing I pretend to.
" Q. — Are you in orders 1
" A. — As to what concerns my own person, your lordship sees I
have been very free in acknowledging what I knew made me culpable
by your law, and that without being circumvented, but forseeing the
hazard since, I likewise acknowledge I preach without any authority
from the bishop ; but as to what concerns others, or may serve to
bring them on the stage, your lordship will excuse me from saying
anything in it.
'* Q. — If ye glory so much in your ministry, why do ye not avow
it 1 Why do ye not own your principles 1 that is not ingenuousness
at all.
" A. — I request, your lordship, to have no apprehension of me but
as one most ingenuous ; but I have owned my ministry ; and any-
other principles you pose on me, you shall find me very free to give
M
(I
THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS. 95
jour lordship an accoant of them, but why I could not directly
answer that question, I have given your lordship a reason already.
" Archbishop Sharp^This gentleman seems not at all ingenuous
with nsy possibly he would be more if he knew the state he stands in,
which is not ordinary, for he is of most pernicious principles, destruc-
tive to all kind of government, and withal he is very active in spread-
ing them, so that there scarce a conventicle I hear of, but it is still
Mr. Fraser who is the preacher, and likewise he is at least given out
to be a man of parts and learning, and therefore the more to be taken
notice o^ since parts that way improven are most dangerous.
" A. — I know no pernicious principles I hold^ such as you mean
may concern either Church government or loyalty ; as to the first, I
freely acknowledge, as it is now established, I have a very great aver-
sion from it ; as to my loyalty 1 would not care much though you all
saw what is in my heart concerning it ; as to my spreading of them,
I have been preaching Christy and exhorting people to mend their ways
and repent^ and if the doing of that be pernicious, I confess myself
gaQty of it.
Archb. — The greatest heretic will say so.
A. — It is not saying but doing.
Archb. — These are fine principles ; you hold that all that are not
of your judgment it is lawful to cut them ofif.
" A. — If you can produce any faithful witness (false you may) who
Till say that ever I maintained any such doctrine, I am content to die
presently.
" Archb. — But you hold that the people may, whenever they think
themselves wronged, make a pretence of religion, and rise up against
the magistrate.
" A. — I have read pro and contra on that subject, both loyalists and
commonwealth men, and amonc; all that even I read or heard of, I
never knew any that held that opinion, (upon which Halton and some
others smiled) and what we hold concerning that is nothing but what
may be drawn from the positions of the greatest loyalists themselves ;
but that is a ticklish point, and I desire not to dive in it at this time.
" Halton — Did you ever preach in the fields 1
"A — ^Your lordship knows that that, accordiiig to your law, is
criminal, and I am not obliged to be my own accuser. It is enough
that my throat be cut, though I do it not with my own hands ; if
jou mind to stage me on that, bring my accusers, and then proceed
as your lordship thinks fit.
"Aichb. — ^Though these shifts be taken from others, yet they
most not, sir, be taken so from a man of parts.
" Dundonald — Sir, you would gain the goodwill of the Committee
bv being ingenuous and free ; I assure you none of us has any ill-
▼ill at you, or intend to take any advantage of you, or of any of your
party, irom anything you say,
" A. — I thank your lordship.
** Halton — Did you ever preach at Linlithgow t
" A. — It may be I have. .
96 THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS.
'' Archb. — Yes^ sir, you have and in the fields there too, and that
iu great conventicles.
*• A. — I desire that may be proven.
*' Halton — You seem to be a wolf, and not one come in at the door,
but at the window.
" A. — If I had not said I had been in orders, your lordship's con-
sequence had been good, but when I said I could not directly answer
that question, your lordship cannot argue from the negative as if I
had said it.
" Halton — But you are intercommuned.
" A. — When I was cited I was six score miles from the place where
my citation was given, so that it was not possible for me to answer
it, and it was upou pretended contumacy, in not appearing on this
citation, that I was intercommuned.
" Halton — But why did you not move in it then 1
" A. — Since I could not move in it, for I had none to do for me,
my being intercommuned putting me in such a condition, that they
would do for me were afraid to converse with me, or so much as take
a petition out of my hand.
" Halton — Did you ever converse with Mr. Forrester 1
" A. — It may be.
" Archb. — Yes, sir, you have, and ye had still, since he went to
the Bass, correspondence by letters, and you were his correspondent.
" A. — My Lord Halton, since the Bishop says so, I declare ingenu-
ously I never had a line from Mr. Forrester, yea, not even so much
as changed a word with him.
" Halton—You seem to be of the Quakers' principles, for though
ye give us our due titles, yet my Lord St. Andrew's, whom His
Majesty is pleased to honour, ye give him not so much as he gives
you ; he gives you Sir, and ye give him nothing at all ; that is no
civility.
" A. — I came not here to justify my good breeding. I confess I
am a rude man, but for that I have no clearness."
The examination throws so much light upon Fraser's manly char-
acter and cool, calm demeanour when accused of conduct then punish-
able by death, that we trust our readers will not complain of the
length of the reporter's notes. So favourable was the impression
produced on the members of the Committee that they were inclined
to treat the prisoner with leniency but for the evil influence of Sharp,
who was ever breathing threatenings and slaughter against any noted
conventicle-holder. His hatred of Fraser breaks out repeatedly at
tlie Council, and the answers returned to his inquisitorial questions
must have intensified his venouL
Forthwith the accused was remanded to prison, under orders to be
kept more strictly than formerly. " My pockets were searched for
1 otters ; knives, ink, paper, and pens, were taken and kept from me ;
all company discharged : which filled me with some melancholy ap-
prehensions. But in my darkness was the Lord a light round about
me ; Him they could not shut out from me ; for that night I got a
most kindly and comfortable visit from the Lord Jesus, and I had
TUE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS. 97
ODe of the most sweet nights I had for ten years before that ; and
lifted up, by the sense of the Lord's love and favour, above death,
sin, hell, wrath, prelates and Papists, about one or two o'clock in the
morning I fell into a sound sleep, until a little before six o'clock I
was waJcened by one of the jailors, who cried to me to make myself *
ready by six o'clock to go to the Bass, for so the Council had deter-
mined ; which I very cheerfully obeyed." Along with him the well-
known James Mitchell, who had been subjected to brutal torture, and
was within a year "to glorify God at the Grassmarket," was con-
ducted from the Tolbooth of Edinburgh by a guard of twelve horse
and thirty foot. After stopping one night by the way, the prisoners
were landed on our Scottish Patmos, on Wednesday morning, 31st
January, 1677. Already there were companions in tribulation, for
the testimony of Jesus, upon the rock. Alexander Peden was there
for more than three years at this time, and was soon to write to Mr.
Simpson ; " We are close shut up by our chambers, not permitted to
converse, diet, worship together, but conducted out by two at once in
the day to breathe in the open air — envying (with reverence) the
birds their freedom, and provoking and calling on us to bless Him
for the most common mercies — and again close shut up day and night,
to hear only the sighs and groans of our fellow-prisoners." There
was William Bell the famous field preacher. James Drummond
chaplain to the Marchioness of Argyle was just warded. In a few
days the apostolic Thomas Hog would be landed, to be followed by
Robert Bennet of Chesters, and Robert Traill of Cranbrook.
After giving an interesting description of the Bass in his " Memoirs,"
Fraser adds : ''To this melancholy place I came, and continued there
in prison for two years and a half. And here I had likewise ex-
perience of the goodness of God towards me ; and 1, in providing for
me, without being chargeable to any, for such things as I stood in
need of. 2, In preserving and supporting me under great pressure
of spirit from sin, sufferings temptations, griefs, sorrows and un-
tendemess of brethren and friends, so as I was not therewith over-
whelmed. 3, In preserving me in health all that time. 4, That in
this time, partly by selling household plenishing, and improving of
my estate, I paid and cleared one hundred pounds of debts. 5, I had
the comfort and edification of fellow-prisoners, both ministers and
others, some there before me, and others brought in since my coming,
whose company was sweet and edifying many times to me. 6, We
had liberty, for the most part, of taking the air up the hill ; my
solitary walks were sometimes very pleasant to me. 7, I had the
comfort of friends that came in kindness to see me from the city and
country. 8, I had some special visits from God, ordinarily in private
duties, and sometimes in worshipping and conference with others.
9, Some increase, I think, I find in gifts, knowledge, and grace ;
some further discoveries of the knowledge of Christ and the gospel I
never had before. 10, I was made some way useful by writing of
letters abroad, praying with, and preaching to, and conference with
others. 11, I had a cleanly unexpected delivei'ance from this sad
place. ] 2, Some improvement I made of this price that was put in
G
98 THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS.
my hands, through grace, that helped me. These things, I think, I
was bound to take notice of, and be thankful for to the Lord."
His imprisonment was indeed a special training, by meditation,
temptation, and prayer, for greater usefulness in the future. We
find him much exercised in lamenting his sins and past shortcomings^
in striving after higher attainments of grace and the knowledge of
God, and in seeking to glorify God in his sufferings. Hours are spent
daily in prayerful reading of the Scriptures, and progress is made in
the study of Greek, Hebrew, and divinity. He gets opportunities of
sending letters to Christian friends and relatives, and writes a
Treatise of Faith which was destined to obtain a notoriety the worthy
author never dreamed of. " But prisons must be prisons, and all
afflictions though never so well sweetened will be in some measure
grievous." Amid his manifold labours he had various thorns in the
flesh. His warders sometimes strove to make him and his fellow*
prisoners as miserable as they could, treating them with a severity
which the CounciPs orders did not warrant. His friends were active
in endeavouring to procure his release, but, while Archbishop Sharp
lived, their efforts were ineffectual. " Yet the Lord was pleased to
answer my mind in some measure that I should come out and be
delivered, and that by giving great liberty and freedom to pray for
it, and assuring and filling my soul with the hopes and faith of it,
although for a great while I could not pray for my deliverance. At
another time the Lord was pleased to renew my commission to preach
the gospel, even a year before I was delivered, which made me think
and write to my friends that I should be delivered. And, lastly, I
was made (from Jonah ii. 10) to believe that the Lord would speak
to this rock to give me with others of my brethren up ; and accord*
ingly when the fulness of the time came, I was delivered, even then
when we all judged it most desperate ; at evening it was light." He
goes on to tell that after the battle of Both well Bridge he and others
expected every day to be sacrificed to the fury of those in authority,
but, instead of that, orders came from the king that such prisoners
for non-conformity as had not been accessory to the late rising should
be set at liberty. Accordingly Fraser and seven other prisoners —
Hog, M'Eilligan, M*Aulay, Anderson, Ross, Law, Bell — were removed
to the Tolbooth of Edinburgh. The condition of the Council — to
forbear preaching in the fields and not to rise up in arms — they
could not conscientiously comply with. There was another alter-
native, " giving security to appear when called," and for Fraser (and
others) the generous Sir Hugh Campbell of Cawdor became cautioner,
by bond dated 18th August, 1679. So *' forth we came, and were
set at liberty, to the joy of our friends ; and while at liberty I
preached once every Lord's day, and lived a wandering unsettled life.
Whatever family I came to, I laboured to be something useful there."
Thus amid manifold perils, for the persecution under the cruel
supervision of the Duke of York was daily waxing hotter, Fraser for
more than two years was busily engaged in doing the work of an
evangelist. He lived chiefly in the North. Lord Brodie, now ap-
THB RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS. 99
proaching the end of his honourable career, mentions him as a visitor
at the Castle — ** Nov. 14, 1679, Brae came here and I was helped by
him a little." In the autumn of 1681 he visited the south, and in
returning preached to a large audience in a bam. Word reached
the Council, and forthwith he and his cautioner, Campbell, were cited.
Suffering from ague, at the risk of his life, he hastened to Edinburgh
in stormy weather, arriving on the 21st December, 1681, and next
day he appeared before the Council. His friends were apprehensive
that his persecutors (among whom Bishop Paterson figures promi-
nently) thirsted for his blood, and they urged Fraser not to appear,
but this he resolutely refused as it would involve his cautioner in
heavy loss. His indictment bore that ever since he was liberated
" he hath continued to trouble and infest the several places of the
country whither he had occasion to resort, by venting seditious and
disloyal principles, and taking upon him the office of the ministry,
albeit he be not in orders, and keeping of conventicles, and at these
seditious meetings abusing and debauching his Majesty's subjects
from their loyalty and allegiance, and infusing in them seditious and
disloyal principles, to the great disturbance of his Majesty's peace in
these places where he resorts, for which he ought and should be ex-
emplarily punished in his person and goods, to the terror of others
to commit and do the like in time coming." He defended himself
with very great ability ; he ii^^isted that " he had been called to the
ministry by God and such of His servants as he verily believed had
power from Christ for that effect ; " he denied emphatically having
ever vented any seditious principles, his teaching had been uniformly
scriptural, and he was ready to subscribe the old Scottish Confession ;
with Prelacy he never could concur in any way, but he had never op-
posed it but with spiritual weapons ; these were his principles, he
was not ashamed of them, and he wondered why he and others of
similar views should be accused as seditious. His forcible and
eloquent defence made a great impression upon many of the Coun-
cillors, and they voted for his acquittal, but the animosity of the
bishops prevailed. He was found guilty of a continued habit of
keeping conventicles, fined 5000 merks, ordained to be committed
prisoner to the Castle of Blackness, there to remain until payment
of said fine, and caution found to abstain from preaching hereafter
under an additional penalty of 5000 merks, or remove himself off the
Kingdom ; ordered to be instantly carried to the Tolbooth of Edin-
burgh till he be transported to Blackness.
94361A
TOO THE MISSION FIELD.
OUR FOREIGN MISSION.
We feel assured that our readers will peruse with pleasure the sub-
joined letter from Mr. Blakelj, and that the young people particularly
will be delighted with the description given of the Orphanage-
Writing on the 15th January, Mr. Blakely says: —
"My wife and I like the people exceedingly. I refer more particularly
to the natives just now, not the Christians. We hear plenty of stories
about their dishonesty and general worthlessness, but our experience
has been such as to make us very fond of them. We came through
what I suppose is the usual experience of all new missionaries on board
ship. We were told, that either the average native had no heart at all,
or if he had it was so hard, that neither kind woi*ds, nor kind deeds
could reach it. However, we had started with the idea that an
Indian heart might be as true, as warm^ and as easily reached as a
Scotch one, and notwithstanding the endeavours of our fellow-
passengers we remained unconverted. And we are unconverted still.
The theory of those fellow-passengers of ours, and even, I am sorry
to say, of some missionaries, seems to be, ' Those natives must be kept
in their place.' But to me it seems, that if by cold actions and colder
words the poor native is kept in his place, his heart will also be kept
in its place, and never be drawn out in love either to the missionary
or to Christ. We cannot for one moment think of Jesus, who ought
to be our model in all things, ever keeping any man in his place,
however poor, or ignorant, or sinful he might be. I think he must
have foreseen that this hateful phrase woidd arise, and so he has kept
fresh for us in His Word that beautiful story of the woman who was
' a sinner.' ' Why does He not keep her in her placed was Simon's
thought. 'This is her place, even at my feet,' was our Saviour's
answer. Are the servants of Christ to take a higher place than their
Master? Are they to keep at arm's length, or even further off, those
whose only sin has often been ignorance, while Jesus lets her who has
sinned against light and knowledge lie at His feet) We do not think
so, and we have been acting up to our principles here. We look upon
the natives as brothers and sisters not merely in name but in reality,
and are trying to treat them as such. Shut out as we are by our
ignorance of the language from winning them for Christ, we can still
by kind actions and kind words win their love, and this I think must
often be the first step in bringing a heathen to Christ. If they love
us and have learned that we love them, they will surely readily listen
to us^ when we can speak to them, and will not be easily made to
THE MISSION FIELD. lOI
believe that we who haye hitherto always Bought their good, have
now only some selfish purpose in trying to bring them to Christ]
And their hearts are so easily won. A little sympathy, a kindly
word, a smile, and they are ready to do anything for you. We were
a little Borprised that they should be so willing to listen to the
preaching of the Goeppl. Our Hindu servants come in to worship
ereiy morning, and my whole class of fifteen heathen boys have come
to church to hear me preach. In the villages too there is the same
readiness to listen to the Word of God. The people crowd round and
listen most attentively, uttering every now and then exclamations
such as * That is good, or * That is true.' At the markets where I
have been with Mr. Anderson we ha?e had audiences of from one to
three hundred I did not make a mistake when I said ' we,' for
though I have not yet been able to speak my own words to the people,
yet I have read to them words of far more value, namely, the Word
of God. One does so wish that there was a short cut of some kind to
flnency in Urdu, for the days here seem to come and go with most
astonishing swiftness. When* I wake up at half-past five in the
morning it does seem as if I had a good long day before me, and
would get through a lot of work ; but somehow before I know where
I am night has come, and I have to retire to rest conscious that not
only something but a great deal
* Uncompleted still.
Waits the riBing of the ann.'
" It is almost impossible to get a steady hour or two at the language.
There is always some interruption. I have not one-third of the time
I would like to give to it.
" Now I want to write something for the little folks at home. We
are very fond of ' our boys and girls,' as we call the orphans. Most
of them have bright, laughing faces, and enjoy a little fun just as
much as boys and girls at home. I feel sure the little boys at home
will be quite interested to know that our orphan boys play at marbles
just as they do. And they have a Tiger, too, that they are vexy fond
of It is always lying about the orphanage, and when I have to go
there in the dark I feel quite anxious, for I am not certain that it is
as food of a missionary as of orphan boys. ' But why does not Mr.
Blakely shoot it f ' I hear some little reader exclaim ; * won't it eat
some of the poor little boys some day f ' Well, it is not quite so bad
as that) for it is only a big dog called ' Tiger.' This morning I went
early to the orphanage to ask for a little boy called Tommy, who had
been ilL The first thing I saw when I went in was * Tiger ' sleeping
beside one of the boys. You should have heard them laugh when I
asked if that was Tommy. Perhaps you will hardly believe it, bi^'
102 THE MISSION FIELD.
the boys here do not laugh in Hindustani — they just laugh in the
same way as you do. I wonder what kind of idea my little readers
have of the orphanage. If you are picturing it to yourself as a pretty
little cottage, with a dozen or so of little beds ranged side by side,
with as many little curly heads lying on snow-white pillows, how you
would open your eyes when I took you into what looks to me very
like a byre or bam, and showed you the boys lying fast asleep on the
clay floor. You would look in vain for tables and chairs, and as for
knives and forks and spoons, why with ten little sturdy black fingers
to shovel down their rice and ' dal,' such luxuries are altogether un-
necessary. But they are not rude little boys, by any means. Thej
spring to their feet and make a kind of military salute, whenever we
appear, saying at the same time, 'Salam Sahib' or 'SaliUn Meai
Sahib.' Little Tommy, to whom I have already referred, was very
ill, so I brought him to the bungalow to nurse. He is one of our
solemn boys, and for two days, do what we would, we could not get
him to smila On Sabbath night I was sitting beside him watching
him. He was lying with his Sack to me and such a cross look on his
face, I thought I would try the eflfect of singing on him ; so I began
to hum a hymn. Greatly to my amusement, he at once turned
round, and fixed his piercing little black eyes upon me. When I had
finished, I asked him if I would sing another one. Tommy smiled
and said, ' Han,' which means ' Yes.' And so I sang seven or eight
hymns to him, and kept him smiling all the time.
*' I will not say anything about the little girls ; perhaps my wife
will tell you about them another time.
" You may think this a very short letter, but if I tell you every-
thing at first, there will be nothing to tell you afterwards, and you
will think I have foigotten you."
According to present arrangements, Mr. Anderson and his family
design leaving Bombay in the P. and 0. Co.'s steamer Oriental on the
29th March. They may be expected to reach Scotland towards the
end of April. Doubtless they will have feelings of a mingled kind
when bidding farewell to the people among whom they have so long
resided. But although away from the scene of anxious and earnest
labour, Mr. Anderson may yet hear of many who derived saving
benefit from his ministrations. The good seed he has been honoured to
sow in that far-off land may yield an abundant harvest after many
days.
The school opened at Bandola, under the care of Nathu Das, con-
tinues to prosper. 20 boys were enrolled in the beginning of
December, and more were expected to attend. Mr. Anderson says :
'* The people of Bandola are to provide a house and schoolhouse, with
THE MISSION FIELD. 103
a very trifling expense to us for wood. We can get a Govemment
grant of six rupees a month, and some fees will be realised — say two
or three rupees monthly. There will thus be something left over oF
the money raised for this special object, which might be utilised in
starting another village school. The people of a village to the east
wish us to start one ; and one of the orphan boys — Henry Firth — is
anxious for this kind of work."
A Toung Men's Christian Association has been commenced, and it
has abeady a membership of 12. It is believed that a number of
youths will begot to attend the meetings of the Association as hearers.
Mr. Anderson is hopeful that the Govemment will soon grant some
help in carrying on Zenana work ; but the exact conditions on which
that assistance will be granted are not yet known.
According to latest accounts, the orphans are all well. Another
kind friend at home has generously agreed to pay £5 annually for
the support of one of the five children who yet remain unadopted.
Perhaps others will follow such a good example and intimate their
readiness to act as patrons of these children before the next meeting
of Sjnod.
A word about the Funds. It will be at once understood that this
year's outlay must be exceptionally heavy, as fully two hundred
pounds have been expended for travelling charges alone. May we
not venture to hope that a few friends throughout the Church, on
vhom €rod has bestowed abundance, will come forward at this time
and meet the extra outlay by a large and special contribution ! We
ask this for the Master's sake. It is His work we are carrying on,
and we confidently appeal to the stewards of His bounty to send us
io the month of March a special offering, so as to replenish our
eihauBted treasury.
THE MISSIONARY UNDERTAKING.
From ''Missionary Review of the World J^
CfiBisnAN missions represent the most colossal undertaking ever
presented to the mind of man. Here is a world lying in the lap of
the evil one, and entangled in his seductive snares as Samson was in
the net of Delilah's wantonness. Here are fifteen hundred millions
of perishing people to be overtaken with the gospel message, if at all,
vithin the life-time of a generation. Yet Christ says to a compara-
tively few disciples : " Give ye them to eat," and yet what we have
fieems hopelessly inadequate provision for such a vast multitude.
But there is the authoritylpi the King ; He certainly will not com-
I04 THE MISSION FIELD.
mand what is impossible or eyen impracticable. With proper
organisation and distribution of this multitude into companies ; with
our few barley loaves brought to Him to be blessed, broken and
multiplied as broken ; with simple faith in His power and presence,
and with implicit obedience to His Word, we may not only feed all
these millions, but find fragments left in abundance ; for the gospel
provision strangely multiplies as it is divided.
All true enterprises are earnestly prosecuted. David said to
Abime^ech : " The king's business requireth haste.'* And promptness,
celerity of movement, needs to be introduced into our way of doing
the King's business, as a part of our loyal obedience to His command.
In the book of Esther we are furnished with an example of the haste
with which a rojal decree may be carried out First the fatal word
went forth at the prompting of wicked Haman — a decree of death —
unto the King's lieutenants, the provincial governors and rulei's, t^
eveiy people after their language ; a copy of the writing was pub-
lished unto all people, and the posts went out, hastened by the King's
commandment. Afterwards when that counter-decree of life was
issued, written in the king's name and sealed with his signet, letters
were dispatched by posts on horseback and riders on mules, camels
and young dromedaries. There were 127 provinces to be reached ;
the empire of Ahasuerus stretched from the Danube and the Nile on
the west to the Indus and the Ganges on the east, and from the
Black Sea and the Caspian on the north to the Persian Gulf and the
Indian Ocean on the south — its length nearly two thousand and its
breadth nearly one thousand miles. It was on the three and twen-
tieth day of the month Si van that the king's scribes were called to
put that decree in writing; it had to be translated into every
language represented in those provinces from Ethiopia to India ; it
had to be promulgated with haste, and yet without one of those
modem facilities which we possess. There were no printing-prcssets,
postal unions or telegraphs ; no railroads or steamships. Every copy
must be transcribed by hand, and borne by messengers who could
move no faster than horses and mules, camels and dromedaries could
carry them. And yet, through all those 127 provinces that decree
was actually published upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month
Adar I Throughout that wide domain, to every Persian subject, that
message of the king was thus borne in less than nine montlis !
More than eigliteen hundred and fifty years ago the King of kings
issued a decree of salvation and bade His disciples bear the Word of
life to every creature in all this world's vast empire. And now, after
waiting with divine patience for nearly nineteen centuries, He sees
three-fourths of the human race yet without the knowledge of the
good news of grace ! It is plain without argument that the Church
of Christ has never yet, in any proper sense, attempted to solve this
practical problem. When Dr. Duff declared that as yet we have
been only "playing at missions," he meant that this world-wide work
has never been seriously conducted as the enterprise of the Church.
We have not yet felt that the King's command is urgent and the
King's business requireth haste. Were true, sound, sensible, practical
THE MISSION FIELD. • I05
business principles applied to this problem, no hindrance would b&
huge enough even to delay the prosecution of the work solemnly
committed to the Church of Christ. And once more we record our
solemn conviction that, with thorough organization, sanctified resolve
and practical co-operation throughout the Church, the gospel may be
preached as a witness, not only among all nations, but to every
living creature, within the lifetime of the present generation, or even
before the preaent century doses.
In affirming this conviction we do not forget the wide extent of
territory yet to be covered with gospel effort. There are unoccupied
provinces, absolutely without a single missiouaiy or mission station.
Kurdistan with 3,000,000 ; Afghanistan with 8,000,000 ; Anam with
30,000,000 ; Africa, north of the £quator and west of the Nile basin^
vith 50,000,000 more ; Thibet and Mongolia, virtually left to the
dominion of the grand Lama ; Arabia, over whose whole extent float a
the green flag of the False Prophet ; — these are some of the terri-
tones yet to be taken possession of in the name of Christ. A few
years since, Mr. Stephenson, of the China Inland Mission, went from
Bbamo, in Upper Burmah, to Chungking in Chuen, China, a distance
of over 1,000 miles, and for 500 miles north and south of his line of
travel, only one station, Kwel-Yang, then existed I Stanley, in Africa^
journeying from the Great Lakes in the east to the rapids of the
Congo, found not one native Christian in 7,000 miles of travel.
Even countries nominally fields of mission labour arc not occupied.
Siam, with eight or ten millions of impressible people, whose King^
Chulalangkom, is the most intelligent and progressive rukr in Asia,
and the active, generous friend and patron of the missionnries, has a
few Baptists working among resident Chinese in Bangkok, and lesa
than a score of Presbyterians, constituting the sole working force to
bring those millions to the knowledge of Qod; and yet Siam haa
single cities with 200,000 inhabitants where there is not one mission
station or even evangelist ; and such things as this are true after
more than eighteen centuries of Christian history !
The wide area of unoccupied territory needs not dismay us. Africa
and Asia together embrace less than 26,000,000 square miles, only
about twelve or thirteen times as much as the Persian Empire in the
days of Ahasuerus. If in those days the royal proclamation could be
carried through the imperial dominions in nine months, what is to>
hinder our baring the gospel message through these two continents
in nine years 1 With all our modem facilities and instrumentalitiea
ve could certainly cover a territory twelve times as large in a period
twelve times as long !
This thought of a possible proclamation of the Word of life to
every living creature before this century closes, we have sought to
trumpet forth by tongue and pen for twenty years ; and it has never
vet been shown to be either impossible or impracticable. It can be
done ; it quoht to be done ; it MUST be done. We must cross this
Jordan of Selfishness and roll away this reproach of neglect at the
Gilgal of a new consecration. We must resolutely march around
Jericho and blow the gospel trumpet. Let men deride the fewness of
I06 THE MISSION FIELD.
our misfiionarj band, and the fooliBhnesB of preaching. Let pagan
priests and heathen philosophers ridicule the credulous faith that ex-
pects to see ancient systems fall before the peal of a Jubilee trump.
Ood's word is pledged. " Lo, I am with you alway." The Church
of Christ has but to undertake this work, in the energy of the Spirit
and with the enterprise of a true consecration, and wonders will fol-
low to which even Pentecost was but a prelude and precursor. Yes,
this King's business requires haste. Behind that command, '' Go yo
into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature," there
stands the majesty of imperial atUharity, Such authority is itself
urgency. He obeys not the King who does not move promptly, im-
mediately. Celerity of movement is a necessary part of loyalty and
fidelity. To move tardily at the King's command is next to open
treason.
The opportunity calls for haste. God sets before the Church an
open door, great and effectual. While the command rings in our ears,
** Go ye " ! lo, silently but suddenly the iron gates of intolerance and
ignorance, bigotry and superstition, swing open as of their own
accord. Obstacles that for a thousand years have stood like walls of
adamant quickly disappear. But what is thus our opportune hour
is also Satan'8, and he appreciates and improves it, if we do not.
Forward into these new openings he pushes his obedient servants,
with all their various agencies and instruments of destruction. He
sends his emissaries to preach his anti-gospel and carry on his crusade
of infidelity and immorality and set up his printing-presses to scatter
the literaliire of death. Satan never lacks earnestness or enterprise
in his work.
Meanwhile, what are we doing f Trifling with the whole matter
of a world's evangelization ; trifling on a magnificent scale 1 Since
our liord on Calvary breathed His dying prayer, fifty successive
generations of human beings have passed away. In this awful
aggregate twenty-five times the present population of the globe have
perished without the gospel ; and as yet the entire Christian Church
sends less than 6,000 labourers into the foreign field and spends less
than 12,000,000 dols. a year on the world-wide work 1
Never yet have we been in haste to enter even the most conspicu-
ously open door. That word ''opportunity " is full of ethical suggest-
iveness : ob, over against ; portus, the harbour. The gospel ship lies
at the vety entrance of tha harbour whose wide-stretching arms and
open gates invite entrance, and where millions of people wait to wel-
come the gospel. While God's breezes blow toward the port and we
have only to spread sail and speed onward, we lie at anchor as if be-
calmed, or move so slowly and sluggishly that the barges of the vain
pleasure-seeker and the swift galleys of a piratical foe sweep past us
and pre-oocupy the openings. Where is the enthusiasm of the
Christian Church 1 Where our zeal for God, our sympathy for a lost
race, our loyalty to our Lord, our sense of duty and responsibility !
Moreover, behold the King's couriers and posts, furnished by His
providence, ready to do our bidding in hastening the King's business 1
First, the printing-press, what a magnificent help to evangelization,
THE MISSION FIELD. I07
ready to multiply copies of the Word in any tongue, at a trifling cost
and with incredible speed ! From a single steam-press thousands of
copies may be produced every month, and tracts and religious books
hj the million pages. Here is a doubly useful messenger in the
work of evangelization. It moves like a magic shuttle, to and fro.
While it multiplies and scatters afar the message of the gospel, it
spreads at home information of the work abroad. This courier of the
King he never sent forth until the Dark Ages were giving place to
the new dawn of the Reformation, and the Church was prepared to
attend to the King's business. This courier we must use, as never
hitherto, to scatter information of the King's work among disciples,
as well as to scatter the leaves of the tree of life among the hsathen.
Information is the handmaid of evangelization. Thousands of intelli-
gent disciples are ignorant of missions. One of the foremost philan-
thropists of England, to whom a copy of " The Crisis of Missions "
vsB sent^ wrote to the author : " I am sorzy to confess that of the
balk of the facts which you present I have hitherto been entirely ig-
norant" No wonder the flame of zeal bums low when no fuel feeds
its fires, and no oil fills its lamps.
Money is another of the King's couriers. Consecrated capital is
Qot only potenty it is well-nigh omnipotent. No marvel that
Manunon is treated in the Bible as a rival god to Jehovah. Wealth
sQgg^ts divine attributes — omnipotence, omnipresence, immortality,
transforming energy. To have and to use money well is to multiply
personal power a thousand fold, nay, to multiply one's self a thousand
fold. The giver is potentially wherever his gift is. Sarah .Hosmer's
fragal savings educated six young men to preach the gospel in
Oriental lands, and where they were she had her representatives and
preached through them. A man recently died in New York City
vhoae noble benefactions had spread so far that in not less than two
himdred and fifty diflerent places he was represented by a mission
Sondaj-school, a church, an asylum, a hospital, a college or seminary,
or some other form of beneficence : his money made him virtually
"Qinipresent as a benefactor. Money makes the giver also immortal.
It represents not what is transient, but what is permanent. The
good that men do with money lives after them ; it is not interred
^th their bones. They who use it aright hold the lever of God, and
lift a whole people to a loftier plane — multiplying themselves inde-
finitely and rendering themselves practically present wherever their
donations are doing work in their behalf ; and so even when dead
their works do follow them, and they survive themselves !
If the King^s business requires haste, there are ready facilities to
nieet the requirement. Sanctified scholarship is another royal
<^rier, prepai^dto mount the swift steeds of modem civilization and
W the divine tidings to every nation in its own native tongue,
^en Christ gave His command, he addressed humble, unlettered
men. Since then the gospel has found its way into Caesar's house-
Wd. Here are the princes of this world, the seers and sages, bowing
^*- the cross. The Bible has been translated into over three hundred
^i^guages and dialects. A Christian literature has been created and
1
Io8 PAGES FOR THE YOUNG.
may be reproduced in any known language of earth. Steam has beed
harnessed to the gospel chariot — nay, even lightning waits to do thi
Church's bidding. What are we waiting for) Twenty thousand
millions of dollars lie in the coffers of the Protestant church member^
of Great Britain and America; 3,000 young men and women are
knocking at the doors of the church asking to be sent abroad ; the
whole world permits and invites missionary approach ; there is every
preparation for such universal movement and such rapid progress aa
no other century ever even forecast. What is thb Chuboh op Cbrist
WAITING for]
Pagee for the 2ott«9*
BIBLE QUESTIONS.
I MUST first of all express the pleasare I have had in receiving and reading so
many excellent answers to the Questions that were found in last number of the
McLgazine, They have come from all the different parts of the Church , and from
the three kingdoms. While some possess higher merit than others, there ia not
one that does not show a good acquaintance with the subject treated. I feel
on reading them as if I were sitting before a large Bible Class, and gratified at
the correctnfiss and fulness of the answers given to the questions put. I hope
to get better acquainted with the members of it by-and-bye, and to see aome
new faces looking at me through the written page. I give two which I
thought among the best of the papers, but it was difficult to make a selection.
There are many of nearly equal merit to those I have taken. Might I ask you
to make your mottoes as short as possible, that they may be the more eaaily
printed.
Life of Moses.
The answers to the Questions in the Life of Moees which I give are from
" Knowledge is Power," Edinburgh : —
1. — Amram and Jochebed (Exodus vi. 20).
2. — They saw he was a goodly child, and were deeply impressed with the
idea that God had some great work for him to do in the future. Beoauae they
did so from a principle of faith.
3.—- The Egyptians made their paper from the inner rind of the bulrush
called "papyrus," hence we have the word paper.
4. — She would bestow upon him a superior education, also those other
accomplishments which fitted him to become the future deliverer and leader
of Israel.
6. — He would be instructed in the principles of true religion.
Thk Pabables of Jesus.
The answers to the Questions in the Parables which I have selected are
those of " Fidelity," Aberdeen :—
1. — (a) A representation of some Scripture truth by a figure ; or (6) Parablea
often represent truth by a kind of short history or an allusion to real facts.
2. (a) That the people might understand more dearly, and thus be in
PAGES FOR THE YOUNG. I09
itnicted in beayenly things through earthly emblems ; (6) In speaking in
psraUei) our Lord wanted His disciples to understand truth, which the Jews,
throagh their unbelief, rejected. '' It was given unto the disciples to know
tae mTstenes of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. " (Matt.
niLll.)
3w— (a) They both buQt a house ; {h) Both houses had a foundation ; (c) The
k<Ai»h man expected his house to stand a storm and be safe.
l-ia) We will be tested by temptation ; (6) We will be tested by the
v^rid ; (e) We will be tested by affliction ; (d) We will be tested by death and
tkjndgment-seatb
5.- (a) By obeying God's command ; (&) By building our hopes on Christ
Joss, the Rock of Ages, and thus be secure from the storms of divine wrath
tbt will oome upon the wicked and all that build upon a false foundation.
Carrect answers to Questions in the Life of Moses have been received from :
-Aberdeen— Meekness, A. D. ; Ayr — Upward, Sunrise, Obedience, Truth ;
Cocpv-Angus—Annie ; Dundee — Spes ; Edinburgh— Truth ; l*erth — Excel-
m, A Little One, Violet, I am the Way, Tlie Lord will provide, God is
LOTB.
Correct answers to Questions in the Parables have been received from : —
Aberdeen— Gleaner, Mabel; Ayr — Rose, The Lord is my Helper, Ecolier,
^7 Improring ; Bath — Love lightens labour ; Carluke — W. J. ; Dervock,
hlaad— ?; Dundee — ^Labor vincit omnia, Qui vivra-verra, Humility, Love ;
Ftlkirk— Thought cannot be better employed ; Glasgow— Cherry-Blossom,
U^. Veritas, Matthew vi. 33 ; Non nobis, Domine, non nobis ; Hamilton —
For Christ's Crown and Covenant ; Kirkcaldy — Domine da Incem; Midlero —
B Desperandom, O vir utere sapientia ; Perth — Delphin, Hannah, Victory,
Esther, Zarishaddai, Levi, Truth ; Thurso— Daisy.
It will be seen that some of our congregations are not represented at all.
^ofild it not be nice to feel in our Bible Class that the whole Church was
^reseDted. May we ask the help of ministers, parents, and Sabbath school
teadien to reach thU ?
QUESTIONS FOR APRIL.
The following are the Questions you are next asked to answer, and we ask
Tn 8^un to remember the following instructions : —
I.— Those under twelve years of age answer the questions on the life of
H<ies. Others answer the questions on the Parables.
^— Do not send your name. Write a motto at the beginning of your
riper instead.
1-Do not write the questions — only the answers.
i— Put the number at the beginning of each answer.
^— Leave a blank line between each answer and the one following it.
((>— Send your answers before April, addressed 0. 8. Magazine ; the Rev*
^^ Morton, 23 James Street, Perth.
The Lifb ot Mosks.
Read Ex. ii.
I -Show from tho New Testament that Moses pitied the Israelites in their
Icailage, and intentionally cast in his lot with them.
no PAGES FOR THE YOUNGg
2.— In Ex. li. 15 Moses said, <* Surely this thing is known." What familia
proverb do these words call to your mind ?
3. — When Moses reached Midian why did he betake himself to a well?
4. — How did the young women who came to the well know that he was a
E;L;yptian ?
5. — Explain fully how Moses' stay in Midian, and his occupation there, zna
be looked upon as a punishment ?
ThB PA&4BLES OF JSSUS]
Read the question of John's disciples in Matt. ix. 14, and Christ's threef ol
answer in verses 15, 16, 17.
1.— Why did the Pharisees and John's disciples fast often ?
2. — What lesson does the parable of the bride-chamber teach us as to tli
proper season for fasting ?
3. — How does the parable of the old and new cloth show that it is nnaeetnl
for a Christian to be of a mournful spirit ?
4. — Shew from the parable of the new wine and the old bottles that a Chris
tian filled with the Spirit cannot remain long sad 7
5. — What kind of bottles are spoken of in verse 17 ? Mention some othc
passages where such bottles are spoken of.
COMPANIONS TO THE HEAVENLY WORLD.
" Faith, Hope, Love."— L Cor. xiii. 13.
The love of society is one God has implanted in our nature. It is not natura
to shut oneself up in prison or cell, or live like a hermit in the wildemesa. "VVi
will choose companions of one kind or another. How important we ahoui
choose the best ! Solomon says, *' He that walketh with wise men shall 1^
wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed." Three of the choicest -w^
can make are those mentioned above. They will sleep with us at night, rt^
with us in the morning, and cheer the passing hours of every day and evenina
They will journey in our society by land or by sea, abide with us in the dara
ness as well as in the light, while their disposition and character are al^vaj
most pleasing and attractive. If we cultivate their companionship they ^pS
keep us out of much sin, sorrow, and misery, and bring us much oomf on
blessing, and enjoyment. Each has a characteristic of its own. Let us noi
look at them a little closely. First,
FAITH IS the companion WHICH IS ALWAYS BRINOINO US SOMETHINa GOOD.
There is nothing boys and girls like better than to be receiving aometh
good. The companion, who shows you the most kindness, is the one w
brings yon the most good, and the one you will probably love best. One thi
faith brings us is, a knotoledge of things we cannot net with our bodily eyea,
is interesting to stand by the sea on a clear day and look for miles across t
deep to some distant ship or island, or to be on some high hill gazing on dis
objects hidden from those in the busy world below. Those who have goo
sight, in such situations, can gaze upon scenes which near-sighted people cannc
discern and enjoy. This is the way with faith. It has remarkable vision
PAGES FOR THE YOUNG. Ill
Some people are so short-sighted that they cannot tell an object on the other
ode of the street. I remember a Udy who saw a luggage train passing the
boose in which she lived, when she noticed some cows looking out of their
tmeka, bat she was so near-sighted that she thought they were ordinary
puaengen. It is very different with faith. It can see far away, higher than
the Stan. Ton cannot see higher than the stars with your bodily eyes, but if
joo make faith your companion you will learn to look above the skies, and to
Ke God, the Saviour, the holy angels, heaven, and the redeemed in glory
valkiag in robes of white.
Another thing faith brings us is, afvUSi and free pardon. In the Scriptures
ooT tina are likened to debts. These we cannot pay. On account of them we
doerre to be cast into outer darkness. But Crod offers to pardon all our sins
the blood of Christ. How, you may ask, however am I to receive this
Ion ? We answer, by receiving Jesus as your Saviour, and you receive
Jem u snch by relying on Him as God offers Him. We are justified by
£utb- that is we are pardoned by faith — our debts are remitted or cancelled
tf f'Uth. A story is told of a wealthy member of Parliament who was
iBxioas to teach his tenants a lesson of faith. Returning homo from Parlia-
Dffltf he caused notices to be put up on different places on his estate that he
Toold be in his office on a certain day between the hours of nine and twelve,
*^ vonld freely pay all debts belonging to any of his tenants who could not
p>7 these themselves. Crowds soon gathered around the placards. The
vi%en were astonished. To every enquiry the steward of the gentleman
Bid, " Here is Lord C. 's signature, and the notice speaks for itself. " As the day
drev near the excitement increased. Some had no faith in the notice. It was
7^ a whim of Lord C. Some were going to wait that they might see how
^liov succeeded. Some, though they had debts, were too proud to apply.
At length the day arrived. None for a while cared to enter. By ten o'clock
u aged couple appeared. Addressing the by-standers the old man said, " Is
ittrae L>rd C. has offered to pay all our debts ? " *' Don*t know," was the
**>swer, " he has paid none yet." Observing the notice, and recognising the
li^tore of Lord C. they were encouraged, entered, presented a statement of
^r debts, and received a cheque to pay them. They thanked their benefac-
^^' After this they were shown into a room to ^ait till twelve o'clock.
^^ outside were eagerly waiting for the old couple to learn about their
access. As they did not come the people settled down to the opinion that
tbere was nothing in it. Twelve o'clock struck and not another person entered.
^eo the old people came out with their cheque in their hand. On seeing this
^ oatside bitterly regretted their folly. Now what brought this old couple
^ remission of their debts ? It was their faith in this gentleman and his
*^ In the same way faith in Jesus and His Word will bring you pardon
«ad salvation.
A|ain faith brings rtitfvlntsa. Some companions are a great tease. They
^ eveiy now and then irritating or annoying others. But faith is the opposite,
^tcahns and rests the souL There is a beautiful text in the writings of Isaiah
*hieh rons thus, '* Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed
^thee : because he truateth in thee," If you ask God to give you faith as a
^^psnion this will be your experience. How pleasant it is to get into the
<^ after you have been in the storm : to get rest after you have been in
*<^ and trouble ! The way to get this is through the companionship of
^ A poor orphan boy about eight years of age begged a lady one winter
^ to allow him to dean away the snow from her steps. " Do you get much
112 PAGES FOR THE YOUNG.
to do, my boy ? ** said the lady. " Sometimea I do, but often I get very little,*'
he replied. *' Are you not afraid you will not get enough to live on " The
boy looked a perplexed look, and said, " Don't you think Gk>d will take care
of a boy if he pats his trust in Him and does the best he can T '* There was
restfulness in that boy*s heart about his daily bread. What brought him r«at
was the companionship of faith.
Once more faith brings courage to do what ia noble and right. A gentleman
tells that when he was sixteen years of age he was sent to a boarding-hooae
schooL In his room there was accommodation for four boys. Three had
Arrived including himself. When night came the habit of reading the Bible
knocked at the door of his heart But he was afraid to take out his Bible and
read it before his companions. Ashamed of God, the Saviour, and the Word
he went to bed. In the morning he arose in Ul-humonr. Thus day by day
passed till the fourth boy came. His name was Langdon. He was a pleasant
boy, enjoyed himself with others, but when night came he went to his trunk
«ud took out a book. The others eyed him curiously. *' This is my Bible,"
said Langdon. " I always read it before going to bed. My parents are Chris-
tians, and my father told me never for a single day to omit reading the Bible.'*
Each of the other boys then confessed that he too had a Bible in his trunk,
do all the Bibles were produced, and the Word of Gk>d was regularly read
thereafter among them. You ask, what made Langdon so courageous ? We
answer the companionship of faith — ^faith in God, faith in the Word of €rod,
and faith in his parent's wisdom and christian counsels. The narrator of the
above incident says, he could not but admire the moral superiority of Langdon,
when he took that stand, to himself and the other boys. This is the com-
panionship which sustains missionaries in heathen lands amid numerous trials,
privations, and dangers. Learn to have a similar faith and it will teach you
also to be courageous.
THE THREE SNOW-FLAKES.
It was spring time. The snowdrops and crocuses that had been hiding in the
earth till Winter with his cold breath should pass by, were now peeping out
from their dark hiding-places, thinking he had surely passed. They were mis-
taken. The sky became dark. Winter came suddenly from his home in the
icy north and filled the air with myriads of snow-flakes. Oh 1 how they
whirled and danced in their glee, flitting hither and thither as if they had nc
purpose but to amuse themselves ! There were three among them who hac
travelled side by side from their home far up in the wintry sky. They dre\i
near the earth. " Where are you going to alight ? " said one of the three tc
the others ; "for my own part, 1 do not mean to go very far now ; I shall fnl
on that mountain- top. When the sun rises in the morning his first bright r&y i
will shine upon me ; and in the evening, when he sinks in the western sky, ;
shall sparkle and shine in my whiteness. The children of men in the vallc^
below, seeing the snow-clad mountain- top, will daily be reminded of the beaut'
of purity, and it may be, as they retire to rest, they will lift to heaven th
prayer, ' Cleanse me from my an ; wash me and I shall be whiter than th
snow.' Good-bye " — and the snow-flake fell gently upon the mountain- top
The two others journeyed on. "I have often heard," said one to the othei
** that Snow with her white mantle shields the flowerets from cold and harn
PAGES FOR THE YOUNG. II3
I fflean to alight in yonder garden where all is fragrant and beauUful in the
sommer-time. These snowdrops and crocuses were very foolish to come out
80 1000. They might have known better. But they must not be allowed to
suffer too much for their lack of wisdom. We all make mistakes sometimes.
I shall do what I can to shelter them till winter ib oyer. Then I shall sink
into the earth, and by-and-bye, when the days are longer, when the bees are
homming and the flowers are blooming, I shall reappear as a lily of the valley.
Good-bye."
The other flake continued to fall, but, finding it very hard to tell where she
should go, she floated long among the myriad snow-flakes that filled the
stormy air and whirled and danced in their wild glee. At length, she saw,
far beneath, a large city whose smoke came up like a great cloud. In a close
and dirty alley children were playing. Their faces and hands were red and
svoUen with cold, and one or two were barefoot. But they played on in the
cold, for their homes were comfortless, and they were happier outside in the
storm. They ran about catching the large flakes as they felL " Ah ! what a
vretched, filthy place ! " said the snow-flake ; " can I do anything to cleanse
it? It is little, very little, I can do, and if I but touch that dirty court'I am
ondooe. Nevermind. There is nothing like self-sacrifice." Down she floated
throagh the smoke, past the red chimney-tops, past the windows of the grimy
boildings. One of the children put forth his hand to grasp the beautiful white
crystal star as it fell, but he missed it. It fell upon the muddy pavement, and
vas gone in an instant. It was gone, but it lived in his memory, and often in
after years, when he put forth his hand to grasp a pleasure that seemed within
his reach, he recalled the experience of his childhood, and remembered how
the SDOw-flake eluded his grasp and quickly disappeared.
'* Pleasures are like poppies spread,
Yoo seize the flower — Its bloom ii ahed.
Or like the snow-flakes on the rirer,
A moment white— then gone for erer.**
THE RESTLESS BOY IN CHURCH.
How he turns and twists,
And how he persists
In rattling his heels ;
How uneasy he feels.
Our wide awake boy in church.
Then earnest and still,
He attends with a will.
While the story is told
Of some old hero bold.
Our dear, thoughtful boy in church 1
But our glad surprise
At his thoughtful eyes
Is tamed to despair
As he twitches the hair
Of his little sister in church.
H
114 LITERATURE.
Still, each naughty trick flies
At a look from the eyes
Of his mother so dear,
Who thinks it best to sit near
Her mischievous boy in church !
Another trick comes ?
Yes ! His finger he drums,
Or his kerchief ia spread
All over his head —
And still we take him to church !
He's troublesome ? Yes !
That I'm bound to confess ;
But God made the boys
With their fun and their noise,
And He surely wants them in church !
Such children, you know.
Long, long years ago,
Did not trouble the Lord,
Though disciples were bored ;
So we still keep them near him in church.
— Unhioicn.
When one speaks of a book for general readers, it is usually taken to
mean one that will not tax the int-ellect over much. There is im-
plied in this that the general intelligence is not equal to much in the
way of solving hard problems in philosophy and religion. Perhaps
the painful experience of many authors who have tackled these pro-
blems, and whose volumes on which so much hard thought has been
expended, lie dust-covered on neglected shelves, has led to this low
estimate of the general intelligence. ' We fear that the spread of
education has not yet produced results to warrant any raising of the
estimate. An examination of the contents of our public libraries, and
our numerous circulating libraries, show that the number of those
who love to exercise the intellect on deep questions, is very small,
compared with those whose flight does not reach much above the
entertaining novel. Reading is resorted to by the many, not as a
task, but merely as a recreation. For those who wish to understand
the deepest questions in which the mind of man can exercise its
powers, but who have not the time to master all the investigations
that have been made into them and their results, many books have
been provided. One of these lies on our table now, entitled " Essays
on Sacred Svhjectsfor General Readers^** (William Blackwood k Sons^
LITERATURE. US
EiiDburgh and London , 1889), and has for its author the Rev.
William Russell, M.A. The style is somewhat heavy, but the volume
throughout bears witness to the scholarship, the insight, and ability
which the author has brought to the discussion and elucidation of
many difficult points in philosophy, science, and theology. There are
twelve essays in all, some of them of considerable length, and they
deal with such subjects as these: ^'The Existence, Nature, and
Government of God ; " " The Unity and Divergence of Human
Speech;" "The Evolution Hypothesis;" "Materialism;" "The
Mosaic and Heathen Cosmogonies." Throughout, the essays are
apologetic, and the aim, very ably followed, is to defend the truths of
di?ine revelation from the attacks that have recently been made upon
them. Though not made prominent, there is in the subjects of the
essays, an ascending gradation, reaching its climax in the Person of
Christ — the centre of Christianity — which is the themo discussed in
the concluding essay.
The Bible does not seek to prove the existence of God, but takes it
for granted. And Mr. Russell's contention is that belief in this
great reality lies beyond all proof, though it may be confirmed
and strengthened by it. It is based upon an intuition of our intel-
lectual and moral nature. "The highest and noblest thought of
which man is capable is God, and this thought is innate. By innate
is meant what is inherent in our constitution as sentient, intellectual,
and moral beings. It is opposed to the doctrine of the , sensational
%hool which makes all our knowledge dependent on experience and
reflection." After defining the nature of various intuitive truths
which belong to the senses, the intellect, and our moral nature, the
question is asked : Has belief in the existence of God all the criteria
of an intuitive conviction ? He answers it in the affirmative for the
following reasons, which he states and illustrates with great ability
and force. (!) Because it is one of these truths that rise into con-
i^ciousness, when the real idea has been brought before the mind.
(2) Because it is a truth which no man can possibly disbelieve with-
out doing violence to the constitution of his nature. (3) Because it
is a truth which is universally acquiesced in. Coming from the belief
ID the existence of God, which he places on this stable basis, he takes
up our knowledge of God aud vindicates its trustworthiness. Here
he goes exhaustively into the metaphysics of knowledge, and discusses
with great acumen and insight the theories of Sir William Hamilton
and Dean Mansel in this country, and of German savants from
Spinoza down to H^el. The discussion, it must be confessed, is
rather stiff reading, but it is very suggestive. The outcome of it is
that he rests in the veracity of consciousness, in the testimony it gives,
both to the external world and what lies above it.
"We are oonicioiu of our own existence, and this consciousness involves
lome knowledge of onrselves. In like manner we are conscious of the existence
of a Sapreme Being, and this consciousness implies a primary knowledge re-
garding Him. This primary knowledge is further developed by the exercise of
onr natural faculties in the contemplation of the outward world, and of our
own inward being and conscience. And had man continued in his original
H6 LITERATURE.
sinless condition, and in full fellowship with His Maker, he would, so far aa we
know, have stood in little need of any other guides.*'
The entrance of sin made a super-natural revelation necessary for
the preservation of this knowledge among men.
Having thus established on a sure foundation the pre-supposition
with which the Bible commences — the existence of God — in the
following three essays he discusses man in his speech and religion. By a
large induction of facts drawn from many dififerent quarters, aud cogent
reasoning based upon them, he shows that a study of languages,
points to their all having sprung from a common origin ; and that a
study of the various religions existing in different nations, points not
to a gradual elevation but rather to a gradual degradation. Trace
the stream of any false religion, Parseeism, Brahminism, Buddhism
or any other, back a little, aDd the nearer you come to its fountain
in the dim shadowy past the piirer it becomes. The idea of Comte
which is adopted by so many in our day, that the history of race is
one of gradual development, from ignorance and barbarism to know-
ledge and civilisation is not supported by the facts of history and
experience.
** It is a mere gratuitous assumption to assert that the race of men, in their
primitive state, were Fetish worshippers and that they gradually rose to
Polytheism and Monotheism. This has not been the religious history of man*
kind. Not only Revelation but the annals and traditions of heathen nations,
conclusively prove that the primitive state of our race was not that of
savagism, but one in which religion stood upon the highest footing. There is
deep meaning in the earlier Scripture narratives which tells us, that Grod
walked and communed with the earlier patriarchs as a father doth with his
children. . . This original intercourse with €k>d is the hasb of all knowledge
of Him, and of all religion among mankind, eveu of the most corrupt and per-
verted religion. For there are elements of truth at the root of all religions.
Even their errors are but distortions of obscured and forgotten truths. Were
it not so, the religions of heathendom would not have lasted so long, and
would not still endure. For falsehood, if unmitigated, is not attractive ; it
only attracts by means of the partial truth which it contains. Pure falsehood
can neither allure nor satisfy the human mind. Let man sink ever so low he
will never be able utterly to annihilate within him the conscioumcss of truth.
. . The truths which lie hidden in heathen religions had their origin in primi-
tive revelations, which were the common possession of the whole human race
while yet they lingered in the plain of Shinar. And these were the inherit-
ance which the nations carried with them into foreign lands, after their dis-
persion from their common home. Monotheism was therefore the earliest
form of religion among men. To that succeeded the worship of nature. This
nature-worship rests upon the assumption that nature is Qod, or the existence^
form, or manifestation of the Infinite Unknown."
The combating of this idea of gradual development to higbcr
things in the human race, naturally leads to the modem hypothesis
of Evolution associated with the name of Charles Darwin. This
is tbo subject of another essay, which must surely have been written
LITERATURE. II7
before Darwin's life appeared, as in it he is spoken of as a theist.
The great argument he uses against this hypothesis, and uses with
good effect is that derived from the immutability of species.
'* There is not the slightest evidence of one species having passed into
another dnring the period of human record or tradition. Nor is this all ; in
the Ibi&il remains contained in the rocks, there is a record of the inhabitants
of this world running back incalculably further than man's existence on this
planet ; and although we find from that record that thousands of species hove
passed away, and thousands have appeared, in no single case has it been found
that one species has merged into another or that two or more species have
combined to make a third. The species is produced whole and entire. It is
the same in individuals belonging to it, for no individual of one species can
transgress the limits between it and another species."
As Materialism is closely allied with the Evolution hypothesis as
adopted by Darwin and his school this is subjected to a searching
analysis in the next essay. Then the Bible account of creation and
its relation to heathen cosmogonies, and to the results of modern
scientific investigation is brought under review. And, last of all, we
have the Fall, and the great antidote to the ruin caused by it in the
Person of Clurist discussed in the same learned way as the other
subjects to which we have alluded. There is much in the volume to
confirm one*s faith in the teaching of the unerring Word.
Somewhat similar theories to those discussed in this volume just
noticed are treated in the one to which we now come — The
ChrisUan Doctrine of God, by Dr. James S. Candlish of Glasgow
(T. <fe. T. Clark, Edinburgh). It is the latest of the series of admir-
able Handbooks for Bible Classes and Private Students which are
being issued under the editorial management of Dr. Dods and Dr.
Whyte. It is a most masterly piece of work, and cannot fail to in-
crease Dr. Candlish's reputation as an able theologian, and as pos-
sessing rare powers of lucid and orderly exposition. The design is
apologetic, but the argument in favour of Christianity that is pre-
s^ited is based upon the view that in its wonderful contents,
commending themselves to the mind, conscience, and heart of man,
we find its strongest evidence. Apologetic and Systematic Theology
are those brought more closely together than is usual in such works.
These contents of Christianity are also put side by side with the
'' principles of the great ethnic religions and systems of philosophy "
tbkt their immense superiority over them may be more clearly dis-
cerned. He thinks that " such a use of the Science of Religion or
Comparative Theology is specially suited for a missionary age of the
Church when she is awake to her high calling, to testify of her Lord
and His salvation in the face of the varying creeds of all the nations."
Desiring also to base his system exhibiting these contents upon the
weU-ascertained results of Biblical Theology, he sought as the leading
idea of the systematic arrangement, not any dictate of mere philoso-
phy, but some Biblical notion understood in its true historical sense.
Il8 LITERATURE.
This was found in the\, idea of the Kingdom of God as that possessing
the highest authority and being the most comprehensive. This plan,
ab he acknowledges, has led to some deviation from the usual methods
of setting forth the body of Christian doctrine, but has not required
any alteration of the substance and real meaning of the theology of
the Beformation. Starting from the Biblical idea of the Kingdom of
God, three lines of investigation are opened up by him, and followed
with a logical acuteness and a thoroughness that leaves almo&t
nothing to be desired. These are, first, the truths about God pre-
supposed in this idea of the Kingdom of God. This leads to a very
suggestive exposition of such doctrines as the existence of God as an
infinite Spirit, His creating all things, His governing all things, and
His attributes as revealed in these works of Creation and Providence.
We find this thought in connection with the doctrine of Creation that
will commend itself as at once very beautiful and true.
" The belief in God as the Creator of the universe has an important bearing
on practical religion, not only as the basis of the confidence which all who can
trust in His love, may have personally in His care and protection (see P&alm
cxxi. 2, cxxiv. 8), but also as the groimd of our certainty of the final success
of His purpose and reign in the world. The Bible contains many predictions
and promises of the ultimate extension of the Kingdom of God all over the
world, and of a last time when God shall be all in all (1 Cor. xv. 28). Now, if
there were anything in the universe independent of God, what assurance could
we have of the certainty that these promises shall be fulfilled ? But if all that
exists is absolutely dependent on Him for the beginning of its being, we see
that there is an absolute certainty that the end of all shall be according to
His will and purpose of grace. It seems to be for this reason that the descrip-
tion of God as Creator is sometimes introduced in connection with prophecies
of the extension of His kingdom as in Isa. xlii. 5, liv. 16-17t ^^'^ ^ the Book
of Revelation, the visions that depict the futures of Christ's kingdom audita
final triumph are ushered in by an ascription of praise to God as Creator (iv.
11) and the announcement of the end (x. 6) is accompanied with a solemn in>
vocation of * Him that llveth for ever and ever, who created the heaven and
the things that are therein, and the earth and the things that are therein,
and the sea and the things that are therein.' With a similar feeling Heber
has made this the climax of his grand missionary hjrmn :
' Till o'er our ransom'd nature
The Lamb for sinners slain
Redeemer, Eling, Creator
In bliss returns to reign.'*'
There is secondly the main revelation of the kingdom of God found
in the teaching of Jesus about God as a God of Holy Love. It is
pointed out that this revelation of God's character was given in germ
and gradually developing clearness in the Old Testament, and that
the rudiments of it may be traced in those convictions of the justice
and goodness of God that some of the Gentiles had learned from
nature and conscience. But it is in Clirist and his teaching that this
conception of God*s character is most fully and clearly unfolded. It
is expressed in Jesus' declaration of God's name as the Father, the
Holy Father, the righteous Father. The exposition of it, as well as
LITERATURE, Up
the comparison of it witd the conceptions that have obtained in other
religious systems, are full of interest and instruction. Dr. Candllsh
Tery justlj'refuses to accept the modem doctrine of the universal
Fatherhood of God as not having a sufficient basis in Scripture.
" Many able and excellent men think that Jesus taught that God Is the
Father of all men on the ground of His use of the expression ' your Father '
in the Sermon on the Mount, and other addresses in. the hearing of promiscuous
crowds, and of the Parable of the Prodigal Son. These certainly show that
God offers to all men His Fatherly love, and has for all men feelings which
nuy be compared to those of a Father. ^This is all that some understand by
the oniversal Fatherhood of God, and in this sense it may be admitted that it
vas taught by Jesus. But to infer that all that He said about the Fatherhood
of God in these discourses was meant to be understood of all men, is precarious
reasoning, and would prove too much ; for it would equally follow that all
men are in the kingdom of God, the salt of the earth, &c. It is remarkable
that Jesos never uses the phrases that are habitually on the lips of those who
bold this view, 'Father of all,' 'Father of mankind,' 'AH men are God's
children ; ' and in one place He describes those whom He calls God's children
a little flock, to whom it is their Father's good pleasure to give the kingdom
(Lake xii. 32). It seems safest to avoid the use of phrases that our Lord and
Hb Apostles do not use, at least when we mean to make the Fatherhood of
God a principle in theology from which other doctrines may be inferred as is
frequently done. There is great danger, lest, after having been proved true
in one sense, it should afterward be used as a proof of further assertions in a
different sense in which it is not true."
The third and last line of investigation deals with the Trinity as
a corollary from the kingdom of God. Jesus who announced this
kingdom proclaimed himself the Son of God, and on leaving the
world gave the promise of the Holy Spirit as the agent through whom
this reign was to be established in the world. The Three-in-One is
thus distinctly brought before the mind in connection with the king-
dom, and this abstruse, deep theme is very judiciously and ably
handled.
From this outline some idea of this hand-book may be obtained,
and it will be seen how successfully the author has accomplished the
design which he placed before himself at the outset. It is impossible
to rise from a perusal of it without feeling that we have gained a
deeper insight into many precious Bible truths.
From the field of theology we are brought in the next volume ou
our table to the field of active Christian life — Sketch of the History
<'f the First Reformed Presbyterian Congregation (J. k R.
Parlane, Paisley). The congregation whose history is sketched is
that of Great Hamilton Street, Glasgow, now in connection
vith the Free Church. The work has been done by one of its elders
who bears a name that was honoured greatly in that section of the
Presbyterian Church, Thomas Binnie. It has been well done.
Literary skill is displayed in the way in which the different parts of
the chequered story are woven together. In the first five chapters it
120 LITERATURE.
is a history of the Societies out of -which the Reformed Presbyterian
Church grew that is given, and we know of no book where such a
succinct yet pretty full account of them, their organisation and their
methods, can be found. The remaining five chapters deal with the
particular congregation in Glasgow, with which the name of the elder
i)r. William Symington will ever be associated. It was he who by
his pulpit power and organising capacity raised it above the troubles
experienced at the early stage of its history, and made it a centre of
Christian activity and influence. Many went from it when its
spiritual and intellectual life was pulsing high to do noble work both
at home and abroad. Among them was the Eev. John G. Paton,
who, after having spent many years in successful missionary work in
the New Hebrides, has been using his time since coming home in
writing an Autobiography that is being read with intense interest^
delight, and profit. The secret of Dr. Symington's success is unfolded
in the words of Dr. Gould his student and son-in-law.
"He owed most of his usefulness in life to what we may designate hia
peculiar love and faculty of order. His very study was the image of hia
thoughts — ^a place for everything and everything in its place. It was the same
principle that gave him success in that walk which he chiefly cultivated —
systematic theology. He was in his own person a living refutation of the folly
of modem prejudice against it. It was with him no dead herbarium, but a
living garden — no fetter cramping the native elasticity of his thoughts, bat
the wing with which he soared upward, till he could take more accurate
survey of the whole domain of divine truth.
'* It is but right to add that he ' adorned * the doctrine of his Saviour as
well as professed and believed it. In private habits he was eminently devout.
His delight was communion with God. His closet could testify to his prayer-
fulness. But yet there was nothing of the morose about him. Genial and
buoyant with the glee of childhood he was the life and spirit of every company
in which he mingled ; in wit and repartee never rivalled, but never losing in
the joyousness of his nature the dignity which became the Christian and the
Minister ; the youngest of his grandchildren hailed him as a companion while
they revered him as a patriarch."
Not the least among the notable men in the congregation of whom
some account is given must have been the beadle who in Scripture
phraseology wrote its " Chronicles " from which a selection is given
here. The volume is enriched with excellent photographs of the
various ministers, who carried on the work of the congregation until
its union with the Free Church, and with engravings of the churcH
building, and of mission premises where good Christian work was
done.
Our age is not one very rich in helpful devotional literature. There
are some recent books of this class that will live, but even these will
not stand well when compared with others that are older. One that
has been held in high esteem ever since it appeared more than two
centuries ago, and has been helpful to many a heaven-bound pilgrim,
is entitled, The Devout Breathings of a Pious Soul^ and has recently
been published in a very neat and handsome form by Andrew
LITERATURE. 12 r
SteTODSOD, Edinburgh, It is edited bj J. S., initials behind whic
ve can discern an able pen with which our readers are familiar. In
the Preface by Mr. Sturrock we are furnished by some interesting in-
formation about the little book. The author is unknown. Its simi-
lai it J to some of Bishop Hall's devotional pieces has led to the con-
jecture that he was the author. There is, however, no proof of this>
although its real author must have lived about the same time as the
famous Bishop — in the first half of the seventeenth century. It has-
ako been imputed to the Rev. John Brown of Haddington — this mis-
take arising from the fact that two editions of it were issued under
his superintendence, and with his name on the title-paga It is from
Brown's second edition that this one has been reprinted, though th&
headings to the chapters have been taken from an edition issued
many years ago by the Religious Tract and Book Society of Scotland
with a recommendatory note by the late Dr. Tweedie. That our
readers may have a taste of the book, we give one of the brief
hundred meditations of which it is composed.
SERVE GOT) IN USING MEANS.
*' We must never presume upon means without God, because che pipes can-
not convey unless the spring communicate. Nor must we presume upon Qod
without using the means which He hath appointed, because the goings forth
of ProTidence are always in the paths of diligence. As in the fight with
AnaUi Joshua fought while Moses prayed ; so the proceeding of a Christian's
tiith shoQld always be upon the mount, and his industry in the valley. While
the heart is lifted up, the hand should be stretched out. He may rest in
Cod 8 power and promise, who restlessly lahours in the means. He may con-
fidently depend upon God's Providence who fully lays himself out in God's
way. I must sow my seed and wait for the rain and heat ; do my work and
leare the event with €rod. I must neither be idle in using the means nor make
an idol of them ; but henceforth lay my hand to them, as if they were all in
^ and look above them, as if they were nothing at all."
The little book is beautifully got up both externally and internally.
It will be an ornament to any table, and moi*e helpful than many
such ornaments are.
A bundle of Messrs. Parlane's excellent publications for the young
has been sent us. There is the neatly got up annual volume of the
Day spring — a monthly periodical for the young that easily outstrips
its many rivals. The matter is always good, admirably adapted ta
children though never childish, and the illustrations are very beauti-
ful and attractive Among the little books embraced in the bundle
may be mentioned, The Story of Richard Baxter in a Tow to Kidder-
^ingUr by the Rev. A. Andrew, Glasgow, who has on p]:0vious years
treated Luther's country and Bunyan's country in the same interest-
ing way; Dead Sea Apples by the Rev. A. G. Fleming, Paisley,
^ng such apples being found beauty without goodness, obedience
without love, success without principle, and profession without
practice : A Soldier oj the Cross in the Egyptian War, by the Rev.
122 LITERATURE
R. LawsoD, Majbole, a story well told of how divine grace made of
a wild Ayr lad a devoted servant of Christ; and GoiTs Temple, or Purity
of Body, Soul and Spirit, a New Year book for the young written by
^n anonymous author, but one who knows how to reach the ear and
heart of the young.
The tendency to extravagance in religious views is no new thing, but
has always been harmful in its results. This tendency in our time
appears among a class who claim to have reached what they call per-
fection, and assert that it is attainable by every believer, and that
the want of it is sin. Some teaching this tenet have recently been
visiting Rothesay, and the propagation of their peculiar views has
led the Rev. C. A. Sahnond to publish a very able pamphlet dealing
with this point, Perfectionism : the FaUe and tlie True, It is the
-substance of a lecture delivered at the end of last year. Starting
from the opinions of the " Faith Mission Pilgrims,*' the name assumed
by those who have been troubling the ecclesiastical waters at Rothe-
say and elsewhere, he states the views of different parties in different
tiges who have held similar opinions. He shows that in every case
the supposed perfection is reached by lowering the demands of God's
holy and perfect law to suit themselves, and by giving a definition of
sin, which enables them without consulting God to count as misfor-
tune and infirmity what God counts guilt and corruption. The
whole matter is well put in the amusing anecdote with which the
lecture begins.
'* To climb Lochnagar is no easy task, especially anfler the burden and heat
of a July day. A small party of us attempted it a few years ago. In the
company was a young Egyptian recently converted to Christianity. His
temper was even, his spirit bright, but his thews were hardly those of a
•Scottish mountaineer. Before we had accomplished half our task, friend
Ahmed was heard, as he wiped his brow, to ejaculate: "Ugh! we shcUl
imagine this is ze top,** Whereupon he seated himself on a comfortable ridge,
and scanning the landscape beneath with that expression of inimitable mild-
ness and benignity which one sometimes sees figured on Egyptian monuments,
he looked like all the world as well pleased with himself as if he had actually
scaled the loftiest summit of dark Lochnagar. The rest of us were amused,
-and felt disposed to laugh him out of his self-complacency. But, sooth to
tell, Ahmed's example proved contagious, and none of us reached the top of
Lochnagar that day.'*
And so with the Perfectionists. It is a mere imagination that they
have reached the top of the mountain of Christian holiness. This
pamphlet when sent to Mr. Spurgeon was acknowledged by a letter
in which he wrote in his own characteristic way : " I may deliberately
say that I have known several persons who might have been thought
perfect, but they always disclaimed it. On the other hand, I know
some few who have claimed it ; but no mortal ever believed in their
pretensions. If you should catch one of the tribe, and send him up
to me, be sure that he is marked ' right side up,* I am labouring for
LITERATURE. 1 23
perfection, but in this life I never expect tu be perfectly perfect.
More likely, like Peter Cartright, I may get to be perfect * in spots.
}f»
The Presbyterian Review for January, has only one article from
a British writer — a very able and learned one, " Assyrian and Hebrew
Chronology " from the pen of Dr. J. Orr, Hawick. All the others are
•from American writers. Dr. Paxton treats very fully and ably of
the " Call to the ministry," but takes no notice of the call of the con-
gregation which in our Scottish Presby terianism is regarded as putting
the seal upon the inward call by which any have been impelled to
seek preparation for this honourable work. The last indication of a
call to the ministry that is mentioned is indeed such " Providential
dealings as remove obstacles, and open up the way for a man to enter
the ministry." This may include the formal invitation of the Chris-
tiaa people to exercise this ministry among them, but it is not more
directly or specifically referred to. Dr. Yeomans of Orange N.J. dis-
cusses in a most judicious and incisive way the question of charity,
and the need, if it is to do any good, of being based upon right prin-
ciples. He first states what is the right of the poor ; if the right to
lire then to the means of living which will lift them above intolerable
suffering, and the corresponding duty resting in those who are in
God's providence able to help them to do so. ** The natural world re-
sounds with declarations of rights, the spiritual with proclamations
of duty. Unsanctified humanity bristles with bayonets for the ex-
ecution of debts, the sanctified with outstretched hands for the
reudering of service." But as he points out this duty is to be dis-
charged with a due regard to interests involved. Care should be
taken in giving help that the motive to work be not weakened, or
that the self-respect which lies at the foundation of all moral im-
provement be not destroyed. "To release from the necessity of
exertion those who can, but will not labour, is by no means to feed
the hungry in the proper sensa Valiant paupers and mighty
^>eggar8, as they are called in the Old English law, may be left out
of the account altogether, since they are down in a plane where
penalties rather than sympathies are their proper tonic. Multitudes of
vagabonds owe their incorrigible sloth to misguided pity. Their
weakness is the product of the too lenient policy of those who go by
the ma](jm, that it is better to help a score of scamps than miss be-
friending one real unfortunate. Our sympathy itself may need ton-
ing np to bear the pain of its own compassion rather than purchase
its ease at the cost of injury to others. It has been well said that
the Lord knows better than we do how much suffering is required to
«et some people to work." This duty of helping the poor, he still
farther rightly says, can only be discharged by our giving ourselves,
and by seeking their spiritual benefit as the ultimate object. These
»ordg which he quotes from another are well worthy of being deeply
pondered. " Those who work most wisely among the poor are spar-
'Dg with their alms, and lavish with their friendship. To help a man
^>y a gift of money, food or clothing is almost certain to degrade
^w ; to help him by the gift of time, thought, and brotherly love
124 ECCLESIASTICAL INTELLIGENCE.
uplifts him." Another article by Dr. Jenkins, Freepcwt, deals with
the attempts of the secularists in the United States, to make their
schools godless, and conclusively shows that this movement is neither
in harmony with the origin of these schools, nor with any constitu-
tional or statutory requirement. The new creed of the English Pres-
byterian Church is subjected to a searching and rather damaging
criticism in an editorial note by Professor Warfield of Princeton
This number altogether is a very valuable one.
r
o
(SaleeiaBtu^l XnteUigence.
Edinburgh — Missionary Meeting. — A meeting was held in Victoria
Terrace Church, Edinburgh, on the evening of Monday, 21st January,
for the purpose of giving information concerning our mission opera-
tions in India, and deepening the interest of the members and
iidherents of the congregation in the Lord's work in foreign lands.
The Rev. John Sturrock presided, and there was a good attendance.
After devotional exercises the chairman delivered an address regard-
ing the important work to which the Church was called in sending
the Gospel to the perishing multitudes abroad, and the need of all
the Lord's people taking an interest in the work of evangelising the
world. The Rev. William B. Gardiner, Pollokshaws, made a state-
ment concerning the present condition of our mission station at
Seoni, and the different branches of work that were being successfully
carried on. Thereafter, the Rev. Thomas Hobart, M.A., Carluke,
moved, and the Rev. Robert Morton, Perth, seconded the following
resolution : — " Tliat this meeting learns with great satisfaction of the
present prosperous condition of our mission at Seoni, and the vigorous
manner in which the work is being carried on by our agents in all
its branches ; and resolves to continue assisting the Synod in tbc
promotion of missionary operations in the Central Provinces of India."
The Rev. Thomas Matthew, Midlem, moved, and Mr. Robert
Thomson, Edinburgh, seconded another resolution as follows : —
'* That this meeting hears with peculiar pleasure of the engagement
of Mr. Robert Blakely as an evangelist for the foreign field ; learns
with gratification of the safe arrival of Mr. and Mrs. Blakely at Seoni ,
and of the welcome accorded to them by all the people connected
with our mission, and resolves to take a personal, hearty, and prayer-
ful interest in their important work." The Rev. Professor Thomas
Smith, D.D., Free Church College, Edinburgh, addressed the meeting
and dwelt particularly on the importance of carrying on Zenana
work, and putting forth every effort to reach the female population
with the Gospel message. On the motion of Mr. John Dick a hearty
vote of thanks was given to the speakers for their instructive and
animating addresses, and on the proposal of Mr. Thomas Robertson,
Mr. Sturrock was very cordially thanked for presiding over such an
interesting meeting. The proceedings were closed with prayer, praise
and the benediction.
ECCLESIASTICAL INTELLIGENCE. 1 25
Bridgeton, Glasgow. — ^Missionary Meeting. — The last of the
series of missionary meetings proposed to be held this season, was
convened in Bridgeton Church, Glasgow, on the evening of Monday,
4th Febroary, and was well attended. The Key. John M'Kay
iccupied the chair, and after the opening devotional exercises gave
an interesting address on the necessity for earnest and continuous
Tork in heathen lands, illustrating this by a graphic description of
a heathen temple at Benares. The Rev. William B. Gardiner, Pollok-
^hawB, gave an account of our mission work at Seoni in all its
branches, and read a letter received that morning from Mr. Blakely
ivgarding the orphanage and its inmates. Kesolutions similar to
tboee submitted at the Edinburgh meeting were moved and seconded
bj the Rev. Thomas Hobart, M.A., Carluke ; Rev. Andrew Miller,
Kirkintilloch ; Rev. Alexander J. Yuill, Lauriston ; and Rev. Ebenezer
Ritchie, Paisley. The addresses were able and instructive, and were
listened to witli marked attention by the audience. On the motion
of Mr. William Peterkin, a very hearty vote of thanks was given both
to the speakers and the chairman. After praise, the meeting was
closed with the benediction.
PoLLOKSHAWS. — A social meeting of the Band of Hope connected
with PoUokshaws Congregation was held in the Tontine Hall
on the evening of Friday, 8th February. The meeting place was
qiite filled. The Rev. W. B. Gardiner presided. After tea, the
chairman delivered an address referring to ^ the enthusiastic and
saccessful meetings held during the season and the 'good that
mi^'ht be expected to result from them, and spoke thereafter on the
secret of safety. Mr. John L. Algie, junr.. Secretary, submitted a report
of the Society, from which it appeared that tlie monthly meetings were
Uf^gely attended, while the roll of members had been considerably
increased during the past year. Interesting and instructive addresses
^ere delivered by gentlemen representing the Scottish Temperance
league, the Permissive Bill Association, and the Scottish Band of
Hope tfnion. Several of the young people and others gave recita-
tions, and a quartette party rendered several pieces of music in an
admirable way. On the proposal of Messrs. Robert Sproull, John L.
Algie, Senr., Henry N. Gardiner and John Kyle, cordial thanks were
given to the speakers, committee, singers and chairman. The happy
meeting was closed with praise and the benediction. — The annual social
meeting of the Sabbath School connected with PoUokshaws Congrega-
tion was held in the church, on the evening of Thursday, 27th December
laist The attendance was above 300. The chair was occupied by the
Her. Wm. 6. Gardiner, who, after tea, addressed the meeting. He
stated that the past year had been one of the most prosperous they
U ever enjoyed. The average attendance of scholars was 254 and
the teachers numbered 40. A large number of periodicals had been
'iistributed monthly and a good amount had been raised for
niissionaiy and benevolent purposes. Addresses of a suitable kind
vere given by the Rev. Andrew Miller, Kirkintilloch, Mr. John Laird,
Kilmarnock, and Mr. David Bulloch, Partick. Several of the scholars
gaTe recitations in a most effective style. The prizes offered for regular
126 ECCLESIASTICAL INTELLIGENCE.
attendance and proficiency in repeating the lessons were presented to the
children, and this proved a most interesting feature in the proceed-
ings. No fewer than 85 first prizes, 89 second prizes, 14 third prizes,
and 28 fourth prizes, or a total of 216 were distributed by the chair-
man. Three special prizes were awarded to Robert Spronll, junor.,
William Douglas, and James Livingston as an acknowledgment of
their services, in connection with the School and Library during the
year. The customary votes of thanks were given to the speakers, com-
mittee, and chairman, after which the meeting closed with praise and
the benediction.
Carnoustie. — The annual social meeting of the Congr^ation
was held in the Church on Friday evening, 18th January. The
Kev. James Patrick presiding. After an excellent tea, the ^chair-
man referred to the changes which had taken place iu the con-
gregation during his seven years' pastorate, and mentioned some
things which should be avoided and some things which should be
nought after in order to a "Happy New Year" being enjoyed.
Addresses were delivered by the Rev. Peter M'Vicar, Dundee, on
**Good (character," and by the Rev. Robert Morton, Perth, on
*■' An Aim in Life." In the course of the evening Mr. Grey received a
presentation as a mark of appreciation of his services as Precentor for
the greater part of 28 years. Mr. William Nicol also received a
testimonial of the congregation's sense of obligation to him for assist-
ing in leading the Psalmody. After the usual votes of thanks had
been proposed by Messrs. 'Wright and Anderson, and the Rev. Mr.
Morton, the meeting which was felt to be alike profitable and
enjoyable was closed with praise and the benediction.
DARVEii — Prbsentatign. — On Thursday, January 17th, at the clobe
of the weekly meeting of the Bible class in connection with the O.S.
Church, Mr. William Anderson, in name of the Bible class, presented
the Rev. W. W. Spiers with a beautiful barometer and clock com-
biued, as a token of the esteem in which he is held by them, and also
that his services are being highly appreciated. Rev. Mr. Spiers, in
accepting the same, made a very suitable reply.
Cabluke. — The annual social meeting of this Sabbath School ^as
held on the evening of Tuesday, 15th January. There were about
200 scholars present. After tea, the meeting was addressed by the
Rev. T. Hobart, M.A., who presided in his usual happy manner, the
Rev. W. B. Gardiner, E. Ritchie, Paisley, and Mr. J. Forrest, Carluke.
Pieces of music and recitations were well rendered by some of the
scholars during the evening.
DuNDBS. — ^The annual social meetiiig of the Congregation and
Sabbath School was held on the evening of Monday, 18th Feb.
After tea, addresses were delivered by the Rev. P. M'Vicar, pastor,
who presided, on " J. G. Paton, the Missionary to the New Hebrides ; ''
the Rev. J. Patrick, Carnoustie, on '^ Christian Character ; " the Rev.
R. Morton, on ''Three R's — ^Reverence, Resoluteness, and Rest ful-
ness ; " and Mr. P. Hunter, on '' Family Religion." Mr. Niohol a.n<l
party in the course of the evening rendered some pieces of music witlx
ECCLESIASTICAL INTELLIGENCE. 1 27
admirable taste. The pleasant meeting, after the usual votes of
thanks, was brought to a close with praise and the benediction.
. ToBERDONST, IRELAND. — A Bocial meeting in connection with this
Congregation was held on the evening of Friday, the 1 5th Feb. The
Rev. D. Matthew, RD., pastor, presided over a large and happy
gathering. Addresses on topics previously arranged were delivered
by the Chairman, the Rev. Messrs Field, Teaz, Johnson, Paterson,.
Moodj, and Mr. Abraham of Coleraine.
SYNOD OF UNITED ORIGINAL SECEDERS.
A pro re nata meeting of the Synod of United Original Secedera was held in
Miuns Street Church, (Aasgow, on Wednesday, 20th February, and was opened
Titha lermon by the Rev. Andrew Miller, Kirkinti lloch, moderator, from Judges-
^i- 4— "Faint yet pursuing them/' After public worship the Synod was
coDstitated by the Moderator with prayer. The Roll was called and the
attendance of members marked. It was intimated by the Clerk of Ayr
Picsbytery, that since last meetinff of Synod, the Rev. Thomas Robertson had
•lemitted the pastoral charge of Kilwinning Congregation and his demission
bvi been accepted, and the Congregation declared vacant ; and he moved that
Mr. Robertson's name be dropped from the roll, which was agreed to.
Apologies for absence were received from the Rev. Professor Aitken, Glasgow,.
u:J Rev. Ebenezer Ritchie, Aberdeen, and these were sustained. The
Moderator's circular calling the present meeting was read, and is as follows : —
"Kirkintilloch, January 28, 1889 — ^I hereby call a meeting of the Synod of
United Original Seceders to be held pro re nata in Mains Street Church,
GUsgow, on Wednesday, February 20th, at 1 1 o'clock forenoon, to consider
1- Appeal by Commissioners from Kilwinning Congregation against a decision of
Edinbargh Presbytenr refusing to translate Mr. Matthew of M idiom to Kil-
winning. ?. Appeal by Commissioner from Dromore Congregation against a.
•lecision of the Perth and Aberdeen Presbytery, refusing to trans&te Mr.
£. White, Kirriemuir, to Dromore.
(Signed) * ' Andrew Millab, Moderator of Synod. "
The Rev. Thomas Hobart then moved that the conduct of the Moderator be
disapproved in calling this meeting. The Rev. Alex. Stirling seconded thia
motion. The Rev. James Patrick moved as an amendment that the Synod
ftpproTe of the Moderator's conduct in calling the meeting. Mr. Alexander
fUokiii seconded this amendment. After reasoning, Mr. Hobart, with the
consent of bis seconder, agreed to fall from his motion, so that Mr. Patrick's
^endmeot became the finding of the Court.
Took up the appeal by the Commissioners from Kilwinning Congregation
against a decision of the iCdinburgh Presbytery, refusing to translate the Rev.
Thomas Matthew from Midlem to Kilwinning. There appeared at the bar»
the members of Edinburgh Presbytery, and Messrs William Muirhead, Andrew
l*»ton, and Jobn Stevenson, M.A , Commissioners from Kilwinning Congrega-
tion. Extracts from the minutes of Edinburgh Presbytery were read. The
rbiBons of the appellants and the Presbytery's answers to these reasons were
^ read. Parties were heard. Mr. Matthew was also heard, when he stated
to the effect that he desired to be retained in his present charge, but at the
<Mne time he was willing to go wherever he was sent by the Syn^. No ques-
tions having been put to the Commissioners, or to the members of Edinburgh
I'resbytery, parties were declared to be removed. Prayer was offered up by
the Rev. John Ritchie for divine guidance. Members of Court proceeded to
give jadgment, when it was moved by the Rev. John Ritchie, and seconded by
tbe Rev. John M*Kaythat the apmalbe dismissed and the decision by the
Sdinboigh Presbytery confirmed. Jt was also moved by the Rev. William B.
128 ECCLESIASTICAL INTELLIGENCE
■Gardiner, and seconded by the Rev. Professor Spence, that the appeal be sag-
tained and the Presbytery's decision reversed, and that Mr. Matthew be trans-
lated from Midlem to Kilwinning. On proceeding to vote, the question was
put Translate or Not Translate, when it was found, in going over the roll,
that 10 voted for translating, and 9 for not translating, while 4 did not vote.
There being a majority of votes for translating, Mr. Matthew from Midlem to
Kilwinning said motion was declared carried. Wherefore the Synod did and
hereby do resolve in terms thereof to dissolve the pastoral relation between
Mr. Matthew and Midlem Congregation, and to translate Mr. Matthew from
Midlem to Kilwinning, and instruct the Ayr Presbytery to take the necessary
steps for his induction at Kilwinning, with all convenient speed. The call and
<:oncurrence paper were presented to Mr. Matthew, and cordially accepted bv
him. The Uommissioners from Kilwinning acauiesced in the decision, took
instruments in the Clerk's hand, and craved extracts. The Moderator
addressed the parties at the bar on both sides in suitable terms. The Rev.
Thomas Hobart was appointed to preach at Midlem on Sabbath first, or on
•any other Sabbath that may be more suitable, and at the close of public wor-
ship intimate the above decision and formally declare the Congregation vacant,
accompanying this with suitable exhortations.
Took up the appeal by the Commissioners from Dromore Congregation
-against the decision by the Perth and Aberdeen Presbytery refusing to trans-
late the Rev. Edward White from Kirriemuir to Dromore. The Moderator
having been appointed to act as a Commissioner from Dromore Congregation,
■and hence a party in the case, vacated the chair, which was taken by Professor
Spence. There appeared at the bar the members of Perth and Aberdeen
Presbytery, with Rev. Andrew Miller and Mr. Joseph Mooney as Com-
missioners from Dromore Congregation. Extracts from the minutes of Perth
•and Aberdeen Presbytery were read. Reasons by the Commissioners repre-
senting Dromore Congregation and answers to these reasons by the Presbytery
were likewise read. Parties were heard. Mr. White was also heard, when
he stated to the effect that he had a decided preference for Dromore ; but was
willing to leave the case in the hands of the Synod. Questions were put to
the Commissioners, after which parties were declared to be removed. Prayer
for divino guidance was offered by the Rev. John Robertson. Members of
Synod then proceeded to give judgment, when it was moved by the Rev.
Thomas Hobart, and seconded by tne Rev. John M 'Kay, that the appeal he
dismissed and the decision of the Presbytery confirmed. The Rev. John
Robertson moved, and the Rev. William 6. Gardiner seconded, that the appeal
be sustained and the decision of the Presbytery reversed. On proceeding to
vote, the question was put Translate or Not Translate, when it was found on
going over the roll that 11 voted for translating and 7 for not translating,
while 2 declined to vote. There being a majority of votes for translating M r.
White from Kirriemuir to Dromore, the motion to translate was declared
carried. Wherefore the Synod did and hereby do dissolve the pastoral rela-
tion between 'Mr. White and Kirriemuir Congregation, and translate him from
Kirriemuir to Dromore, and instruct the Ayr Presbytery to take the necessary
steps for the induction of Mr. White with all convenient speed. The call and
concurrence paper were then presented to Mr. White ana cordially accepted
by him. The Commissioners from Dromore acquiesced in the decision, took
instruments in the clerk's hand, and craved extracts. The Moderator addressed
the parties in both sides in appropriate terms. The Rev. Alexander Stirling
was appointed to preach at i&irriemuir on Sabbath first, or on any other
Sabbath more suitaole, and at the close of public worship in the afternoon in-
timate the above decision, and formally declare the congregation vacant, with
suitable exhortations.
The Moderator resumed the chair when the minutes were read and approved
of. The Ayr Presbytery asked and obtained leave to meet at the close of the
present meeting. After prayer and praise, the Moderator closed the Synod
with the benediction.
WiLUAU B. Qardiksb, Synod CUrL
THE
ORIGINAL SECESSION MAGAZINE
MAY, 1889.
THE CATECHISMS OF THE REFORMATION.
{Continued from page 71.)
m.
From England let tis return to Germany, that we may think of the
most beautiful of the Catechisms of the Reformation. It saw the light
first at Heidelberg in 1563, seventeen years after Luther had passed
from the warfare of life into the rest of heaven. And this was the
reason why the Heidelberg Catechism was written. Between Martin
Lather and John Calvin, having affinities with both of them, stood Philip
Melanchthon, one of the most lovable of men. He was the Reformer of
the Palatinate, which has Heidelberg, the fair city on the Neckar,
for its capital. He revived the university of the town, and sent pro-
fesson to it who were in sympathy with the truth. But one of these
profeasorg, TQemann Heshusius, who believed with Luther that
Christ was present bodily in the sacrament of the Supper, oifended
the others who held the Zwinglian or Calvinistio doctrina The
breach grew so wide that the good Elector Frederick, whom his sub-
jects somamed the Pious, was cut to the quick by this quarrel between
those who should have been friends. He determined to heal the
strife, if that were possible ; and, to gain this end, he decided that a
Dew Catechism, setting forth clearly the evangelical faith, should
he composed under his sanction. He chose two young men for the
work, bringing them to Heidelberg because, like the young man
Thaothy, they were well reported of by the brethren. One was
^^chanas Ursinus, who had studied under Melanchthon at Witten-
130 THE CATECHISMS OF THE REFORMATION.
berg, and the other was Caspar Olevianus, the friend of Calvin and
Beza. The names are uncouth and harsh, but few characters could
be sweeter than theirs. They "carried music in their hearts" if not in
their titles ; for though they were only reformers of the second gener-
ation, whose task it was to nurture lather than to plant, they equalled
their great predecessors in the winsomeness of their personal Chris-
tianity. Ursinus was a man of profound learning, and of rich poetic
temperament, and of fervent piety — wise and yet sitting humbly at
the feet of Jesus. He was accustomed to say that he would not take
a thousand worlds for the blessed assurance of being owned by .Christ.
He was contemplative rather than active, loving the shady places of
life more than its prominent positions. He differed from Olevianus,
whom the Elector made preacher to the court and one of his chief
counsellors. But -in the deepest matters the two were alike.
Olevianus died in 1585, and his last word was a joyful CertUsimw^
when a friend asked him whether he felt sure of his interest in Christ's
salvation. These were the authors of the Heidelberg Catechism,
and the qualities of both shine out in their work. The warmth and
the learning of Ursinus are united with the knowledge which Olevi-
anus had of church government and life ; and the result is one of
the very best of the Reformed Catechisms. It is believed that, after
the Bible and " The Imitation of Christ " and " The Pilgrim's Pro-
gress," no book has found its way into so many different languages ;
and, wherever it has come, it has been prized as possessed of priceless
worth. And what is it that has kept its fame fresh and green 1
It owes something to its moderation in the statement of doctrine.
Its Calvinism, for it is Calvinistic rather than Lutheran, has none of
the angularities which have at times robbed a good system of much
of its attractiveness. It leaves certain difficult dogmas untouched,
saying little of the decree of election and nothing of the decree of
reprobation ; preferring that such mysterious problems should be
brooded over by each man *' in the sessions of silent thought," or
should be referred by lowly hearts to the category of matters which
cannot meanwhile be fully understood. Doubtless the Catechism of
Ursinus and Olevianus is indebted for part of its popularity and its
worth to its " temper of sweet reasonableness " — its wise moderation
in explaining some of the things most surely believed by its authors,
and its wise reticence in regard to others. But it has more positive
claims on the esteem of Christian men. It is pervaded by a beautiful
spirit. It is the product of the heart as well as of the head. It is
warm, glowing, unctional. At times its utterances rise to a kind of
heavenly pathos ; at other times they have the musical ring of an
exquisite lyric. No one thinks of a Catechism and a poem as at all
THE CATECHISMS OF THE REFORMATION. 13I
akin ; jet the Heidelberg Catechism has aM the characteristics of
prose poetry. The truths it enunciates were loved by those who
wrote them down, and thej did not think it needful to conceal their
loTe and to feign only an intellectual interest in their theme.
Neander's motto might have been theirs, Pectus est quod facit
tkeologum ; their hearts, as much as their intellects, made them
theologians ; and because they brought to their task, not only learn-
ing and judgment, but fervent enthusiasm, they imparted to it a
unique character and secured for it an imperishable renown. Luther's
Catechism h)id much of this warmth of personal experience, but the
atteranoes of the Heidelberg professors are still livelier and richer and
more genuinely eloquent. The Westminster Catechism lacks these
elements of ardour and poetry. Its authors take the objective
method, looking at the truth for the time as something outside of
themselves, examining it calmly with reason and intellect, setting it
forth in definite and scientific language. . The young German divines,
on the other hand, take the subjective method, telling out with glad-
ness what has blessed their own souls, refusing to be impersonal,
making their words a confessiou of the faith of their inmost hearts.
The book of Westminster is like a statue, Accurate and symmetrical.
That of Heidelberg is like a living man. Some of the features of the
man may not be so clearly cut as those of the statue. But he has
got within him things which the statue wants — a beating pulse and
a throbbing heart.
In plan and arrangement the Heidelberg Catechism, as Dr. Schaff
points out, follows the order of the Epistle to the Romans. It has
129 questions in nil, and they are divided into three parts, the first
treating of the sin and misery of man, the second of his redemption
hj Christ, and the third of tho thankfulness of the redeemed or the
Christian life. The second division is the longest, for it includes an
exposition of the Creed and of the Sacraments. In the third part
there is an explanation of the Decalogue, the Christian's rule of duty,
ud of the Lord's Prayer, in which he breathes out the new nature
that has been planted within bin). Thus topics, which are brought
together mechanically in other Catechisms, are linked here into an
organic system and bound each to each. .
Let me choose a few of those sentences which come over our ears
like the sweet South. The character of the Catechism is revealed in
the very first question, which is a noble prelude to all that follows,
pictunng Christianity, not as a forbidding law nor an abstruse theory
nor a dreary round of observances, but as God's best gift and man's
richest blessing. ** What is thy only comfort in life and death 1 "
Happy are all they who can repeat the answer from the heart.
134 THE CATECHISMS OF THB REFORMATION.
him. The leader of the band asked him if he did not remember a
poor wounded soldier in Bologna whom he had helped in a moment
of dire distress. " I am the man," he said, and he bade his bene-
factor flee for his life, and gave him both money and counsel. Other
adventures and strange deliverances — ^as, for example, how, when he
lay hungry and wearied in a certain wood, " a dog cometh fawning
with a purse in his teeth and lays it down before him " — must be
read in the histories of the time. John Craig took up his abode iu
Edinburgh about 1561, and soon became a famous man in the young
Presbyterian Church of Scotland, gaining a great reputation as mini-
ster in St. Giles and in Aberdeen, and lastly in the King's household.
It was he who protested against the marriage of Mary with Bothwell,
and received the thanks of the General Assembly for his intrepidity.
It was he who drew up the King's Confession, or National Covenant,
which James and his courtiers signed in 1580. It was he who was
so frank in the sermons he preached to his Sovereign that James once
spoke out before the congregation, and said that '' if he had thought his
fee'd servant would have dealt after that manner with him, he would
not have suffered him so long in his house." He died in 1600, full
of years and honour.
Ue dedicated his Catechism to "the professors of Christ's
evangel at New Abirdene," wishing them " the perpetual comfort and
increase of the Holy Spirit to the end of their battle." In his
preface he defines the character of the book. '' I have studied to my
power to be plain, simple, shorty and profitable, not looking so mickle
to the desire and satisftustion of the learned as to the instruction and
help of the ignorant For, first, I have abstained from all curious
and hard questions, and, next, I have brought the question and the
answer to as few words as goodly I could." Its author does not
speak a whit too highly of his work. Question and answer are short
and simple indeed, and he who runs may read them. John Craig
evidently approved of Jacob's thoughtful consideration for those whose
strength was not great, and '* led on softly " according as the flocks
and the children were able to endura But the Catechism has one
fault — as a whole it is too long to serve its purpose. The terse and
pithy questions go on and on, until they must be reckoned not by
tens, but by hundreds ; and the General Assembly did a wise thing
when, in 1590, it asked the writer to abridge his work. Yet Craig's
Catechism must always be interesting to Scotsmen, and you will be
glad to read the opening section as a sample of the whole. It deals
with the creation and first estate of mankind. " Who made man and
woman) The Eternal God, of His goodness. Whereof made He
themi Of an earthly bodie and an heavenly Spirit To whose
THE CATECHISMS OF THE REFORMATION. 1 35
image made Ue them 1 To His owne image. What is the image of
God ? Perfect uprightnesse in bodie and soule. To what end were
they made f To acknowledge and serve their Maker. How should
they have served Him 1 According to His holy will. How did they
know His willf By His workes, word, and sacraments. What
libertie had they to obey His will ? They had free will to obey and
disobey. What profit had they by their obedience? They were
blessed and happie in body and soule. Was this f elicit ie given to
them onlyl No, but it was given to them and their posteritie.
With what condition was it given ? With condition of their obedience
to God. Why was so small a commandment given) To showe
God's gentleness and to trie man's obedience. What availeth to
know this felicitie lost ? Hereby we know God's goodness and our
ingratitude. But we cannot come to this estate again ? \^e come to
better estate in Christ. What should we learne of this discourse ?
That the Church was first planted, blessed, and made happy, through
obedience to God's Word."
Beyond question, the Catechism which was John Craig's labour of
love for his parishioners in Aberdeen, and for the Reformed people of
Scotland, deserves still our respect and praise. Even now it reads
well. It resembles some plant of pleasant perfume, whose leaves, if
they be plucked and pressed, keep their aroma for many years. Or
it is like the bell of some old church, which retains through centuries
its amplitude of tone, and sounds out the same chimes most musically
to one generation after another.
V.
Little need be said of the Catechisms which were the crowning
work of the Reformation. The Larger and Shorter Catechisms of
the Westminster Assembly are familiar in our mouths as household
words. It was not until the famous gathering, which sat for nearly
six years in the Jerusalem Chamber, was reaching the close of its
deliberations, that these Catechisms were drawn up, the Larger
chiefly by Dr. Anthony Tucking, Professor of Divinity at Cambridge,
the Shorter for the most part by John Wallis, a young English
clergyman fresh from the University. They were published in the
end of the year 1647, after the Scottish Commissioners had gone
borne; so that the tradition which connects the name of George
Gillespie with the answer to tho question, '' What is God 1 " must be
received with some reserve. The Westminster Shorter Catechism is
a kUma e$ ati, one of the books which will last to the end of time.
It is, as Richard Baxter said, " a most excellent sum of the Christian
136 THE CATECHISMS OF THE REFORMATION.
faith and doctrine." It merits throughout the praise which Garljle,
not long before he died, bestowed on its opening question. '*Tho
older I grow — ^and I stand now upon the brink of eternity — the more
oomes back to me the first sentence in the Catechism which I learned
when a child, and the fuller and deeper its meaning becomes : ' What
is the chief end of maul To glorify God and to enjoy Him for
ever.' " In some qualities it is pre-eminent among all Reformation
documents. In clearness, in preciseness of definition, in carefulness
of wording, it surpasses Luther's Catechism and that of Heidelberg*
Nowhere in the world will you find a more concise and definite ex-
position of the creed of Calvin. He who understands the Westminster
Catechism needs no further training in that good old theology.
But, as I have hinted, Ursinus and Olevianus take precedence in
some respects. They put more of their own hearts' blood into what
they wrote. Their work has a glow and heat for which we look in
Tain in the more scholastic manual of their successors. The difference
of nationality partly accounts for the difference in the books. English
and Scottish Presbyterians are not so emotional as their brethren in
the German Fatherland. Partly, also, the later age at which it was
composed explains the severer character of the Westminster Catechism.
When its authors deliberated and reasoned and put their pens to
paper, the stress of the warfare was over. They could survey calmly
the battlefields on which their predecessors had fought for truth and
God. The Refonnation was a finished achieveihent which they could
study ; it was not an unperfected enterprise for which they had to
struggle. How natural it was that, writing in more prosaic times,
they should use less thrilling and fervent language !
Let me sum up what I have said. There are four great Catechisms
which divide the Reformed Church. On the one side we may place
Luther's and the Anglican, although the foimer is far superior to the
latter. They are more churchly, and adhere more to Roman Catholic
traditions. They have in them, with all their noble qualities, the
remnants of sacerdotalism and sacramentalism. On the other side
stand the Catechisms of Heidelberg and Westminster, the former
subjective and personal, the latter objective and impersonal, but both
absolutely free from the old leaven. The ideal Catechism, I think,
would be one that combined the feeling and warmth of Heidelberg-
with the clearness of Westminster. Among the angels, they say,
there are cherubim who know, and seraphim who bum ; but perhaps
the highest in the heavenly throng link the clear understanding and
the warm heart together, and both know and bum. That would be
a perfect epitome of Christian truth which explained its various-
elements with such definiteness that none could make any mistake^
THE BIBLICAL IDEA OF THE STATE. 137
and yet infosed into the explanation the vitality and ardour of a God-
devoted boq], joining the cherub's strong intelligence and the seraph's
throbbing love.
We cannot expect to get such an ideal Catechism written now ;
bat we can strive to unite Westminster and Heidelberg within our
own hearts. Let us make sure that ours is an intelligent belief, that
we can give a reason for the faith that is in us, that we can define
and defend our theology. So we shall be like the divines of two
centuries ago within our own land. And to this accurate under-
standing of truth let us add the spirit which loves the truth well and
deeply, cleaving with confiding trust to that Wisdom who is a Person,
Jesos Christy our blessed Lord. So we shall be like the good men of
Heidelberg whose attachment to their Saviour was so living and
real
And let us rejoice that the Reformers laboured to give the people
the knowledge that maketh wise to salvation. They spread it far and
wide as husbandmen do the precious seed, believing in its vitality
9zd its power to cover the broad fields with summer green and autumn
gold. Their faith and hope have not been disappointed. Many reap
toHky the fruits of their labours.
" Our hairnes now weill knawes how
To worship God with service trew ;
Whilk mony a yeir our fathers deir —
Alas therefore ! — full sore misknew."
THE BIBLICAL IDEA OF THE STATE.
VI. SE0ULAR18H {Continued).
Thb principles of Secidariam when applied to civil government take
away from it the element of divine authority. They exclude from
view the whole region of the supernatural, the divine, and the
spiritnaL In doing thisthey remove the only sure foundation on which
the social structure can rest, and dissolve the only bond by which its
▼arious parts may be firmly held together. The Christian Church,
which is a witness to the supernatural and spiritual, will sadly fail in
ita duty if it does not emphasise the fiict that civil government is
an ** ordinance of God,'' and that a divine sanction lies behind all its
lawful demands. In a recent article on the " Pulpit of To-day," by
Dr. Lynum Abbot of America, are found these seasonable and forceful
138 THE BIBLICAL IDEA OF THE STATE.
words, ''The law of liberty is the supremacy of the individual
conscience in the individual life. It is the law written within, and
therefore needing no whips or handcuffs imposed from without; if
ever our churches by their preaching shall lighten the sanctity of
the divine law — shall suffer people to forget that the Father of man*
kind is also its Lawgiver — shall let the Old Testament with its Thau
shalt and Thau ahalt not drift into obscurity ; if ever the ties of
family life are loosened, and children forget to honour their father
and mother and obey their parents in the Lord ; if ever the com-
munity comes to entertain a contempt for its appointed law-makers
and its interpreters of the law, and to allow its self-imposed require-
ments to be disregarded with' impunity ; if ever sheriffs and governors
dally with mobs, entreating where they should command, and giving
promises where they should give shot and ball : if ever Justice drops
her sword and wishes to retain her office by virtue of her scales
alone ; if entire States are allowed to dissever their allegiance to the
constitution of the land, and to fight for lawlessness and call it
liberty — ^unless in that hour there are ministers in the pulpit to
recall Mount Sinai, and fathers to remember the story of Eli, and
governors to bear the sword not in vain, and a natural determination
to maintain liberty by maintaining law at any cost of blood and
treasure, the end of the Republic will not be far distant.''* The words
are meant to apply to the United States, but the principles stated
are of universal application. If civil government anywhere is to
answer to the design for which it was instituted, it must seek a
higher sanction for its power and authority than any found in the
natural sphere.
While Secularism would shut our eyes to everything that is not of
the earth earthy in our social arrangements, it would forbid any-
thing higher entering into the education of communities. This is
the subject to which we would seek to address ourselves specially in
the present articla
The importance of the right education of the young can hardly be
over-estimated. The continued welfare of any community is to a
very large extent dependent upon this. If they into whose hands
the management of affairs will in course of time fall, are not trained
so as rightly to undertake these duties, moral and material decay
will soon be the result. This was discerned long ago, and strongly
insisted on by the Greek philosophers. A leading principle of the
philosophy of Socrates was that all wickedness has its root in
ignorance, and that no man is willingly bad ; if sufficient instruction
be given to him he will not go wrong. This principle was embodied
* The CetUury, August, 1888.
THE BIBLICAL IDEA OF THE STATE. 1 39
in that earliest of Utopias that came from the fertile brain of Plato—
Lis ideal Hepnblia In it men are trained for their respective
functions in the State by means of instruction in philosophy, as it
vas then understood. It has sometimes been likened to a great Uni-
versity rather than a State, because of the prominent place education
occupies in it. Nor was it a narrow view of education that moulded
the i<leal of this penetrating Greek mind. It was a wider one than
h&s sometimes been adopted in recent times. It embraced all the
main elements of man's wondrous complex nature — the moral as well
as the intellectual and physical. It aimed at the development of
them all with the resources which philosophy could then command,
and these wielded with the authority vested in the State. While
the ideal was one that could not in many respects be actually
realised, the world was the richer for the broad human idea of
culture and education which it exhibited.
This necessity of education to national stability was also clearly
perceived by the Reformers in our own land. It was a matter in
which they deeply interested themselves, and the fruits of their wise
labours we are reaping to-day. The educational scheme of John
Knox — ^laid down in the First Book of Discipline — has borne noble
fruit even though it has never fully been carried out. As far as
machinery was concerned, it was designed to meet the wants of the
whole community. A school was to be erected in every parish, a
college, or what we should now call a secondary school in every
" notable town," and every encouragement was to be given to the
work of the three national Universities which already existed. The
duty of seeing that these means of education were provided and taken
advantage of, was laid upon the State. The nobility and gentry
were to be obliged to educate their children, and proyision was to be
made at the public expense for the education of poor children who
discovered talents for learning. And while the machinery proposed
was far-reaching and comprehensive, the matters to be embraced in
the education covered a very wide field. The ideal of culture which
lay behind the scheme, and which was sought through it, was by no
means a narrow one. Even in the elementary parochial schools the
pupils were to be instructed in the principles of religion, grammar,
and the Latin tongue. The higher the grade of school, correspond-
ingly wider was the scope of the learning sought to be imparted by
means of it. In the ideal which shaped the policy, the physical, the
artistic, and to some extent the intellectual might be overshadowed
by the moral and religious, and somewhat undervalued. The
character of the age accounted for this. In that era there was not
the same need as now for attention to physical development or
I40 THE BIBLICAL IDEA OF THE STATE.
techDical training in the arts and bandiorafts of life. The life of our
crowded cities with its evil effects upon the physical oi^nisation was
then unknown, and natural though not organised means of physical
deyelopment were possessed in abundance. " The national life was
then less complex, and there was no necessity for the organisation of
the education of the hand. An enormous pressure of cizxsumstances
made the boys farmers, artisans, hunters, seamen ; the girls house-
wives, in alternation with their experience of books. No nice
adjustment of intellectual and manual pursuits was called for ; school
waited on the farm or shop, and each made way for the other.''
When men are called upon to fight hard for their religious liberties,
it is little wonder that the horizon should be a little narrowed by
this. It is surprising that in the circumstances such liberal provision
was sought for the development of the intellectual and artistic side
of man's nature. The Scottish Reformers were large-hearted and
liberal-minded men ; and the educational arrangements for the nation
which they earnestly sought to establish bears witness to the fact.
Any satisfactory system of education must be based upon a right
idea of the end sought by it Is it simply the accumulation of
knowledge or the development of a taste for literature and art^ or a
training of the scientific faculty, or is it the formation of character ?
In our view of the matter the last is the grand end, and the others
are only useful as a means of attaining it. Such a view of education
as that which Professor Huxley gives ^describing it as *Hhe in-
struction of the intellect in the laws of nature .... and the
fashioning of the affections and will into an earnest and loving desire
to move in harmony with these laws " — is too narrow. It moves only
in the groove of science, and human life has other and wider interests
than that. Education, to be worthy of the name, must be a drawing*
out of what is in our nature — must be the proper development of
everything sown there which is capable of growth. It must touch
the moral and religious sphere as well as the intellectual and physical,
for there are sides to man's nature corresponding to it. ''To
educate one faculty at the expense of others is clearly imperfect
training ; to neglect the highest of all seems nearly equivalent to a
Kfe of barbarism. Man cannot be treated in this sectional way
without serious and perhaps fatal injury. He is to be regarded as
an organic whole, each part of which should act according to its
nature in perfect harmony with all the others. The ideal man like
the ideal city which came down from God out of heaven, is of pro-
portionate development on all sides — ^in the piercing vision of his
mental eye, in the wide expanse of his domain, in the lofty aspirations
which shine like stars above him — ^the length and the breadth and
THR BIBLICAL IDEA OF THE STATE. I4I
the height are eqnal/' Without the training of the religious faculty,
developing a sense of reverenoe, and of the moral faculty, developing
« seoae of duty, education, however widely extended in other
dhrectiona, remains onesided and incomplete. However excellent it
may be in the grooves in which it runs, it will not secure the highest
▼elfare of a community. After all, it is character, and not simply
dexterity in trade, or insight into art, or power of intellect, that is
most essential to the highest welfare of communities. A great
nation never has, and never can be built up on mere cleverness or
iateilectual power divorced from moral qualities. If moral character
aod stabUity be awanting in any nation, the principles of decay will
soon assert and manifest themselves. The exclusion of the religious
and moral element from education must thus be fatal to the attainment
of its grand end. Even in Plato's ideal Republic — heathen though
he was — room was made for it. In the ideal of culture which guided
the Reformers in our own land in their educational policy, the found-
ation was laid in religion and morality. The '^ godly upbringing "
of the young was the matter about which they most deeply concerned
themselves. Instruction in Bible truth, and training in the morality
there inculcated, were placed at the very basis of the education which
was sought to be provided for the whole community. The re&ult
has been such as to justify them and to vindicate their wisdom. A
national character of a hardy religious type was thus formed, that has
made its influence felt for good all over the world.
Bat Secularism would revolutionise the whole system of education
thus handed down to us, and would confine the subjects about which
instruction is given to the worldly sphere exclusively. It would
eliminate everything that is connected with a supernatural divine
revelation. To revert to Mr. Bradlaugh's figure, it aims at cutting
down the upas-tree of Christianity that has been casting hitherto its
baleful shadow upon our educational system. It grounds its opposition
to the teaching of Christianity in our public schools on two things —
on« exclusive to itself, and the second held by it along with others
who have no sympathy with its religious or rather anti-religious
creed by itself.
The first is, its assertion that Christianity is unworthy of credence,
and is not a right instrument of true moral and religious training.
It would substitute for it as a means of moral culture a knowledge of
the laws of nature. Here it is natural for us to ask what results
can they produce, to make good their contention that in this scientific
knowledge we have as good, and even a better instrument of moral
cdture than that found in the cast-off Bible) We would not be so
uncharitable as to say that there have not been any in the ranks of
142 THE BIBLICAL IDEA OF THE STATE.
the Secularists whose moral character has been good. But perhaps-
they have owed more than they were aware to the Christian atmo
sphere in which they lived, moved, and had their being. The very
powers which they use in assailing Christianity may have come to
them through an inherited Christian nurture. " We must borrow
the glorious light of the sun before we shall be able to criticise the
spots which microscopical examination assures us rest upon its sur-
face.'' But even granting that there have been some men of mark
and character in the camp of the Secularists, how puny and insignifi-
cant the record when put side by side with that which Christianity
can show for itself 1 It is under Christian influences that the noblest
characters the world has seen have been built up, and the most stable
and prosperous communities have been consolidated. We have
examples, moreover, of what is the natural product of secularist ic
principles where they have been laigely put in practice. "There are
some of our colonies where the principles of secularism have had
almost unlimited scope, for churches have been but slow to follow to
gold-diggings and diamond fields, the hordes that have rushed to
them for temporal gain. But where is the colonial paradise that
secularism pure and simple has established ) If we ask for colonial
pandemoniums that have grown up under its auspices, we are more
likely to find an answer. The history of the Far West in America
may tell a similar tale. It is ludicrous to think how ' the greatest
happiness of the greatest number * principle would fare in raw, wild
communities, where ' every man for himself ' is the order of the day.
We should fancy that when the schoolmaster had taught the first moral
lesson of secularism, that it is the duty of every man to aim at what
he regards as his own greatest good, his scholars would think that
they had got enough, and would proceed to carry out the lesson very
faithfully. If he should go on to teach next that it was their duty
also to aim at the highest good of their country and their race, we
can fancy them much more puzzled. In the first ' standard ' there
would be no failures ; but how many would pass the second 1"*
When we fairly weigh what Christianity h€is done in the formation of
character, we must be constrained to admit that it has proved the most
efficient instrument of moral training, and its claim to a super-
natural origin will be acknowledged as reasonable.
But the second thing on which it groimds its objection to the
Christian and religious element in our public school education is that
it does not belong to the State to make provision for this. It is here
that their contention touches directly on the Bible teaching about the
functions of the State. It is here, too, that manyiSympathise with the
* Christianity and SectUarUmt p. 60.
THE BIBLICAL IDEA OF THE STATE. 143
sdherents of Secularism who would cordially repudiate their general
Bjstem of belief. These latter fully acknowledge the importance of in-
struction in Christian truth and Christian morality, but they insist that
this is a thing outside the range of the proper functions of the State.
It ought to be left to parents and the office-bearers of the Christian
Church. Holding this Tiew, they join hands with the Secularists in
seeking that in the education provided by the State this Chris-
tian element should be altogether excluded. These sentiments
haye wielded great power in the recent educational policy of
the country, leading to a departure from the fundamental idea
of education as it was conceived by the Reformers. That idea
vas that a religious and moral training lay at the very basis of a
sound and thorough education, and ought to be carefully looked after.
But now this is placed outside those things with which Government
interferes in any way. A certain limited time in the public schools
may be devoted to this training, but as to its character and efficiency
the Government maintain the utmost indifference and neutrality.
We are not disposed to call in question the responsibility that
rests upon parents and upon the Church in connection with this
matter of religious training. Authority has been lodged in parents
over their children, which they ought to exercise in the way of
diligently, patiently and prayerfully training them in religious truth
and duty. God had confidence in Abraham that he would so use
this authority, and the Divine commendation stands in God's Word for
the guidance of parents still. '* I know him that he will command
his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the
▼ay of the Lord." The fruit of bad family discipline is exhibited in
the painful record of the wickedness of Eli's sons and of the wide-
spread ruin caused by it. If the pure, moral, and religious tone of
the home life of a people be in any way impaired their public life will
soon suffer. The family training in religious truth that was wont to
prevail universally in our own land — a vivid picture of one phase of
which is given in Bum's ''Cottar's Saturday Night," — produced great
strength and resoluteness of character —
'* From scenes like these old Scotia's grandeur springs,
That makes her loved at home, revered abroad. "
And the Christian Church will not be true to its great mission if it
does not take measures to secure this family training. It ought to
show the deepest interest in education in the widest sense, but
specially in this department of it. To treat it with neglect and
indifference would be suicidal policy. In all the churches of the
Rdormation there has been no lack of this interest. What the
144 ^HE BIBLICAL IDEA OF THE STATE.
educational institutions of the various countries where they exist owe
to them, is known to every reader of history. Various agencies in
adaptation to different times have been set agoing to secure family
training and to secure an equivalent of it for those who did not enjoy
it. In heathen lands so much stress has been laid on education in
the mission work of the Church, that controversy is raging at the
present time over it.
But while granting without hesitation that both parents and the
Church have a responsibility here which they cannot shift to others,
it does not necessarily follow that the State must take nothing to do
with it. The question to settle first is, Does it belong to the State
to concern itself with education) Here there is found no disagree-
ment, no diversity of opinion. Secularists are among the strongest
in insisting that the State should do everything in its power to
encourage educational work on secular lines. They find no fault with
the nation spending the five or six millions it annually does, in pro-
viding children with the means of acquiring secular knowledge.
Many go the length of advocating free education— -education entirely
provided by the State out of the taxes levied from the people— a
system which obtains in the United States of America. In this they
are joined by many others who have been attracted by the system as
they have seen it in operation or read about its results on the other
side of the ocean. This view, that education is a matter about which
the State ought to concern itself, is, we think, in harmony with Bible
teaching about its function. If the end of the State's existence be
the development of man's nature, then it is plain that education,
having an immense influence upon this development, ought to be
arranged for by it. But if so, why should we narrow the conception
of education so as to eliminate the moral and religious element from
itf As -we have sought to point out, this is the very element that
has done the most in the past to make communities great and
influential and prosperous. It seems rather remarkable that the
ban should be put upon this, and encouragement given to other
elements, which without it, have failed, and must ever fail to secure
national stability and prosperity. If a State sets before it as its great
aim, not simply the production of wealth, not simply the spread of
power, but the development of man in harmony with the nature
divinely given to him, the growth of strong robust character in the
individual and in the community, then it will be found that this aim
cannot be reached without moral and religious training. This being
the case, it surely stands to reason that provision ought to be made
for it The teaching of the Bible in our public schools with the
sanction of the State may thus easily be vindicated both from a compie-
JOHN G. PATON, MISSIONARY. 1 45
hensive view of education, and from the teaching of the Bible about
the function of States.
The plea of conscience is of tea set up to oppose this State provision
for religious education. Some may object to have their children
Uught Bible truth, and therefore, on this account, it is urged no
sach provision ought to be made. We need only to point out that
if the State was to compel anyone to receive this instruction there
might be some force in this plea. But so long as no compulsion is
employed, and we are far from advocating anything like this, there
is no force whatever in it. If a State itself can be Christian, ought
to be Christian when favoured with the Gospel, then it may surely
make provision for the teaching of the principles of Christianity in
its schools. It would not be true to its character if it did not. And
no State can really be neutral in such a matter as this. The principle
laid down by Christ, " He that is not with me is against me, and he
that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad,'' reaches out in its
application beyond individuals to communities. If, in the education
provided by any State, the principles of the Christian religion are set
aside, then room is left for the insidious operations of anti-Christian
systems, and so far countenance given to them.
The duty of the State in relation to Church is the only topic now
remaining for consideration and we purpose taking it up in a sub-
sequent paper.
JOHN G. PATON, MISSIONARY TO THE NEW HEBRIPES.*
By the Rev. P. MTicar.
Mfi. Paton has recently given to the world a volume of auto-
biography, edited by his brother, in which he tells the story of his
life to the close of his missionary work on the island of Tanna.
The record is beautifully natural, free from all trace of self lauda-
tion, and teems with striking incidents. Indeed the latter half of the
book which deals with his missionary labours on Tanna is a series of
dramatic pictures, startling and thrilling. One can hardly read the
narrative without feeling that John Paton has been a man of God's
own training, fitted by nature and grace for specially trying work in
the service of the Gospel. His missionary life has been consecrated
to the winning of men and women from heathenism and cannabalism
to the faith of Christ, and the purity and gentleness of the Christian
life. €k)d has wonderfully sustained and singularly blessed him in
* John O. Paton, Missionary to the New Hebrides, An Autobiography.
London : Hodder & Stoughton. 1889.
K
146 JOHN G. PATON, MISSIONARY.
this enterprise. la the present Tolume, which is to be succeeded by
another, we have the record, not of the ingathering, but of tearful
sowing, the hardness which had to be endured in that field of Christian
toil, and the many interpositions of God shielding his life, answering
many of his prayers, sustaining him with His fellowship, blessing him
with deliverances, and carrying him through every trial to win
thousands of others from cannabalism to the knowledge and life of
Christ.
UNDER THE PATERNAL ROOF.
John Paton was bom on the 24th May, 1824, in the parish of
Kirkmahoe, near Dumfries. His father was " a stocking manufacturer
in a small way." The family lived in a " but and a ben," with a
closet between, containing a* bed, a table, and a chair. This
chamber was familiarly known as the '^ Sanctuary," into which his
father turned each day, generally after meals, and where, the young
people '' got to understand by a kind of spiritual instinct," he was
talking with God. While under twelve years of age he left school
owing to the cruelty of a teacher. He resolved to learn his father's
trade, at which he toiled from six o'clock in the morning till ten
o'clock at night, with half an hour for breakfast, an hour for
dinner, and half an hour for supper. His spare moments were given
to books, chiefly in Latin and Greek, for he had given his soul to
God, and was resolved to be either a missionary or a minister.
The rector of the Dumfries Academy, hearing of his desire for
learning, offered him the privilege of attending all the classes free a&
long as he chose ; but, as showing his independence of spirit, self
reliance, and decision of character, he declined on the ground that
in the absence of means of support he would not and could not be a
burden on his father. He was resolved rather to help his father and
mother in educating the rest of the family which grew to eleven in
number. In consequence of this decision he was employed for a
time with some sappers and miners, and subsequently in the harvest
field. During the term of his engagement at the latter employment,
he tells us, he '' planned and laid out an ornamental garden " in
front of the farmer's new house " which gave great satisfaction " — a
taste inherited from his mother. This experience was invaluable to
him in his foreign mission work, where garden and field had to be
cropped and cultivated "without the aid of a single European
hand."
PUSHING OUT FOR HIMSEXiF IN LIFE.
Brought np in the Reformed Presbyterian Church, and with his
heart set on the ministry, John Paton applied about this time for a
JOHN G. PATON, MISSIONARY. I47
Tacant situation in connection with West Campbell St. congregation,
to act as " district visitor and tract distributor.'' He and another
yoQDg man were put upon the short leet. Both were summoned to
appear on a certain day in Glasgow. A touching description is
given of bis departure from the quiet country home to life in the
great city. The road to " Kilmarnock — about forty miles — had to
be done on foot, and thence to Glasgow by rail." *' Railways,'' he
savs, ''in those days were as yet few, and coach travelling was far
bejond my purse. A small bundle, tied up in my pocket handker-
chief, contained my Bible and all my belongings. Thus was I
lauDcbed upon the ocean of life." His father went with him for six
miles of the way, part of it in unbroken silence, but with lips
movmg in silent prayers and tears falling when the eyes of both
met When parting the father thus addressed his son : " God bless
voo, mj son ! Your father's God prosper you, and keep you from all
evil." But to form an approximate idea of the pathos of this and
similar scenes, readers will require to read the book for themselves.
John Paton and the other applicant were appointed to the mission
work by agreeing to divide the fifty pounds of salary and the work
between them, each receiving in addition a year's training in the
Free Church Normal Seminary. Through close application to work
and study both soon broke down in health and had to leave for the
country. The other young man died in a short time. John Paton
Fecovered and began teaching in Girvan. Having saved ten pounds
in this way he enrolled as a student in Glasgow University. Ere the
session was over, however, his money was done. He would not
grieve his parents by writing about his circumstances, so he resolved
to sell a few valued books. Going through one street into another
on this errand, bis eye caught sight of a notice, in a window, to the
following effect — " Teacher wanted, Maryhill — Free Church School ;
apply at the Manse." A bus passing at the moment he leaped into
it, applied, and received the appointment. Then follows an amusing,
interesting, and instructive description of the Maryhill School — the
wreck in which he found it, the minister's provision of a heavy cane
with the advice to use it freely, the rough class of scholars of which
his school was made up, the struggle he had to go through, the tact,
resource and courage he displayed, and the victory which crowned his
efforts. * Providence was manifestly training this young man for im-
portant service.
A SUCGBSSFUL HOME MISSIONARY.
I
Simultaneous with his leaving Maryhill, he received an appoint-
ment as a missionary in connection with the Glasgow City Mission,.
148 JOHN G. PATON, MISSIONARY.
at a salary of forty pounds yearly. The district assigned him was
Green Street, Calton. His first year's labour showed such poor re-
sults that the directors contemplated removing him to another
locality, under the impression that Green Street was so degraded
that the non-church-goers in it " were unassailable by ordinary means."
Mr. Paton pleaded for other six months' trial. The directors as-
sented. Taking the people at his next meeting into his confidence,
he told them of his prospective removal to another part of the city,
unless more of the non-church-goers were brought out to attend the
services. Each one there and then agreed to bring another to the
next meeting. The attendance, was immediately doubled. With
another effort it doubled again. Classes and prayer meetings were
then formed. So much did the work prosper that a warm friend
advised the purchase .of a block of buildings — including church,
schools, manse, <&a, which had come into the market. The result
was the formation of a regular congregation, with a weekly attend-
ance of from five to six hundred people. Almost his only enemies,
he says, '' were the keepers of public houses," whose trade had been
injured by the Total Abstinence Society. As an illustration of their
fruitless attempts to hinder his work, we are told, that on one oc-
casion when a Saturday open-air service had been arranged for, a
deputation of publicans complained to the Captain of police that the
missionary's meetings " were interfering with their legitimate trade."
The Captain, a pious Wesleyan, promised to send officers to the meet-
ing to watch and take in charge any offenders. But he would not
prevent the meeting. When the hour arrived the publicans were
there with their friends, and having given out that the police were
to break . up the meeting, an immense gathering assembled.
Punctually the service was commenced. As the people were singing,
a company of police appeared and spread themselves among the
crowd. To the great surprise of every one the Captain stepped on
the platform and devoutly listened to all that was said. ^' The
publicans could not for very shame leave, while he was there at their
suggestion and request, though they had wit enough to perceive that
his presence had frustrated all their sinister plans." The issue was,
instead of breaking up the missionary's meeting, they had to wait
and hear all the addresses and prayers and hymns.
WORK AND TRIALS ON TANNA.
When Mr. Paton offered himself for foreign mission service the
strongest opposition was raised by some friends. Dr. Symington,
in whose congregation he was an elder, urged him to remain in Green
JOHN G. PATON, MISSIONARY. 1 49
Street where God had so greatly blessed him, and not throw away
bis life among cannibals. A dear old Christian friend always used
as his crowning argument, " The cannibals ! You will be eaten by
the cannibals!" But Mr. Paton at last assured him, as he had
only to die once, it was a matter of indifference to him whether he
should be eaten by cannibals or by worms. His old friend, " raising
his hands in a deprecating attitude,'' left him exclaiming, " After
that I have no more to say.^'
"On the first of December, 1857," John Paton and another young
man — Joseph Copeland — "were licensed 'preachers of the Gospel."
Four months were spent in visiting the congregations and Sabbath
schools throughout the Reformed Presbyterian Church. On the
23rd of March^ they were ordained " as ministers of the Gospel, and
set apart as missionaries to the New Hebrides." On the 16th of
April, 1858, they left Greenock for Melbourne. From thence they
obtained a vessel sailing to Aneityum, the scene of Dr. Inglis'
triumphs in missionary work among the same cannibal race. There
four months and a half after leaving Greenock, they received a
cordial welcome from the missionaries and their wives.' At an early
meeting, it was decided that Mr. and Mrs. Paton should be settled at
Port Resolution on the island of Tanna, and Mr. and Mrs. Mathieson
from No\a Scotia on the south side of the same island. When they
landed they found the people as devoid of clothing '' as Adam and
Eve after the fall." The scene was most depressing. Could these
naked painted savages be Christianised and civilised 9 The triumphs
of Aneityum proved they could through God's prospering blessing.
A most interesting description is given of his painstaking efforts to
pick up the language, for there was not even the rudiments of an
alphabet to work with. Some have difficulty in learning a language
with many facilities at their disposal, but think of a man learning a
heathen language without grammar or alphabet. What cannot
prayer and pains with God's blessing achieve 1
But the darkest shadow now crossed his path. His young wife and
her infant son were laid in the grave within four months and a half
of the settlement on Tanna. What a mournful picture ! The
husband, heart broken, digging his wife's grave, laying the sleeping
dust in that tomb by the sea, and beautifying the sacred spot with
vhite coraL Can we wonder at him, in such circumstances, saying,
'^ my reason seemed for a time almost to give way 1 " Ague and fever
then set in, but God raised him up again to health. The mission
premises were now removed from the shore, too late for his wife's
sake, to higher and healthier ground. As soon as he acquired a fair
familiarity with the language he preached about sin and salvation.
150 JOHN G. PATON, MISSIONARY.
made an attempt to get Sabbath observance established, and was able
within a year to have a morning church sei-vice, " attended bj about
ten chiefs and as many women and children belonging to them."
Subsequently the attendance at the service reached sixty. The
remainder of the Sabbath was spent by him in visiting many villages^
and wherever he could get two or three to listen he would conduct the
worship of God and try to teach them the way of life. The work in
such circumstances was a sowing in tears. Six stations were estab-
lished in connection with Mr. Paton's mission in which were placed
Aneityumese teachers. These teachers numbered twelve. But as they
had no schools and no books in Tannese, their work consisted in teaching
the people as much as they could regarding Christ and the Christian
religion. As showing the triumphs of the Gospel in these native
teachers from Aneityum, Mr. Paton writes : '* That noble old bouI,
Abraham, stood by me as an angel of God in sickness and in danger i
he went at my side wherever I had to go ; he helped me willingly to
the last inch of strength in all that I had to do ; and it was perfectly
manifest that he was doing all this not from mere human love, but
for the sake of Jesus. That man had been a cannibal in his heathen
days, but by the grace of God there he stood verily a new creature
in Christ Jesus. Any trust, however sacred or valuable, could be
absolutely reposed in him ; and in trial or danger, I was often re-
freshed by that old teacher's prayers, as I used to bo by the prayers
of my saintly father in my childhood's home. No white man could
have been a more valuable helper to me in my perilous circumstances,
and no person, white or black, could have more, fearless and chivalrous
devotion."
As revealing the constant dangers which beset him night and day^
he writes of one occasion : " When natives in large numbers were
assembled at my house, a man furiously rushed on me with an axe
but a Easerumini chief snatched a spade with which I had been
working, and dexterously defended me from instant death. Life in
such circumstances led me to cling very near to the Lord Jesus."
On another occasion a " wild chief " followed him about for several
hours with a loaded gun. Three times in one night be awoke *' to
hear a chief and his men trying to force the door '' of his house. But
God made use of a little retriever dog to inspire them with fear.
Living near to God amid scenes like these became an absolute
necessity. For nearly three and a half years this life continued, till
he was driven from his Mission House, and forced to go elsewhere for
safety. Having failed to reach Mr. Mathieson's station on the south
side of the island by sea, he and his few teachers amid numerous
perils reached it by land. On the way he was compelled to spend
JOHN G. PATON, MISSIONARY. 151
several hours of the night in a tree for safety. " Never," he says,
" in all my sorrows, did my Lord draw nearer to me, and speak more
soothingly in my soul, than when the moonlight flickered among
these chestnut leaves, and the night air played on my throbbing
brow, as I told all my heart to Jesus. Alone, yet not alone ! " The
closing scene on Tanna is like the tableau in a drama. At ten o'clock
one nighty savages surrounded Mr. Mathieson's Mission House. Mr.
Paton is awakened by bis dog, pulling at his clothes. Mr. and Mrs.
Mathieson are next aroused. The church close by is seen to be on
fire. Armed with a harmless revolver in one hand, and a little
American tomahawk in the other, Mr. Paton ventures out to extin-
guish the fire, which unchecked would soon reach the Mission House.
The burning fence is cut down. Dark shadows start back. The cry
is raised, " Kill him ! Kill him ! " At this crisis, a rushing roaring
sound is heard like muttering thunder. It is a tornado of wind and rain.
The savages depart in fear ; while next day a sail appears and the
island is abandoned. Thus ends one of the most thrilling episodes
of missionary experience. Though the Mission was broken up for a
time, Mr. Paton has " lived to see and hear of a Gospel Church on
Tanna/' and to read of fellow- missionaries "celebrating the Holy
Supper to a native congregation of Tannese," amid the same people
among whom the seeds of truth had been planted in tears.
SUBSEQUENT LABOURS.
Mr. Paten's purpose at this trying period of his life was to remain
on Aneityum, prosecute his translation of the Gospels into Tannese,
and await the first opening in providence to go back. On the ground
of health and in the interests of the Mission generally, he was advised
to visit the Colonies and to come home, which he did in 1864. The
results were a new '' Mission Ship " and several new missionaries.
On his return he began work on the island of Aniwa, the whole
population of which God made him instrumental in turning from
idols and cannibalism to the service of Christ. In 1884 Mr. Paton
was home again. This time '^ to raise money for the purchase or
building of a steam-auxiliary Mission Ship," and to send out more
missionaries. He was successful in raising £9,000, of which £6,000
▼as for the new ship, " and the remainder for the outfit and support
of more missionaries." For a season he returned to Aniwa. But the
Church of Victoria called him anew to\isit its congregations. Amid
these labours the present volume was penned. For the volume to
follow, which will cover twenty-seven years of his life and work after
leaving Tanna^ and describe the triumphs of the Gospel in another
152 THE REVOLUTION PERIOD.
■
field, the Christian world will look with eagerness and interest Such
records as Mr. Paton has given, afford the most convincing proof ol
the Divine character of the religion of Christ. A book like thia
should be in every Christian home.
THE REVOLUTION PERIOD AND SOME OF ITS RESULTS.
In closing our last paper we left a handful of covenanters on the
field of Drumclog, after a severe skirmish with Claverhouse's dragoons.
Though victorious in this instance, the victory settled nothing. A
small band of untrained and ill-provided peasantry, however brave,
was as nothing against the resources of a powerful nation. Ultimate
success for them was hopeless ; on any human calculation it was im-
possible. Yet, viewing them as individuals, it must be admitted
that they remained faithful to the cause of the Church of Scotland
and witnessed a good confession before all men even unto death.
As was to be expected, the government, and Claverhouse with his
dragoons especially, were exasperated by the defeat at Drumclog.
Knowing this, the ministers and leading laymen among the cove-
nanters held a conference with a view to uniformity among them-
selves as to the grounds on which they appeared in arms, and also
to secure united action when again compelled to face the enemy.
Had this most desirable end been attained, taking all their dis-
advantages as they stood, they might have held the royal troops in
check for a time, and procured something like houourable terms.
Unhappily a spirit of division prevailed. Sundry questions were
raised on all of which discordant views were warmly maintained and
greatly embittered personal feeling. Earnest and imploring proposals
were made by some for healing these divisions, or reserving them for
the deliberation of a general assembly of the Church in order to-
present a united front to the enemy they might soon again have to-
encounter, but all such proposals failed. This was deplorable in
itself, and as disastrous in its effect& These questions ought to-
have been settled before taking the field in arms. But seeing that
precaution had not been taken, and that every man's life, and the
cause itself, were at stake, no principle would have been compromised
by deciding that their common safety was the course of duty for tho-
moment.
It is forever to be regretted that some such course as we have
indicated was not adopted. At a crisis siich as had now arrived,
when united action was absolutely essential even for a safe and
honourable retreat, debates on high questions beyond their power of
settling were carried on throughout the camp. Military or political
success was by these divisions rendered impossible. Some of the
THE REVOLUTION PERIOD. 153
warmest friends of the cause for vhich they were contending were
utterly disheartened ; and others, says Dr. M'Crie, left the army in
disgast At the time of which we are writing a fully equipped army
was mustering on the neighbouring hills, and burning to be revenged
for its defeat at Drumclog.
The Duke of Monmouth having been appointed to the command
of the army in Scotland, he left London on the 15th and arrived in
Edinburgh on the 18th June, 1679. He lost no time in putting the
forces placed under his command in order with a view to battle, and
marched on Hamilton. This circumstance created fresh complica-
tioQs among the covenanters. Some were for appealing their case to
Moomoath, who was weU reported of, others opposed to it, hence the
breach among themselves was widened. Notwithstanding a deputa-
tion was sent, partly in disguise, but as might have been anticipated
with no satisfactory result. From every point of view the wisdom
of this step might be questioned. The Duke received them.courte-
Goslj, and heard them patiently. He cared nothing for their religion;
and besides, as he told them, he had no power to treat with declared
rebels under arms. He pledged his honour, if they would lay down
their arms, he would interpose to the utmost with his majesty to
grant their desires which he considered reasonable, but that condition
they could not accept. The Duke's influence might have been over-
ruled, and the action of the deputation was as likely to be overruled
by their friends. The ultimatum of the Duke was : " I allow you
b&lf an hour to decide whether you will accept quarters on these
terms,'' and with the same breath ordered his army to advance to-
wards Bothwell bridge.
Circumstances more desperate are hardly conceivable. Yet the
cDTenanting leaders at this momentous juncture renewed their miser-
able debates. Some would come to no resolution ; others stoutly
opposed the proposal to lay down their arms ; while Hamilton who
^ assumed the chief command was against everything in the shape
of accommodation. If the expression were lawful, the scene was
enough to make angels weep.
As no reply was sent to Monmouth, the royal foot guards with
cannon were brought up to force the bridge. Hackstou of Rathillet,
A Fifeshire gentleman, and a brave soldier, having command of the
Kippen and Galloway men, numbering from two to three hundred, and
^Id possession of the bridge from the other end. They maintained
tbeir position with great gallantry till their ammunition failed, and in
reply to an urgent request for fresh supplies they were ordered by
H^ifflilton to quit their position aiyl fall back on the main body of
the army which they did with heavy hearts. Their last card was
tbua wilfully tossed away. With, a supply of shot they were quite
^le to defend the bridge ; and possession of the bridge meant
winning the battle.
The royal troops now crossed the bridge unopposed, and instantly
prepared to engage their opponents. It does not appear that any
attempt was made to prevent their gaining this immense advantage,
^ in the hands of such incompetent leaders, nothing but conster-
154 THE REVOLUTION PERIOD.
nation and confusion could result in the ranks of the covenanters.
The exact facts of this sad aifair were not ascertained at the time,
and they are still less certain now after a lapse of two hundred years.
Taking however the most reliable authorities, and putting one thing
to another, we have no difficulty in an'iving at the conclusion that
the absence of military skill and discipline, and deficiency in arms
and ammunition were the immediate cause of the defeat and dispersion
of the covenanters. That the discordant views and want of unanimity
among their leaders contributed largely to this deplorable result is
positively certain. It would serve no good end as a matter of history,
and it might be unfair to single out individuals for blame, at tliis
particular crisis. But the melancholy fact remains that some parties
were guilty of a most grave error in not deciding on a common basis
of action before involving the friends of the reformation cause in
Scotland in a battle with the laws and government of the nation.
In the bloody struggle on this side the bridge tlie order of the day
was, " revenge and no quarter." The dragoons pursued the fugitives,
slaughtering on every side, and more were killed in the flight than on
the field. About four hundred fell in battle ; twelve hundi-ed
surrendered as prisoners of war, many of whom were reserved for a more
ignominious death. An indiscriminate slaughter, in addition, took place
over the whole district, and none spared whether they had been on
the field or in their homes. The conduct of the government towards
the prisoners was simply revolting. The great body of them was
conveyed to Edinburgh, huddled together like so many sheep in
Oreyfriars church-yard, with nothing but the cold earth as a bed and
the colder clouds as a covering ; exposed to the insults of their guard,
or shot if they moved in seeking momentary relief by a change of
posture. In this state they were confined for five months, during
which time many of them died, and those who survived were banished
as slaves to Barbadoes. The latter were packed on board a ship at
Lcith where death delivered numbers of them from their chains ; the
vessel foundered on the coast of Orkney where two hundred more
found a watery grave ; and as to the destination of the few who
escaped the day will declare it.
We are not writing the history of the persecution with which many
volumes have been filled. We only give a few particulars in proof of
the wonderful endurance and faithfulness of these witnesses for
truth, and in extenuation of what might be called extremes, or mis-
taken views of duty on their part. At the same time, we feel bound
in justice and in sympathy, to name a few of the instances in which
the brutality and disgraceful inhumanity of the government, or its
instruments, were conspicuous. The two ministers, Messrs. Kid and
King, rescued at Drumclog, were retaken and brought to the scaffold
together. They bore a noble testimony and proved themselves
innocent of everything that even by law could be called a crime.
From the prisoners taken at Bothwell Bridge five were selected for
execution as a sort of compensation for the death of Bishop Sharp.
None of them had the remotest connection with that transaction.
They had never been at Magus Moor ] yet these five innocent men,
THE REVOLUTION PERIOD. 1 55
untried and nnoonvicted, were canned there and executed, and their
boJies hung in chains on the spot where the primate was killed.
Among the eminent characters who distinguished themselves as
soldiers of the Cross, as soldiers in the field, or as sufferers and
martyre, the following may be named : — ^Mr. John Welsh of Irongray,
& descendant of John Knox, stands in the front rank of these worthies.
He had to quit his parish and betake himself to the fields. His
c^Kapes were as remarkable as his sufferings were severe. He was
present at Pent laud, and at Both well Bridge ; and at the latter place
he took an active part in the attempt to heal the unhappy differences
among his brethren. He was literally hunted like a partridge on the
moantains ; £500 was the price set on his head ; he was an outlaw
and a fugitive for nearly twenty years. It was said he would ride
tliree days and two nights on end to preach to a few wanderers on a
hill-side, and that Claverhouse would do nearly as much to catch him.
After all his wanderings, privations, and hairbreadth escapes, he was
privileged to die in bed in London, on the 9th January, 1681. Many
striking sayings are recorded of Welsh, and were long eagerly
treisured in the west. A youth from the university of St. Andrews
had oome to hear him preach, and in mockery threw a missile at him.
Mr Welsh paused and said, " I know not who has put this public affront
'jn a servant of Jesus Christy but be he who he may, I am persuaded
there will be more at his death than are hearing me preach this day.''
I: turned out the offender was the son of James Stanifield, of
Xewmilns, Haddingtonshire, who, some years afterwards, was executed
f'r the murder of his own father. Alexander Hume of Hume, a
gentleman of good position, was charged with rebellion because he had
attended conventicles. No proof of rebellion was produced, yet be
'as condemned. A remission of the sentence, it is said, came from
London, but was kept up by the Earl of Perth. When Hume's lady
7tnt on her knees before the Earl begging her husband's life, she was
rcpabed in an insulting manner.
Among those who suffered for disowning the King's authority was
Pilchard Cameron. He was originally an episcopalian, forsook the
urates, and joined the outed ministers. But his career was short.
A conventicle was held at a place called Airsmoss. Bruce of Earls-
l^'iU, with his troops, came down like a wplf on the fold. Cameron,
h.i brother Michael, Hackston of Rathillet, and a few others of the
Itaders, with forty to fifty of the country people, composed the
ttiteting. The enemy were more than double their number. Before
tiie actual encounter Cameron offered up a prayer, in which he
^'j-ployed these memorable words : ** Lord spare the green and take
'-stripe." Taming to his brother he said, " Come let us fight it to the
M : this is the day 1 have longed for — to die fighting against the
L-ni's enemies," and there he died fighting manfully back to back
*^th his brother. To have taken him alive would have been a
'^phy, but the Lord in his mercy and love saved him from insult
i>i torture. All that the wicked could do was to torture his remains.
ir.^v cut off his head and hands, carried them to his father, then a
r*jner in Edinburgh, and asked if he knew them. The good old
156 THE REVOLUTION PERIOD.
man kissing them, replied : '' I know them, I know them, they are
my son's, my dear son's. Good is the will of the Lord." They were
then placed on one of the city ports in an attitude of prayer. "There,"
said one of his persecutors when passing, '^ there's the head and
hands of a man that lived praying and preaching, and died praying
and fighting."
Hackston was taken prisoner at Airsmoss, conveyed to Edinburgh,
tried and executed there. On the scaffold his body was tortured and
mangled with such scientific cruelty as would make the flesh creep
and the blood run cold to write- the details. Alexander Peden, as is
well-known, was a famous and faithful minister of these times. He
was a great sufferer, and truly a martyr, though saved from actual
martyrdom. The severity of his sufferings will be understood from
the one fact that for more than three years he never knew the
comforts of a bed, and at all seasons had literally to live in the dens
and caves of the earth. His life was a wonderful illustration of the
proverb that truth is stranger than fiction, the most remarkable
feature in his history being — how the human frame could endure
the lengthened and severe privations to which he was exposed.
If anything more were necessary to expose the tyranny, cruelty,
injustice, and contemptible meanness of the government of the period
it will be found in the simple and inoffensive character of some of
their victims. We could quote instances of tender age being seized
and threatened with immediate death because they would not disclose
the hiding place of a father or a brother ; but passing duch, nothing,
says Dr. M'Crie, presents the government in a more odious light than
their treatment of the tender sex. Simple, unlettered females were
dragged from the kitchen or the farm yard to answer for their
religious belief before lawyers, chancellors, bishops, and such like,
and condemned to answer for their errors on the scaffold — ^proceed-
ings that only provoke indignation and contempt.
The trial of Isabel Alison and Marion Harvie, young women of
the class we have referred to, " may be regarded," writes Wodrow,
" as a flaming proof of the iniquity of the period." When under
examination one of them admitted she had heard Mr. Cargill preach
in the fields and had conversed with others of that class. Drawn
out by ensnaring questions, accompanied with threats, put by the
crown lawyers before the council, she also acknowledged having
conversed with Rathillet, Balfour, ibc, and expressed her approval of
the Sanquhar Declaration. Her companion, a girl of twenty years of
age, when examined as to the Sanquhar Declaration, and similar
documents published by the covenanters, said " she knew nothing
about them." Both of them, however, when under examination
shewed much good sense and simplicity of character, with a mixture
of mistaken views as to civil government, a thing surely neither
wonderful not criminal. They were nevertheless found guilty of
something, and executed at the Grassmarket on the 26th January^
1681. Bishop Paterson, who had anything but a pure reputation,
with apparent mockery said to one of them : " You say you have
never heard a curate preach : you will hear one pray before you die."
THE REVOLUTION PERIOD. 1 57
" Xo/ she replied, and turning to her companion said : " Come let
us sing the 23rd psalm/' and so they did, drowning the bishop's voice
in their praise.
Another instance of this kind will suffice. Gilbert Wilson, a farmer
in WigtODshire, with his wife, conformed to prelacy. Their two
daughters, Margaret and Agnes, aged 18 and 13, had early imbibed
the principles of the reformers and adhered to the good old way. At
last these girls came under the notice of the government spies. They
vere dragged to Edinburgh, and condemned to death. By paying a
Urge sum of money, the father succeeded in purchasing the life of the
jounger of them ; but Margaret with an aged acquaintance was
adjudged to die. The sentence was that they be bound to stakes
plant^ in the sea within flood mark near to Wigton. Much pressure
was used to prevail on Margaret to take the oath, and promise to hear
the curates, but she stood fast to her faith and could not be shaken.
She and her aged companion were tied to stakes in the sea in presence
of an immense crowd, and surrounded with soldiers. The other being
placed in deeper water was soon engaged in the fatal struggle and
yielded to her fate. Some one asked Margaret : *' What do you think
of your friend now 1 " " What do I see," she replied, " but Christ
wrestling in one of his members. Think you that we are sufferers !
No ; it is Christ in us, for he sends none a warfare on their own
charges." A last effort was made to secure her submission and her
life. It was shouted by the crowd, ''She has said it, she has said it!"
The officer in charge offered her the abjuration oath, or instantly to
return to the water. The young woman thus cruelly deluded, firmly
repUed : " I will not ; I am one of Christ's children ! let me go." On
this she was again thrust into the water and drowned. These females
died for refusing the abjuration oath which bound the swearer never
t^) take up arms against the king, and to renounce and disown all
who did so.
Cases more barbarous and revolting even than these might be
quoted : such as those of John Brown of Priesthill, the Christian
carrier, the Earl of Argyle, Robert Baillie of Jerviswood, and others.
The mere rehearsal of these would far exceed both our limits and
design, and it is unnecessary. However desperate and hopeless the
•;iuse of the covenanters had been for many years, it is intensely
utisfactory to be able to point out that the blue banner continued
unfurled till the dawn of deliverance could be descried. After so
much blood had been shed, a noble Christian youth appeared on the
field prepared to preach, to fight, or to die. That was James
Renwick.
Renwick was the son of poor but pious parents. He was early
ieroted to the ministry. Having finished his studies on the Contin-
fflt, he returned to Scotland in September, 1683. Being an ardent
Tonth, he sided with the society people, or extreme party in the
Church, and entered into their measures with great keenness. Young
u he was, the prelatic party soon discovered his power and thirsted
for his blood, and set a high price on his head. After many remark-
aUe escapes, he fell into the hands of enemies in February, 1688.
158 THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS.
When brought before the council, all present were struck with his
youthful and boyish appearance, and various plans were tried to
induce him to qualify or retract his sentiments, but in vain. He
stood firm, was tried, and brought to the scaffold. In his last prayer
he said : ^* I die in the faith that Thou wilt not leave Scotland, but
that Thou wilt make the blood of Thy witnesses to be the seed of Thy
church and return again and be glorious in this land. Now, Lonl, I
am ready ; the bride, the Lamb's wife, hath made herself ready.'^
He died thus, on February 18th, 1688, in the twenty-sixth year of his
age. He was the last that suffered martyrdom in Scotland at the
hands of men calling themselves Protestants.
The year that saw Henwick die, also saw the event known in
history as the Revolution., That event overthrew the Stuart dynasty,
the throne of a race of tyrants, and introduced a new state of things
whioh secured, in a large measure, the rights and privileges, civil
and religious, for which so many of the covenanters witnessed,
struggled, and died.
We hoped to have concluded this sketch with a review of the effecU
of the Revolution on the Church of Scotland, and of the state into
which ecclesiastical affairs settled down, but this important and in-
teresting branch of the subject must be deferred for the present.
THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS.
BT A HIGHLAND MINISTER.
XI.
From the presence of the Council Eraser of Brae was conveyed by
a guard to the Tolbooth of Edinburgh, where he was treated with
great civility by the jailers. He forthwith reviewed the past. He
saw ground for humiliation for many shortcomings, but rejoiced that
he was afforded a public opportunity, before many witnesses, of
vindicating the suffering " Remnant " from the aspersions cast upon
their principles! He wrote letters to friends. He preached twice
every Sabbath to the prisoners, and some others who were allowed
to be present. Persons of piety and influence paid him frequent
visits, so that the time passed profitably. After six weeks' detention
in Edinburgh, he was " convoyed to Blackness by four or five gentle-
men of the guard, where he continued seven weeks." This prison,
hallowed by so many Covenanting memories, stands on a rock pro-
jecting to the sea on the southern shore of the Forth, four miles north-
east of Linlithgow. In its ** foul holes " the victims of King James's
prelatic zeal were immured in 1605, and to one of the greatest of
them, John Welsh of Ayr, the worthy Lady'Culross wrote, bidding
THE REUGION OF THE HIGHLANDS. 1 59
him and his companions be thankful that thej ivere only in the
darkness of Blackness, and not in the blackness of darkness. Fraser
records the iDhumanity of the goTcmor of the Castle : — " The first
oigbfc he put me into a gousty, cold, wide, dark, filthy, smoky room,
where I could not have lived six days, if I had therein continued.'*
The cruel governor's wife, " though a child not above fourteen years, '^
bad compassion upon the distressed prisoner, and along with a friend of
Fraser succeeded in procuring a more tolerable room. But uotwith-
standiiig this alleviation he was still in a doleful condition, " doing
little good, but longing and praying for deliverance out of that sad
place, which the Lord thus brought to pass. My brother-in-law, un-
koowD to me, presented a supplication to the Council on my behalf,
deiiring that my fine might be remitted, myself ordered to be set at
liberty, and some competent time allowed mo to settle my afiairs in
Scotland, seeing I was content to submit to their Lordships' sentence
of banishment," Providentially, when the petition came before the
CouDcil, the Duke of York, and Fraser's bitterest enemies. Bishop
PatersoD, and his brother. Sir William Paterson, clerk of Council,
were away in England, and as some of the Councillors thought his
sentence at first too severe, they were the more ready now to grant
the relief desired. An order was at once sent to the governor of
what James Melville called '' that foul house and dungeon of Black-
ness " to set Fraser at liberty.
Liberty in a strange land was greatly preferable to such imprison-
ment as the " foul house " afforded, and in the " Memoirs " there is
grateful mention made of a relief which was in no wise hampered by
any ^^ clog or sinful engagement by a cautioner," and of the prospect
of "greater capacity to glorify the Lord than when under restraint."
Tet the idea of banishment from his children, and his mother,
brothers, sisters, and other I'elations was grievous to him. A
stranger in a strange land, he might die of want. But in his anxiety
be turned to the Lord, to whom he poured out the troubles of his
souL The consideration of God's providence, and the varied experi-
ence of His loving-kindness in the past, gave him much peace.
"And especially that word, * Surely goodness and mercy shaU follow
me all the days of my life,' did sweetly stay my heart." So he
cheerfully " took up his cross, ' and experienced God's blessing in
setting his house in order. He came to the North, parted with his
rektives at^Brae, and called on his way South at Cawdor and Brodie
Castles. An entry in the " Brodie Diary " fixes the date of this visit
to the district where ten years before he had been ordained to the
ministry : " 1682, April 17 — Mr. James Fraser of Brae prayed in the
family on his way going out of the kingdom."
be»iving Scotland about the end of May he encountered some
perils by sea on his way to London, which he reached on 16th June,
1082. He purposed living for some time in retirement, and in caring
for his own soul. But calls to preach at divers places reached him,
wd constrained him to leave his seclusion. " Every night I preached
and prayed in a private family, where jive or six neighbours did
ordinarily resort ; every Lord's Day I preached to a gathered church
l60 THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS.
in fellowship with Mr. C, from whom I had ten shillings for every
sermon. At other times I likewise preached to others, hut freely.
And truly the Lord gave me to find both great favour and respect
from the English, and more than many others did, and whom I found
to be as genteel, tender-hearted, and generous people as ever I
conversed with." For the first seven months of his sojourn in London
he lived in lodgings. Then a widow-lady desired him to stay in her
family as chaplain, and in her house be prayed, read and expounded
Scripture twice a-day. But new sufferings were soon to over-
take him. At this time the English Whigs were weary of a
situation almost intolerable, and, in the words of Macaulay,
" communications were opened with the discontented Presbyterians
of Scotland, who were suffering under a tyranny such as England, in
the worst times, had never known." Along with the great Whig
scheme of raising the nation in arms against the government, there
was " a lesser plot, commonly called the Rye-house Plot, in which
only a few desperate men were concerned, having for its object the
assassination of the king and of the heir presumptive." Both plots
were divulged by cowardly traitors, and vengeance fell upon the whole
Whig body. The noblest blood in England was flowing like water.
Three or four days after the execution of the heroic Lord William
Bussell, Eraser was doing some business in a gentleman's house in
Cheapside, when he was apprehended by one of the king's messengers
on suspicion of being concerned in the plot. After a fevr hours'
imprisonment he was brought before King Charles, the Duke of York,
and some members of the Council. He was questioned minutely
about his antecedents, and very particularly as to his knowledge of
the plot. " I replied," he tells us, " that I knew nothing of a plot
against his Majesty's person or government, nor heard anything but
what was discovered since that plot did break out, nor knew nor
heard anything I could make them the wiser by ; that I was no
public person, nor frequenter of cabals or coffee-houses ; that I knew
not one person, either accusers or accused, in that plot ; that I always
lived peaceably, and was never accessory to any plot or insurrection
that ever was ; that in my judgment I was against all violent
attempts against his Majesty or Government ; and that it was not
likely any who had such designs, knowing my principles, would
communicate aught to me of it ; yea^ that I always shunned discourses
of that nature." He was then asked by Charles the question so
entangling at the time to Covenanters in Scotland, what he thought
of Archbishop Sharp's murder, whether he judged it so or not? He
replied boldly that he had no accession thereto, and would not justify
it, neither was he free to condemn it as murder. It was out of his
sphere to pass judgment on other persons' actions whether they were
murderers or not. As for his thoughts of it, God had appointed a
solemn Court at the last day for judging of actions, words, and
thoughts, before which Court alone it was competent to give account
of thoughts, and to no human judicatory could he be held responsible.
Then the king asked him if he judged himself bound by the Solemn
League and Covenant, or thought there w^as anything of moral obli-
THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS. l6l
gation tberein 1 He replied that he never took that Covenant, and
that it was never tendered to him, but that he considered himself
boimd bj what was of moral import in it, for it was materially the
same with the decalogue. Two chief articles of the Covenant he
remembered, the one was the reformation of our hearts and lives
according to the word of God, and this was in conformity with every
precept of the moral law. Another article in the Covenant insisted
on the maintenance and defence of the king's just privileges, his
persoD, aod government, and this he judged might easily be reduced
to the decalogue. Questions about leading Scottish patriots followed,
to which he gave full and ingenuous answers. He seems to have
satisfied the Council that he had nothing to do with the plot ; and he
vas ordered to appear before the Lord Mayor, to' take the oaths of
allegiance and supremacy, and the Oxford oath. Considering the
many unpalatable truths he told the old reprobate British Nero, and
his bloodthirsty brother, it is a wonder that more rigorous measures
»ere not adopted.
Next day he was taken before the Lord Mayor, " much grieved and
titmbled that his trials should be stated on the oaths of allegiance
and supremacy. The English oath of allegiance wns much less ex-
ceptionable than the Scottish, and Fraser, although he w^as never
fond of oaths, was ready to take it. The oath of supremacy suggested
difficulties requiring further consideration before swallowing. When
told that he must also take the Oxford oath, he felt glad, as being
Terr clear to suffer on account of its refusal. It was as follows : —
^ I, A. E, do swear, that it is not lawful, upon any pretence whatso-
ever, to take arms against the king : and that I do abhor the traitor-
ons position of taking arms, by any authority, against his person, or
against those that are commissionated by him, in pursuance of such
commission : And that I will not at any time endeavour any altera-
tion of the government, either in Church or State." This iniquitous
oath was fabricated by the Oxford Parliament of 1665, for the
oppression of the English ejected ministers. On refusing to take it,
Xon-confurmists were prohibited from coming within five miles of any
city or corporation, or any place where they had been ministers.
Fnuer was not the man to hesitate for a moment in rejecting so
obnoxions an imposition. As he saw he would have no benefit by
taking the oath of allegiance, he declined taking any of the oaths,
and, in sending him to prison, the Mayor allowed his being committed
for refusing the Oxford oath, without reference to the others.
In Newgate, to which he was forthwith removed, he was detained
fcfr six months. " Here I had experience of the Lord's goodness and
Qercj, which did never leave me. I had, a short while after I came,
'oe of the best rooms in the prison, in which any person might lodge ;
& Wge, cleanly, lightsome, square room it was, (what a contrast to
the foul dungeon in Blackness !) and off the ground as ye come in.
The captain and under-keepers were all very civil to us, carrying both
visely and discreetly. I kept my health very well all the time I was
there. We had comfortable fellowship with fellow-prisoners, who
n^ht see one another all day ; some I perceived notional, omlearned,
L
l62 THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS.
yet obstinate. I stood at the greatest distance with free-willen ;
but such as I had greatest converse with were those of our own per-
suasion, who were truly the most sober and learned that were there.
In general, I found all of them civil. We were abundantly refreshed
by numbers of all ranks and persuasions that came in to see us. We
wanted nothing ; so that I could hardly call it suffering." With
good reason does Wodrow, in relating Eraser's Newgate experience,
call attention to the milder treatment of Non-conformists in England,
compared with the barbarities inflicted on this side the Tweed by
" our Scots managers." Amid so many alleviations, however, Fraser
complains that the varied interruptions from so many daily visitors,
and the presence of '^a chamber-fellow," deprived him of those
opportunities of private devotion his soul loved. Yet he gave his
" testimony for Christ, and had experience of the Lord's goodness."
When " the number of his weeks were fulfilled," he was set at liberty
without any of the vexatious restrictions usually hampering discharged
prisoners in Scotland.
At this point his " Memoirs " close with an interesting chapter of
''Observations" on his sufferings. If he continued to record the
incidents of his life and spiritual experience subsequent to his Newgate
imprisonment, diligent search has hitherto been rewarded with no
diaries or journals. It is certain he did not remain long in London
after regaining his liberty. Four months after there is an entry in
the " Brodie Diary " :— " May 16, 1684. Went with Calder to Forres.
Met Mr. James Fraser by the way, by whom heard of several doctors
made at Aberdeen. Vain and proud man affects a name, and prefers
to be called divine rather than really to be such." An interesting
meeting it must have been verily. IIow the heart of Fraser must
have leaped up on seeing the worthy Thane, who had done so much
on his behalf, and in saluting the devout James Brodie. Not many
weeks pass until the Diarist records : — "30th July, 1684. I heard
that Brae was again in prison." Very likely. He was just the man
to come into collision with the "Scots managers," but where he was
warded at this time, and how long^ we could get no information.
According to Scott (" Fasti ") he was living within the bounds of the
Synod of Lothian and Tweeddale on 6th July, 1687.
At the Revolution, he was sure to come to the front. Hill Burton,
who is disposed to depreciate the literary ability of the survivors of
the "killing times," mentions Fraser as one of the three foremost
surviving Presbyterian ministers, placing him alongside of Gilbert
Rule, Principal of the University of Edinburgh, and author of many
tracts, and Alexander Pitcairn, author of several theological books
written in Latin, which enjoyed some reputation abroad in their day.
He wrote a " Defence of the Convention of Estates, in 1689." This
paper, preserved amid the numerous Wodrow MSS., vindicates nt
considerable length the Convention for having declared King James
to have forfeited his right to the crown, and for having proclaimed
the throne vacant. The advent of the auspicious 1689 brought Fraser
congenial employment in Culross. In the meeting-house there, he
preached for four months. Culross was a collegiate charge, and a
THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS. 163
Stronghold of Jacobitism. The ministers, Messrs. Robert Wright and
Alexander Young, were both deprived by the Ck>mmittee of Estates,
in May of that year, for not reading the proclamation against owning
King James*, and for not praying for King William and Mary ; and in
compliance with a petition of some in the parish, the Committee
transferred Fraser from the meeting-house to the church, therein to
preach and exercise his other ministerial functions. In defiance of
this Act the £arl of Kincardine and the Magistrates of Culross, haying
the keys of the parish church, refused Fraser any access on the
Sabbath morning. But two companies of the Laird of Eenmure's
regiment were equal to the occasion, and breaking open the doors they
led Fraser triumphantly into the pulpit. The opposition complained
to the Lords of Council, who had no difficulty in taking in the
situation, and in " discharging Earl and Magistrates from troubling
or molesting Fraser in the peaceable exercise of his ministerisd
function, until the said kirk should be legally filled." (Anderson's
"Bass.") In due course the legal steps were taken for his regular
induction into the first charge. The second charge remained vacant
until the appointment of Mr. Mair in 1698.
The deposed " curates " continued to officiate in the neighbourhood
of Culross, causing some trouble to Fraser and his Kirk-Session. Ho
vasa prominent member of the General Assembly of 1690, and of
1692, aud because of his admirable fitness for the task, was from time
to time deputed to the Gaelic-speaking districts of the North, to help
in building up the waste places there. After the Revolution the
second charge of Inverness, on the death of Mr. Gilbert Marshall, was
kept vacant for ten years. The minister of the first charge, Mr.
Hector Mackenzie, the successor of the eminent Mr. Angus McBean,
retained office by taking the oath of allegiance. But he continued a
''curate" at hearty and assisted the Jacobite magistrates in preventing
the filling up of the vacant charge. Through their influence, when
the vacancy was to be declared, " all avenues to the church were be-
set, 2l8t June, 1691, with armed men, and double sentinels placed at
the doors, that no minister might enter ; and when Duncan Forbes
of Colloden (father of the President) sought to open the doors, he was
thrust back, and struck with violence. This made him and others
represent the case to the Privy Council, so that in August after. Lord
Leren's regiment was sent North to protect the well- affected in
obeying the law, and they made patent 'doors, but for ten years no
admission was effected." Several famous ministers in succession
preached to the "well-affected" in this congregation, but their
settlement was pre vented, through Prelatic influence. Fraser preached
here for a considerable time, and doubtless it was in consequence of
the earnest desire of the congregation that he should be settled over
them, that on the 22nd June, 1696, ho gave in the following resigna-
tion of his charge as minister of Culross : — " Taking to consideration
the great charge of this parish and kirk of Culross, and my great
inability to do that duty to them a minister owes to his flock, partly
through my age, partly through my many avocations and diversions
^ constrained passing some time in the North, and in Edinburgh,
164 THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS.
and other places, and midtitude of persons coming to me for advice
and other ways, so that I cannot get that duty performed to the
parish that were needful, and myself very desirous of. Wherefore,
and for other grievances and discouragements, and that the place may
be the better supplied, I do demit my office and charge of the
ministry in this place, hereby giving those concerned full leave to
move to the Presbytery to get the kirk declared vacant, and to
proceed to the calling of another minister in this place, and to settle
him here duly." (Beveridge's " Cuht)8S and Tulliallan.") The
Session refused to accept Mr. Eraser's resignation, and he continued
to act as minister of Culross, with Mr. John Blair as temporary
assistant, until a colleague should be settled in the second charge. A
call reached him from Inverness in the following September, and for
the next two years the '^ well-afifected " there persisted in desiring his
settlement among them. The magistrates however continued firmly
opposed to his admission into the second charge. He was soon to
receive the Master*s call, '^ Come up higher.'' He died at Eldinburgli
on the 13th September, 1699. He was '* strong in the faith, giving
glory to God " — his last words being, " I am full of the consolations
of Christ."
" Soldier of God, well-done !
Praise be thy loved employ.
The battle's fought, the victory's won,
Enter eternal joy."
To some of Fraser's writings we have already incidentally referred.
No work of his was published until some time after his death. A
sermon on Hosea i., 1-5, appeared in 1715, and was reprinted in 1742.
Its full title is ** Prelacy an Idol, and Prelates Idolaters : All
Prelatists, maintainors of, and compliers with Prelacy, charged with
Idolatry, and proven guilty." The publisher introduces it to the
reader with this remark among others : — '' Though there be many
new sermons published, yet scarce any of them evidence so much zeal
by a free and faithful pleading for truth and reformation as this ; the
author being an eminent watch-man set on Zion's watch-tower, (£z.
xzxiii. 8 ; Jer. xxiii. 22,) did zealously oppose the errors and
defections of his day." Of his " Memoirs " he vnx>te two or more
copies, dedicating one of them to his friend, Mr. Thomas Ross of
Kincardine, a noted Koss-shire outed minister. From this copy the
first edition of 1738 was published. In 1744 appeared " The Law-
fulness and Duty of separation from Corrupt Ministers and Churches."
The publisher gives twenty-one reasons for its appearance. From one
of them we may quote : — "This Treatise is a clear vindication of our
worthy and faithful sufferers for not hearing the Curates, and also
will be a strong and standing bulwark both against Prelacy and
hearing of Curates in all times coming." Of his "Treatise on
Justifying Faith," the first part appeared in 1722, and the second in
1749. It was written in the Bass, and as he gave the manuscript to
his sister-in-law, who showed it to several ministers, it at once
awakened some controversy. The eminent John Carstairs of Glasgow
wrote in 1677 to the author, that he "humbly wished the book had
THE BIRTHPLACE OF KNOX. 1 65
been destroyed as an untimely birth," a verdict we are reluctantly
constrained to re-echo. In seeking a sufficient ground for the gospel
offer, Fraser asserts that *' Christ obeyed and died in the room of all,
(08 the head and representative of fallen man," with intention to save
the elect, while the rest, ''contemning and rejecting the offer of
salvation, might be made fit objects to show His just gospel- vengeance
and wrath upon them." In the words of Dr. Walker ("Sco. TheoL")
^ It comes to this, in short, that Christ dies for reprobates-, that they
may fall under a more tremendous doom, as on the other hand. He
dies for the elect, that theirs may be an all-transcendent blessedness.
In many other aspects the good man presents his theory. As you
may buy a casket for its jewels, so Christ bought all the world, and
all men in it, for His chosen's sake, not to save all, but to use them,
and, as it suits Him, to cast away ; though still, as there is a purchase,
there is no unreality in offering them pardon and acceptance in virtue
of it. * Eraser's ** Treatise," on publication, " created no little
commotion in two communities, the Cameronian and the Anti-burgher.
Two of the five ministers of the Cameronian presbytery seem to have
embraced its views substantially, and broke off from good Mr.
McMillan." Mr. Thomas Mair, minister at Orwell, the intimate friend
of Ralph Erskine, was deposed in 1757 for persistently adhering to
Fraser's theory. He was the nephew of Mr. George Mair who was ap-
pointed to the long vacant second charge of Culross in 1698. When
a boy at school, he was asked by his uncle to transcribe part of the
MS. Treatise, and then he imbibed the views which involved him in
SQch controversy long after. Fraser himself, after the correspondence
with Carstairs, seems to have grown out of the opinions that had
occasioned such remonstrances. We never heard of the slightest
objection being offered to the doctrine he preached as being out of
accordance with Confessional orthodoxy. Certainly the erring theory
mentioned had never any supporters in the Highlands, where Fraser's
memory and " Memoirs " are held in peculiar veneration.
THE BIRTHPLACE OF KNOX.
By Mr. D. H. Fleming, St. Andrews.
That the Reformer of Scotland was born in Haddingtonshire or East
Lothian is perfectly certain ; but at various times there has been
some discussion as to the precise part which may rightfully claim the
honour of being his birthplace. Although Dr. M^Crie regarded the
qae.stion as '*not of yerj great importance," he looked somewhat
minutely into the matter, and was inclined to prefer the opinion that
he was bom '^ in the village of Gifford." His reasons are stated, with
hlH usual lucidity and accuracy, in note A to his Life of Knox, And
l66 THE BIRTHPLACE OF KNOX.
David Laing in 1846 — in the "Chronological Notes" prefixed to the
first volume of his admirable edition of the Reformer's works —
emphatically affirmed that he was bom " at the village of Gifford,
near the town of Haddington."
Backed by the opinion of two such giants in Scottish ecclesiastical
history, the claim of that village was generally accepted. But in
editing his father's Lift of Knox, in 1855, the younger M'Crie stated,
in note 1, that "recent investigations, which indeed are still in pro-
gress, tend to throw doubt on this supposition, and to demonstrate
that Knox must have been bom in Giffordgate, one of the suburbs of
Haddington." And on the 18th of January, 1858, a paper on the
question by Mr. Richardson, procurator-fiscal of Haddington, was
read before the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. He contended
for Giffordgate, and his arguments had much weight with David
Laing, who not only reconsidered his former opinion, but followed
up Mr. Richardson's paper by a "Supplementary Notice" in the
printed Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, In 1864, in the
Preface to the concluding volume of Knox's Works, Laing further
stated that after recently visiting the locality, the question seemed to
him " to admit of no dispute ; " and the additional proofs there given
by him in support of Gitfordgate have been usually deemed concluaive.
But after the question was thus regarded as settled, local zeal has
brought forward the claims of Morham, a smedl parish in JSast
Lothian. This claim was set forth at considerable length in the
Edinburgh Courant in 1882, has since been pressed in the local news-
papers, and is now embodied in book form under the title : " The
History of Morham (the birthplace of John Knox), by David
liouden, F.E.LS."
In examining the rival claims, it seems best, in the first place, to
state briefly the proofs and ai^uments in support of the village of
Gifford and of Giffordgate.
Beza, in 1580, styles Knox Giffordiensis.'^ Archbishop Spottis-
woode, who was bom in 1565 and whose father was Superintendent
of Lothian, says that Knox was bom '*in Gifford within Lothian."^
David Buchanan, in 1644, says "in Gifford, neer Haddington, in
Lothian."^ Samuel Clark says "at Gifford in Lothaine in Scotland."^
Thomas Fuller, in a work first published in 1651, says "at Gifford iu
Lothian in Scotland." ^ James Knox, minister of Scone, who died
in 1776, had a genealogical account of the Knoxes, in which it was
stated that the Reformer's father was proprietor of the estate of
Gifford.^ All these have been held as proofs that Knox was bom in
or at the village of Gifford. Besides these, James Laing states in
1581 that Knox was born near Haddington which is a towu
* Beza's Icones, Geneva, 1580, siff. Ee. iii.
* Spottiflwoode's History^ Spot. Soc. ii. 180.
' Kqox's History t 1644 (London).
* Clark*8 Marrow of EccUsicMticaX History ^ second ed., 1654, 1st part, p.
709.
5 Faller's Abei Redivivus, 1867, vol. i. p. 1.
* Scott's LiveJi of the Heformera, 1817, p. 94.
THE BIRTHPLACE OF KNOX. 167
•
ill Lothian,^ and this has been held to favour the village of
Gifford.
Archibald Hamilton says, in 1577, that Knox was bom in Hadding-
ton, a town in Lothian.^ John Hamilton speaks, in 1600, of Knox
as " a renegat prest of Haddintoun."^ David Laing quotes Liaureuce
Charteris as saying (1696 )) that Knox was bom at Haddington ; and
he also quotes much more important testimony from the Register of
GemvOj in which Knox, who was admitted a burgess of that city in
1558, is described as a native of Haddington in Scotland.^ In 1785
Dr. Barclay thus writes of Haddington : " John Knox, the Reformer,
was a native of this parish. He was bom in the GifTordgate, one of
the suburbs of Haddington, leading to the village of Gifford, which
probably has occasioned the erroneous account of him by Dr.
M'Kenrie, D. Buchanan, and others, who tell us he was born at
Gifford. The house in the Giffordgate, in which Knox was bom, still
remains ; it has but a mean appearance, and together with two or
three acres of land adjoining, belonged for several centuries to a
&mily of the name of Knox, until they were purchased, about ten or
twelve years ago, by the present Earl of Wemyss." * Dr. M'Crie
perceived that Dr. Barclay's statement reconciled those of Archibald
Hamilton and James Laing — in Haddington and near Haddington^
but Mr. Richardson has shown that it also reconciles with these the
statements of Beza, Spottiswoode, Buchanan, Clark and Fuller ; for
he has proved that while the street or village of Giffordgate bore that
Dame so early as 1434, there was no village of Gifford until long after
Kaox's death.
As Dr. M'Crie did not possess the same intimate local knowledge
of Haddington and its neighbourhood as Mr. Richardson, he was
unable to follow up the clue furnished by Dr. Barclay. Indeed his
partial knowledge led him off the scent. He assumed that Gifford*
gate was a part of Nungate, an adjoining suburb of Haddington, from
which it is only separated by a public road ; and in point of fact the
two villages are commonly treated as one and called Nungate.
(fiifordgate, however, is held of the Marquis of Tweeddale as part of
the estate of Gifford, the Yester family having acquired Giffordgate
lands in 1451 ; while Nungate is all church lands, formerly belonging
to the Abbey of Haddington, and now to the Earl of Wemyss and
Lord Blantyre. Misled, no doubt, by Dr. Barclay's reference to the
Earl of Wemyss having bought the house and lands from the family
of the name of Knox, Dr. M'Crie obtained extracts from the EarFs
title-deeds showing that a property in the Nungate had only been
acquired by William Knox in Morbam and Elizabeth Schortes his
wife, in 1598 ; finding too that this property had formerly belonged
to the Abbey of Haddington, and learning that there were no corres*
^Laing'B Dt Vita et Marilnu, Paris, 1581, folio 113 b. Hia words are :
*'}fatu$ prope HadkUonam qua est urbs in Laudonia," Hadltttonam beiog a
misprint for Hadintonam.
^ Quoted by M*Crie and David Laing.
' Hiunilton'B Facile Traictise, 1600, p. 60.
* Laing^i Knox, vol. vi. p. xvii
^ ArduBohgiea Seotica^ I 69, 70.
1 68 THE BIRTHPLACE OF KNOX.
ponding names in the Scone genealogy of the Knoxes, he naturally
concluded that the local tradition was at fault. ^ But Mr. Richardson
has shown that the spot indicated by tradition immemorial, in Gifford-
gate proper, was known in 1607 as " Knox Walls." ^ This theory
therefore harmonises all the old statements, and is confirmed by the
extract from the Register of the Burgesses of Geneva, which was un-
known in Dr. M'Crie's time.
In upholding the claims of Murham, Mr. Louden, of course, readily
acknowledges that there was no village of Gifford in Knox's time ; the
mere fact of that village being put out of court leaves him with only
one antagonist — the Giffordgatc ; and, in order to get rid of it, he
insists that Morham formerly bore the name of Gifibrd. Some of his
reasoning, however, is much more ingenious than ingenuous. For
example, he says : — " The only conceivable way in which Beza could
have got his information was from hearing his colleague, Knox, talking
of Sir John de GifFord of Yester, who married Euphemia, daughter of
Sir Thomas Malherb, otherwise Sir Thomas de Morham — the last heir
male of the manor of Morham. This Euphemia, on her marriage with
Sir John de Gifibrd, transferred to him the Manor of Morham along
with other estates, and henceforth, as was the common practice then
(and in some districts still), the name of the estate and the name of
the proprietor became synonymous terms, so that it would as frequently
be called * Gifford ' as Morham *' (p. 34). But this at the best is only a
piece of special pleading. It was undoubtedly an old custom to bestow
the name of the lands on their owners ; indeed it was through this
custom that many families originally obtained their present surnames.
The custom of naming possessions after their owners is also of great
antiquity, for we read that Cain built a 'city and called it after his
son Enoch ; and in the 49th psalm it is stated that '' they call their
lands after their own names." The case, mentioned by Mr Louden,
of Sir Thomas Malherb becoming Sir 'J'homas de Morham, is an
illustration of the one custom ; and if it could be proved that Sir
John de Gifford gave his name to Morham, it would be a specimen
of the other. Mr. Louden, however, speaks of a very different custom,
of the name of the estate and the name of the proprietor becoming
synonymous terms ; and then he adds " it would as frequently be called
* Gifford ' as Morham." But he might have gone a step further, and
said that, consequently. Sir John would as frequently be called
Morham as Giffoixi. That would not have suited his purpose, for
he wishes temporarily to sink the name of Morham and raise that of
Gifford ; and in support of this he has nothing better than conjecture
to offer ; but having here conveniently assumed that Morham was at
a certain period known as Gifford, he afterwards asserts it boldly, as
if it were an undeniable fact ! And yet he says : — ** Beza, an utter
stranger to the manner in which Scotch parishes were divided, had
evidently caught the name of the lord of the manor and Latinised
it." Truly, Mr. Louden's case does not hang well together. The
very first sentence quoted from his pleading, is a strong presumptive
' M'Crie's KnoXt note A.
■ Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, iii., 53-57.
THE BIRTHPLACE OF KNOX. 1 69
proof of the weakness of his case. If its hopelessness were not
desperate he would surely not have said that the only conceivable
way in which Beza could have got his information was from hearing
Knox talking of Sir John de Gifford of Yester. Why should Knox
talk particularly of that one proprietor ? Mr. Louden's statement
appears to imply that it was because he acquired the Manor of
Morham by 'marriage. That is rather a poor reason, and Mr.
Louden seems to feel it ; for he does not give the date of the mar-
riage. Mr. Whitfield, however, states in another section of the book
(p. 43) that it took place "about the middle of the 14th century" — that
is a centuiy and a half before Knox was bom ! Nor does Mr.
Loaden tell that Sir John de Gififord's son, who was his last male
heir, died at least ninety-six years before the Reformer's birth !
Moreover, as the estate passed into other hands, its name and that
of its new proprietor would, according to Mr. Louden's theory, be-
come synonymous terms, and therefore it will not do for him to say
that it retained the name of Gifford in Knox's time, unless he can
give positive evidence. But this he has not attempted to prove. ^
Mr. Loaden is, however, fertile in explanations. Two of his theories
as to why Beza styled Knox Gifordiensisy have already been examined,
aod there is still a third. '* Doubtless," he says, 'Mn their quiet
saunters, or over a social cup, Knox and Beza would often refer to
the distractions which then rent both their countries, and the Reform-
ers thoughts would. Scotsmanlike, frequently revert to the quiet and
secluded little parish where all who were near and dear to him resided,
and where John, Lord Hay of Yester, <m superior of the estate of Gifford^
held chief sway, and in that way Beza would become familiarised with
Gifford " (pp. 34, 35). Unfortunately for the claim of Morham, Mr.
Londen's explanations destroy each other. If Morham was as fre-
quently called Gifford as Morham, after it was acquired *by Sir John
de Gifford, why suggest that Beza Latinised the name of the Lord of
the Manor 1 and why suggest after that, that as John, Lord Hay of
Yester, was superior of the estate of Gifford, Beza would therefore
become familiarised with Gifford ? Besides, as will yet be seen, the
champions of Morham state that Bothwell — not Lord Hay — was the
owner of Morham in Knox's time ! So much for the claim of Mor-
ham to the name of Gifford.
Even although Mr. Louden had been able to prove that Morham
bore the name of Gifford in Knox's time, he would still have had the
entry in the " Register of Geneva" to face. This too he has attempted.
' In a foot note it is stated that : — *' In Knox's day all the district south of
Haddington was known as Gifford. The ancient fortalice of Lethineton
(I^nnox-loTe) was bailt by the Giffords, and was purchased from Sir John
Gifford by Sir Richard Maitland about the end of the 14th century. — Fordun,
Tol ii., p. 105." But this statement as to the name of the district, is only an
aoertion of Mr. London's. He cannot have dragged in Fordun to prove what
the name of the district was in Knox's day, as he wrote the Scoi%chr<yiiicon one
handled and ei|(hteen years before Knox was bom ; and Bower finished his
continnation of it fifty-eight years before the Reformer's birth. And in point
o|f tact, in the passage referred to, the writer of the Scotichronicon mentions the
a«ath of Hugh Gifford of Yester in 1267, and the wonderful Bohall, without
*&yuig a wora about the name of Gifford being applied to any district or place.
170 THE BIRTHPLACE OF KNOX.
He says : ^ Of course, when Knox was entered as a bux^ss in the
'Geneva Register/ he gave the name of the town nearest to his
birthplace, but that does not necessarily mean that he was bom in
the town. It is equivalent to our modem system of giving the name
of the post-town as the last part of our address. When any one
inquires 'as to where I am now located I invariably answer near
Haddington, knowing, as I have stated, that Morham is unknown to
most Scotsmen. How much less^ then, to Frenchmen " (p. 40). But
this argument tells as much in favour of Giffordgate as of Morham.
And Archibald Hamilton says it was in the town of Haddington, which
cannot be applied to Morham. Mr. Louden gets rid of Hamilton's
troublesome testimony in a very easy way. Hamilton, he says, was
a Romanist, and is almost universally discredited, and so he pitches
him mercilessly overboard. It is true that Hamilton was a Papist^
that he was an apostate, and a bitter enemy of the Reformer's ; but
he could have no motive in misrepresenting the place of his birth.
James Laing was still more virulent than Hamilton ; he was likewise
a Papist, and is characterised by Dr. MH^rie as the " most impudent
of all liars ; " and yet Mr. Louden does not cast him aside. Nay,
verily i He says the only two writers to be depended on are Beza
and James Laing ! The only conceivable reason why he does not
reject Laing in the same way as he does Hamilton is manifestly this :
that Laing says Knox was born near Haddington, which Mr. Louden
thinks can be construed into Morham 1 So much for his impartiality
in receiving evidence. In a somewhat similar way he had previously
got over David Buchanan's testimony in favour of Giffbrd. In the
life of Knox prefixed to the Louden edition, 1644, of Knox's History,
it is stated that the Reformer was bom in 1505, and died in 1572, at
the age of 62. " Now," says Mr. Louden, " any schoolboy who can
pass Standard I. can easily deduct 62 from 72 and leave 10, thus prov*
ing Buchauan's statements to be very inaccurate " (p. 35). Although
Buchanan was far from immaculate, this is rather too summary a way
of dismissing him. Possibly it never occurred to Mr. Louden that,
as the dates and age are given in figures, the blunder might be the
result of a misprint. Had Buchanan been still alive, he might have
retaliated by pointing out several atrocious blunders in Mr. Louden's
spelling, and by demanding if he had passed Standard I. Or, had he
scorned to take advantage of typical blunders, he might have pointed
out that (p. 32) Mr. Louden describes Morham as much the smaJlest
parish in East Lothian ; while (p. 52) Mr. Whitfield states that it is
not the smallest, being about twice the size of Prestonpans. Then
he might have asked if Mr. Louden had this discrepancy in his eye
when he said of himself and Mr. Whitfield (p. 47) : *' The one acting
as the flint, and the other as the steel, we have been able to kindle a
spark for the candle of truth, which will keep it burning for some
time to come."
It must nqt be supposed that Mr. Louden rests his case exokisively
or chiefly on the old writers. He tells how, in 1883, an aged
patriarch named Neilson, from Dunbar, whose father and grandfather
had been bora in Morham, pointed out to him the exact spot of Knox's
THE BIRTHPLACE OF KNOX. 171
birthplace (p. 46). But this tradition cannot be taken for much, be-
cause it is apparent that although Mr. Louden had been living
within two hundred yards of the spot for fifteen years, he had never
he&rd it before. Had the tradition been well founded, he would
aasnredly have learned about it sooner, especially as it was well
known in the district that he was very much interested in the matter,
having in fact^ for the preceding eighteen months been " making
Btrict enquiry in every conceivable quarter " (p. 32). And besides,
Dr. Barclay had publicly stated, almost a century earlier, that
tradition pointed to the Giffordgate. To say the least of it, the earlier
tradition looks quite as reliable as the other.
Another proof advanced for Morham is that in Morham church-
jard there are nine tombstones belonging to the Enozes, and one of
them dates as far back as 1660. But that is only a short link in the
chain, for the Eeformer died eighty-eight years before that.
Mr. Louden has a rather better proof than the tombstones, for
there is documentary evidence to show that there was a Wm. Knox
in Morham so early as 1598, that is, sixty-two years earlier than the
gravestone. This document has already been alluded to. It is the
title^leed which misled Dr. M'Crie, and which conveys certain sub-
jests in Nungate to William Knox in Morham and Elizabeth Schortes,
his irife. Mr. Louden seizes greedily on this document, from which
he would fain prove that the Enoxes had no connection with Gifford-
gate until 1598, and that previously they had been in Morham.
Bat for aught that this document states, they may not have been in
Morham in 1597, or, in other words, till ninety-two years after
Knox's birth ; and although he could prove that the Enoxes were
settled at a much earlier period in Morham he still would have to
prove that they were the family the Reformer sprung from, and that
they were there in 1505. This he has not done. Neither has he
recalled the fact that Dr. M'Crie '* communicated the names of the
persons in the first charter and subsequent deeds to the Reverend
Mr. Soott of Perth, with a request to be informed, if any such names
occur in the genealogy of the Enox family which belonged to the late
^Ir. Knox, minister of Scoon." Nor has he said anything of Mr.
Scott's reply, that '' neither the name of William Enox at Morham,
nor that of any other person, answering to the description " in Dr.
M'Orie's letter, ^ is to be found in that genealogy.'' But Mr. Loudeu
has done far worse: he has confounded the Nungate with the
Giffordgate; and in doing so he is inexcusable, for Mr. Richardson
has distinguished the two so clearly that he who runs may read and
understand. Yet Mr. Louden persists in saying that the subjects
acquired by William Enox in 1598 were in " a portion of the Nungate
called Giffordgate " (p. 37) ; and that it was this transaction of 1598
on which tJie Haddington claim rested (p. 46). Mr. Whitfield has
iailen into the same egregious blunder (pp. 48, 50). But even although
the Haddington or Giffordgate claim had been rested on the charter
of 1598, it would not have warranted Mr. Whitfield's statement :
*' John [Enox] could not have been bom in a house which first came
into the possession of a Enox 93 years after his birth, and 26 years
172 THE BIRTHPLACE OF KNOX.
after his death. '* The father of a family is not necessarily the owner
of the house or houses in which his children are bom.
There is still another proof that Mr. Louden has brought forward ;
and he evidently considers it to be the sheet-anchor of his case.
Twice he refers to it at some length (pp. 35, 41). In the second he
thus introduces it : " In the Preface to the sixth volume of his col>
lected edition of Knox's Works, pp. 16-19, after quoting fifteen of the
ancient authorities, Dr. Laing remarks (and I heartily agree with
him) : * There is a passage in the History of the Reformation which
furnishes the only authentic notice on the subject.' " This can only
be characterised as a perversion of David Laing's meaning. He did
not make this statement after quoting the ancient authorities, but
hefort doing so. When he made that statement he was discussing,
not the birthplace, but the parentage of Knox ! The passage to
which he referred was the Reformer's account of his first interview
with James, fourth Earl of Bothwell. Knox thus addressed him :
*' My Lord, my grandfather, goodschir, and father have served your
Lordship's predecessors, and some of them have died under their
standards." Mr. Louden first thinks that " the only way in which
Knox's forbears could have served Bothwell's predecessors was as
tenants of his farm of Mainshill " (p. 35) ; then he becomes dogmatic
and asserts that *' the Reformer was doubly connected with the parish
of Morham — his paternal and maternal grandfathers both being
tenants of the Earls of Bothwell, and that information is given by
Knox himself, surely the highest of all authorities " (p. 42). Mr.
Whitfield is so well pleased with this argument that he exclaims :
" He [t.e., Mr. Louden] shows that Knox himself in a letter (sic) to
the EeutI of Bothwell, who then possessed Morham, speaks of his
ancestors, both on the father's and mother's side, being tenants of the
Earl's predecessors and following them to battle ; and he points out
the lands, in the parish of Morham, which Knox's ancestors occupied.
He gives the death-blow to the theory that Giffordgate, near Hadding-
ton, was the place of Knox's birth by saying : ' Gifibrd-gate never
was in the possession of the Bothwell family. How, then, can those
who assert that Gififord-gate was Knox's birthplace reconcile his own
words with their assertion % ' This unanswerable question has closed
the controversy" (pp. 48-49). Indeed 1 Not quite so fast ! Mr.
Whitfield has elsewhere quoted from various charters to show that
one half of Morham passed into the hands of Bothwell's predecessors
in 1491, and the other half (the half in which he alleges Knox was
born) in 1512 (pp. 43-44). It might well be asked if that does not
give the death-blow to Mr. Louden's previous argument, from Beza's
statement about John Lord Hay of Yester being superior of the estate
of Gifford and holding chief sway in the " little parish where all who
were near and dear " to Knox " resided." But do Knox's words imply
that his ancestors were tenants to Bothwell's predecessors f Dr.
M'Crie did not see that in them. He thought they only referred to
the time of their settlement in Lothian. And probably he was right,
for they might fight under Bothwell's predecessors as shenffa of
LETTER TO AN INVALID. 1 73
Lothian or as constables of Hsuldington, and they cannot be shown to
prove more.
Several minor points might also have been dealt with, but enough
has been said to show how thoroughly unsatisfactory are the proofs
and arguments by which it has been sought to establish the claim of
Morham. That claim has extremely little likelihood of ever being
proved, for it will be well-nigh impossible to find a more zealous
champion than Mr. Louden, or a more trusty coadjutor than Mr
Whittield, and they, after years of patient labour, have only shown
the strength of the claim of Giffordgate, and the weakness of that of
Morham.
LETTER TO AN INVALID.
Mt dkab Sistbb, —
.... I cannot altogether refrain, even at the risk of
wearying you, from again calling your special attention to '* John the-
Aged.'' I would like so much if you could try to master his first
epistle. It is just a cluster of gems — sparkling with deep spiritual
thoughts, and yet simple as Bunyau's unique allegory. And I feel
quite sure the attractive power of the portrait of John's Master, as.
therein delineated, will also have the effect of drawing you nearer to
Himself, and of shewing you how worthy He is of your heart's best,
affections.
If we cannot come so near to the Master as was John's privilege in
a very special sense, still I often think we might live much nearer to
Him, enjoying more of His fellowship and loving communion than we
do, if we would only live up to the privileges we do enjoy. But even
though we have wayward,^ deceitful hearts, He bears with His people's
imperfections — "He remembereth that we are dust" and prone to go
astray. And has He not said, " I will put my spirit within them,
and write my law in their hearts 1 " Man's unwillingness seems to be
the only obstacle between him and his God. The way is cleared so
far as God's part is concerned, but then God cannot save a man
against his will. The assent of the will seems to me as necessary to
salvation -as the sacrifice of Christ. "As many as received Him, to
than gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that
helieve on His name." But then, again, there is such a thing as
some of these "sons of God" — real, genuine "sons of God" — living
on a low platform of religious life, whereas by a little care and self-
denial, watchfulness, and importunate prayer, they might be a little
higher up, enjoying a brighter sunshine. It must not be forgotten,
however, that continual sunshine is not always conducive to a vigor-
GOB, healthy growth. If clouds do come, and mayhap an occasional
174 grandma's tunes.
storm, then it is for the eye of faith to look up to Him " who maketh
the clouds His chariot, and who walketh on the wings of the wind/'
God may thus be seen in the cloud even bj those under its shadow.
If the wind seem to blow rather piercingly, that is just God walking
past, to make the vines and the pomegranates strike their roots a
little deeper. " He stayeth His east wind in the day of His rough
wind." He knows best when to say, "Stay, it is enough." "He
will not send trial above what ye are able to bear, but will with the
trial make a way of escape, that ye may be able to bear it." Luther
once said, " Lord, put upon me whatever Thou wilt^ but only give
me to feel * the everlasting arms ' underneath." " God is able to
make all grace abound towards you, that ye always, having all
sufiSciency in all things, may abound unto every good work." I would
alter that a little in your case perhaps, and put it this way — " that
ye may abound unto all patience" You know as well as most people
that God may be served and glorified as much, and sometimes more,
by patient waiting, as by zealous, active service. " Wait patiently
for Him ; be of good courage, and He will strengthen your heart"
" Add to your faith . . . patience, and to patience hope . . . , for if
these things be in you and abound, ye shall be neither barren nor
unfruitful."
I suppose you have felt sometimes that however familiar a Scrip-
ture passage may be, it occasionally comes up with a freshness when
presented to the mind in new relations and under different circum-
stances, and that is my apology for quoting the foregoing ; it is not
because you don't know them^ and it is very doubtful if you and I
have fathomed the depth of their meaning in all its fulness. I often,
often think about you, and image you lying on that bed. May
Christ's bosom be your pillow !
Tour affectionate
Brother.
GRANDMA'S TUNES.
They had old-fashioned Paalms to-day,
And dear old tunea were sung ;
Soft, solemn sounds — ^jost sach, my dear,
I sang when I was young.
And how my thoughts went backward
To Sabbaths gone so long,
When voices death and time have hushed
Joined with mine, dear and strong.
Our meeting-house was- very plain,
No organ through it rang ;
Good deacon Slocum pitched the tunes.
And everybody sang.
PAGES FOR THE YOUNG. 175
But not with all the trills and shakes
That choirs use to-day —
Yet in spite of all their screaming, one
Can't hear a word they say.
There was but little talk of art
In those old times, 'tis true ;
But with the spirit many sang,
And understanding, too.
For we didn't see our worship
Dumbly listening to the choir,
Whose chiefest aim, it seems to me,
Is who shall sing the higher.
Yes, dear old tunes, ye bear me back
To Sabbaths gone so long —
And voices that around the Throne
Still worship God with song.
— Selected.
gages for the Icung*
BIBLE QUESTIONS.
Th£ response to the questions proposed in March has again been very gratifying.
There is not one series of answers among the many it has been my privilege to
czamlQe that does not reflect great credit on the writer. I have missed
lome faces in our class this month that gave bright answers before, but I
hope to see them again. New faces have made their appearance, and the in-
telligence beaming in them makes us hopeful for the future. I have been
4sked whether the same motto is to be continued by each writer throughout
the year, or whether it is to be changed every two months. The same motto
should be continued throughout the whole year. We will have great difficulty
otherwise in finding out at the close of the year who has done best. Remem-
ber then to keep the same motto from month to month until at least the end
of the ysAT. It has too been whispered in my ear that I should lead on softly
as knowing that the children are tender, and not lay too hard tasks on you.
As I want to interest the youngest as well as those a little older, it has been
resolved to give three sets of questions, the first for those under 10 ; the
second for those under 13 ; and the third for those above that age. The last
two sets will be a continuation of the series already begun, and the first will
be entirely new. I trust that this will so far remove a difficulty that has been
felt in the very little ones being asked to answer the same questions as those
whose education is further advanced. I need not say that any suggestions in
relation to thb matter from parents, ministers, or Sabbath school teachers,
will be most earnestly considered. My desire is to foster a love to the Bible,
sAd to deepen an acquaintance with its teaching among the young, and their
co-operation will be essential to success. The following are the Questions,
aoxwers to which must be sent to me not later than the 1st of June : —
176 PAGES FOR THE YOUNG,
Ukdkb 10.
Tell these five things abont the flood : —
1. Why was it sent ?
2. Who were saved from it ?
3. How were they saved ?
4. When it was over what promise did God make ?
5. What sign did He give that He would not break His promise
Undeb 13.
1. In Exod. iii. 12. God makes a promise to Moses. When was it fulfilled T
2. How did the Israelites spend their last night in Egypt ?
3. Describe the passage of the Red Sea.
4. Prove that Moses was in the habit of calling upon God in his troubles ?
5. What miracles did the Israelites see daily in their march through the
desert ?
Above 13.
Read John x. 1 16.
1. Why does Jesus call Himself the Good Shepherd ?
2. Name some other passages where Grod*s people are described as sheep ?
3. In what respect are they like sheep ?
4. What differences are shewn in the above passage between Elasteni shep-
herds and shepherds in our own country ?
5. Where can we hear the voice of Jesus ? How can we follow Him ?
The answers to the last questions we have selected as among the best are those
of "Violet," Perth, and " Domine da lucera," Kirkcaldy. These are the
answers of '* Violet ** in the Life of Moses : —
1. Hebrews xi. 24. " By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to
be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter ; choosing rather to sufier affliction
with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, &c. "
2. Conscience makes cowards of us alL
3. Because he would be tired and thirsty after his long journey, and would
there meet with the people of the district, who were shepherds, and assembled
at the wells in the evenings to water their flocks.
4. By his dress and by his speech.
5. Instead of being a great man among the Egyptians he had to flee and
take up an occupation that was held in abhorrence by them ; and instead
of being recognised by his brethren as their deliverer he had to go into
obscurity, and learn patience and humility and to depend on God alone.
Correct answers to questions on Life of Moses have been received from —
Boldness, Aberdeen ; Sunrise, Obedience, Truth, Ayr ; Fidelity, Birsay ; Violet,
Carluke ; Hopeful, Carnoustie ; Annie, Coupar- Angus ; Sincerity, Edinburgh ;
Upward, Glasgow ; A Little One, Excelsior, Perth ; Fides, Maggie, Boyd,
Koiram, Stranraer.
And the following are the answers of " Domine da Incem " in the Parables of
Jesus: —
1. (a.) The Pharisees being a self -righteous sect of the Jews, put a high
value in holding this religious ordinance often, in order to draw upon them-
selves the admiration of their fellowmen. (Luke xviii. 12.) — (6) John's
disciples fasted often being Jews (as was John their teacher,) and being pioua
men were accustomed to keep all the forms of their religion.
2. The lesson to be drawn from this parable is, that the Christian or the
PAGES FOR THE YOUNG. 177
Chnrch has great ueed to mourn and fast, when sensibly forsaken of the
presence of Christ, for it is at such seasons that their true love for Christ will
thus show itself naturally.
3. The Parable shows us that it would be unseemly for a Christian to bo
downcast because the teachings of Christ do not harmonize with the teachings
of the world, as he knows that new cloth does not harmonize with ol^.
4. That a Christian cannot contain himself when filled with the Holy Spirit,
but bursts forth into joy, as old bottles being hard and dry, will not expand
with t^e fermeutation of the new wine but burst.
0. Old and New.
Old bottles in, New bottles in,
Mark ii. 22. ' Mark ii. 22.
Luke v. 37. Luke v. 37.
Joshua ix. 4. Joshua iz. 4.
Job zxxii. 19.
Correct answers to questions on the Parables have been received from —
Gleaner, Self -Denial, Aberdeen ; Walk in Love, Arbroath ; My Helper, Ecolier,
Daily Lnproving, Ayr ; W. J., Carluke ; Recinus Communis, Toberdoney ;
Consider the Lilies, Birsay ; Labor vincit omnia. Love, Dundee ; Matthew 6,
33, Hope, Veritas, Glasgow ; For Christ's Crown and Covenant, Hamilton ;
Thought Employed, Olrig ; Zurushaddai, Dolphin, Victory, Perth ; Cherry-
Blosaom, Tertius, Pollokshaws ; Deus est Amor, Love, Mona, God is Love,
Stranraer ; Daisy, Thurso,
COMPANIONS TO THE HEAVENLY WORLD.
" Faith, Hope, Lovb." — 1 Cor. xiii. 13.
Hatino spoken of faith, we are now to consider hope. What a cheery com-
panion this is I It is the opposite of despair. Hope, like a bright angel of
God, has come down from the courts of heaven, to dwell with faith in the
hearts of believers. If faith brings us something, what is hope's mission ?
HOPS KEEPS us UP.
There are some companions very gloomy. Their spirits are low. They are
always looking at the dark side of things. It almost makes your heart sink to
be much in their company. There are other companions who are bright and
cheerful They look at the sunny side of things. This is the way with hope.
Mark then attentively that, hope is the companion who keeps ua up by not letting
M loit heart. We are very apt to get downcast when trouble overtakes as.
Some companions, however bright and cheery they may be at times, lose heart
OQ other occasions. Some great disappointment or trial comes. They let go
thdr hope. They begin to sink into despair. Hope is never like this. It
does not look down, it looks up. It never sinks at heart in the darkest night
or on the stormiest sea. You remember that beautiful picture of the Lord
M
lyS PAGES FOR THE YOUNG.
Jeans walking on the sea of Galilee, over its stormy waves. That is a pictare
of hope's achievements. It can walk over the waves of troable to heaven, and
if you make it your companion this will be your own experience. Hope is like
a life-buoy or life-preserver. When any one falls overboard at sea, those in
the ship who observe it throw a life-preserver, which, if the person in the sea
can lay hold of, will keep him afloat. An interesting lady writer — ^Miss Gordon
Camming — in one of her charming books of travel, tells us, that on a voyage
to Egypt, as the ship was crossing the Bay of Biscay, a young lad fell over-
board. A life-preserver was thrown to him and a boat launched. After the
lap4e of about an hour the life-preserver was found, but no lad. He had sunk,
having failed either to see the life-preserver or to get hold of it. Had he been
able to catch the help thrown him, it would have kept him up and saved him.
Without it he perished. It is similar with ns. We cannot do without Chris-
tian hope — hope in €k>d. If we have this companion we will never sink in
trial in this world, never sink into despair in the day of death, and never sink
at last into the blackness of darkness for ever. When King David was in
trouble he said to himself, "Why art thou cast down, oh my soul? and why
art thou disquieted within me ? hope in God : for I shall yet praise Him, who
is the health of my countenance, and my God." Whatever you are called to
do in life take hope for your companion, and you will never lose heart. Ever
try to be true and good and brave, hoping in €rod, and though yon meet in
with trials you will overcome them alL When Christian and Hopeful were
crossing the river of death, it is noteworthy that Christian was like to give
way to despair, and Hopeful had enough to do to keep his head above the
water. If you are to succeed in life, to brave trials, to serve God on earth,
and to reach heaven at last, you will need Christian hope for your companion.
Again, hope cheers and keeps us up by exciting the expectcUion of blessing from
Ood, Sometime ago a boy was discovered in the street. He was intelligent
but sickly. A gentleman felt drawn to him, and asked what he was doing
there. '* Waitiug for God to come to me," was the boy's answer. " What do
you mean?" said the gentleman, touched by the pathetic tone of the boy's
answer. *' God sent for father and mother and my little brother," said he,
" and took them away to His home in the skies, and mother told me when she
was sick that God would take care of me. I have no home : nobody to give
me anything : so I came here and have been looking up in the sky for God to
come and take care of me, as mother said He would. He will come, wont He ?
Mother never told a lie." ''Yes, my lad," said the gentleman, overcome with
emotion. " He has sent me to take care of you." A bright smile of gladness
and triumph broke over the boy's face, as he said, '* Mother never told me a
lie, sir ; but you have been so long on the way." Was not this a boy who
received from God, when he lost his mother, the bright angel of hope, to he
his companion, and teach him to look up in the expectation of blessing from
above ? How many boys and girls never look up for blessing 1 Too many are
like the man in the iron cage, whom Christian saw in the House of Interpreter.
They are always looking downward. It is dififerent with those who have hope
for their companion. They look up in the expectation of something from God.
Again, hope cheers and keeps up our spirits by teaching us to lir^our expecta-
tions from Ood with His own Word, Hope never says : " Expect things from
God because you have a right. Look up for what you need because it would
not be just in God to deny you." What it teaches rather is to link expecta-
tions with His Word. David learned this lesson when he wrote in the hundred
PAGES FOR THE YOUNG. 179
and oineteenth Paalm, " Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which
thoohut censed me to hope.'* And again, "I hope in thy word.'* When
Chiistian and ^lopefal were in the dungeon of giant Despair, their spirits were
very low. On the Friday evening, after lying three days in that prison, " they
did little but breathe." The giant was greatly enraged that they were not
dead, told them as they had not obeyed him by taking away their life, it
wonld be worse for them than if they had never been born. '* At this they
trembled greatly ; *' poor Christian swooned, and was for taking away his own
life. On Saturday about midnight they began to pray, and prayed till near
"break of day." Then the spirit of Christian, which had been so depressed
before that he oontemplated ending his life, wonderfully revived, and with
great fervour he broke out into these words : "What a fool am I, thus to lie
in a stinking dungeon when I may as well walk at liberty I I have a key in
my bosom called Promise that will, I am persuaded, open any lock in Doubt-
iogCastle." Then said Hopeful. '* That's good news, good brother, pluck it out
of thy bosom and try." This Christian did, and to their joy, door and gate
opened freely, so that they got safely away to the King's highway. This
wonderful key was just the promise of God in His Word. This is what will
bring as help and blessing in our time of need. But how is it that our expecta-
tioDB from Crod's Word are so reliable and therefore cheering ? Because that
Word is trustworthy. You can depend upon its promises. It fits every situa-
tion, and covers all our need. '* Did you ask me if I had a Bible ? " said a poor
old woman in London ; " did you ask me if I had a Bible ? Thank God, I
have a Bible. What should 1 do without my Bible ? It was the guide of my
youth, and it is the staff of my age. It wounded me, and it healed me ; it
condemned me, and it acquitted me. It showed me I was a sinner, and it led
me to the Saviour ; it has given me comfort through life, and I trust it will
gire me hope in death." All the expectations of Christian hope are linked
vith the Divine Word. If you make hope your companion, you will learn the
same habit, and be cheered and sustained thereby.
One other remark — Hopt keeps iu up, hecaust it is a companion which wUl
*ectr make us ashamed. Boys and girls sometimes have companions who
nake them blush in the presence of others. Bad conduct tl^t makes one
whamed often leads to a change of companionship. A little girl, named Lucy,
droTe one day to the railway station to meet her father. He was a very
wealthy man. When the train arrived he was helped out of the compartment
by a porter. '*Take my hand," he said to his little girl waiting his arrival.
But when she looked at him, she covered her face with her hands, and leaped
back into her father's carriage, to hide herself from the gaze of others, ashamed
of a drunken father. His companionship in that state was one she felt disgraced
her. ChristiaD hope is never like that. It is a hope that makcth not ashamed.
It will never bring the blush to your cheek by leading you into sin or anything
at ?ariaoce with the law of God or the spirit of Christ. Nor will it ever fail
yoD. In the PUgrim*s Progress we are told of Vainhope, the ferryman, taking
Ignorance over the river of Death. But there Vainhope failed Ignorance.
Christian hope, however, will abide with you, take you up to and into the
celestial paradise, dwell with you in the King's presence, and ever teach you
to look up to €lod our Saviour for more of His grace and blessing.
l8o PAGES FOR THE YOUNG.
JOHN BRIGflT.
SoMS days ago you might have seen hundreds of people wending their way to
a red brick house that stands near the boundary line dividing Yorkshire from
Lancashire. All were serious and some were sad at heart. They were going
to see John Bright as he lay calmly sleeping his last sleep. When the end of
the week came round, they bore him along to his last resting-place. Thousands
lined the sides of the road as the funeral procession passed along, and all over
our country bells were slowly tolling, and flags were hanging half-mast high.
They buried him in a small grave-yard. As the coffin was carried towards
the grave, you might have seen upon it a wreath sent by Queen Victoria in-
scribed with the words "A Mark of Respect." Why was it that this man
should be so greatly honoured ?
He was a great waJUiT, The ancients used to picture the orator as a man
with chains of gold proceeding from his mouth, by which he led men captive
at his will. Such was John Bright. When he raised his voice amid a multi-
tude of men, and in trumpet tones expressed hb indignation at wrong-doing,
or when in gentle accents he pleaded with them to do the right, every heart
was touched as if by a magic spell, and men felt how mighty was his power.
He was a mtxn of peace. He was a member of the Society of Friends, and
as such he was a lover of peace and good-wilL Many a time when our country
was likely to be plunged into terrible wars he put forth every effort to turn
aside the evil, and persuaded men to put up their swords in their scabbards
again. He was not dazzled by military glory — by red coats, and medals, and
high-sounding titles. He saw the black side of the picture. He saw the
bloodshed. He heard the groans of the wounded, and he was moved by the
agonies of the dying. His kindly heart was touched with sorrow when he
thought of the soldiers perishing with cold and hunger and disease, abroad ;
or of the desolate hearths with their widows and helpless children, at home.
He wished men to settle all their disputes by friendly talking and by yielding
a little on both sides, rather than by murdering one another. He wearied for
the good time to come when men will beat their swords into ploughshares,
and their spears into pruning-hooks.
He was a man who obeyed his conscience. He was not always in the right.
No one is. But if he thought duty pointed along a certain path nothing
would turn him aside from that way. He was sometimes insulted and jeered
at. His effigy was burned in the city streets. But he did not mind these
things, if he thought he was on the right side. During the great war in
America, when the Northern States were fighting against the Southern he
knew that if the North gained, the trade by which he was making his money
might be ruined. But that did not affect his conduct. He felt that slavery
was a curse, and he did all he could to help the North in its struggles for the
freedom of the wretched slaves, though their liberty might ruin him.
He was a man who loved the common people. Among the Romans the
common people used to choose a man who appeared in their stead and fought
for their rights against the tyranny and oppression of the upper classes.
Such a man was called a Tribune. John Bright was often called by that
name, and well he deserved it. Wherever he saw the poor being oppressed
by the rich, or the helpless crushed by the mighty, he stood forth as their
champion. Then he could fight, and fight bravely.
He was a humble man. Had yon met him by the wayside dressed in his
quiet simple manner, had you seen his house where all was plain and without
LITERATURE. l8l
gaudy show, or had you seen the small meeting-honse, with its nncushioned
seats, where be went to worship God, you would not have believed that this
vu the man a nation delighted to honour. Not long ago when a place of
hoDoar was pressed upon him, he refused it, saying, as the Shnnammite woman
long ago said to EHsha when a place of power was offered her, *' I dwell among
mine own people."
John Bright was an orator ; he was a man of peace ; he was a man who
obeyed his conscience ; he was a friend of the common people ; and he was a
bnmble man. Be like him. You cannot all be great orators ; that is the gift
of God. Bat yon can try to follow peace with all men. You can be friends
of the poor and the helpless. You can listen more attentively to the voice of
yoar conscience within you, and be more obedient to its call. And you can
remember carefully the words of the wise man, " Before honour is humility."
%XttX:0ilXiXt.
'^For the present sore and ulcerated condition of the Church, with
many marked defects and perilous tendencies, nothing but a new
effusion of the Spirit will avail. Many of these tendencies would be
itt once obviated bj the efficacious presence of the Spirit. Of many
currents which might be enumerated, the following three might be
named, which all too plainly argue a want of the Spirit's power — viz.,
irreverent criticism of Scripture, sensuous ritualism, and spasmodic
eforts put forth to produce by human appliances what can only be
effected by the Holy Spirit : —
" I. As to the bold criticism of Scripture, proceeding as it does on
a denial of its inspiration by the Spirit, it has no significance and no
attractions for a mind that has personally come under the super-
natural and regenerating operations of the Spirit. Such a mind
accepts on sufficient evidence without difficulty all the divine facts
uid prophecies — in other words, all the miracles of power and
knowledge — with which Scripture is replete, but which the higher
criticism, starting from a philosophy opposed to the supernatural,
exerts itself to the utmost to explode.
"II. As to the wide-spread Ritualism, it springs from a desire to
substitute something sensuous for that which constitutes the true
charm and glory of all religious ordinances — the presence and power
of the Holy Spirit. It betrays an unrest, a want which the ritualist
bows not how to relieve. To a mind replenished with the Holy
Spirit, ritualistic elements have no interest or attraction.
" III. With regard to the spasmodic efforts to awaken by human
appliances a religious interest in the minds of others, we must dis-
tingoish two things that differ. There is, on the one hand, a noble
fSTifal spirit, burning with a pure and steady flame, which is kindled
^d kept alive in proportion as the Holy Spirit inhabits and quickens
1 82 LITERATURE.
the Christian heart to sustained and strenuous efforts for the salvsr
tion of others. It springs from the Spirit of grace, it leads to de-
pendence on the Spirit's supernatural operations ; and they who
cherish it never forget that success is not by might nor by power, but
by the Spirit of the Lord. But, on the other hand, there is effort of
a different sort — spasmodic and fitful, from self and for self,
arguing impatience at the slow progress of the kingdom of God, and
prompting measures of the earth earthy. Impure and of a mixed
character, it burns itself out, and is succeeded by despondency, ex-
haustion, and dissatisfaction. Wholly different are those efforts
which are kindled by the Spirit, and done in the strength of the
Spirit. The effects are blessed and abiding to the glory of the Spirit's
power and grace.''
These seasonable and weighty words are taken from the admirable
work, The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit, by Professor Smeaton of the New
College, Edinbuigh. (T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh.) It is the second
edition that now lies before us, and a melancholy interest attaches to
it on account of the fact that since it was issued its scholarly and
saintly author has passed away to his eternal rest. The legacy to
the Christian Church which he has left behind him in this, and in a
kindred work on the Atonement, is one by which its theological
literature has been greatly enriched. They are books that will live,
for not only do they give the fruits of extensive research and learning,
but bear the marks of deep experimental piety. This treatise on the
Holy Spirit is masterly in its grasp of the various parts of the
doctrinal field traversed, in its insight into the bearing of the truth
upon various theories brought forward in ancient and modem times,
and in its power of exposition. The body of the work is the same as
in the former edition, but additions have been interspersed here and
there to give clearness and fulness to some points. The subject is
discussed in a threefold way — exegetically, in the testimony to the
person and work of the Holy Spirit furnished in the Bible being
clearly exhibited ; dogmatically , in the doctrine as held by the Church
being very fully and ably presented ; historically, giving a most in-
teresting history of the doctrine from the Apostolic age down to the
present time, and the controversies that have raged around it. It is
ftOTn this last portion we have taken the extract already given to our
readers, and from it we would enrich our pages with two others,
beariug on modem tendencies. In discussing very acutely the
opinions of Schleiermacher and the school which he founded, the
place of judge given to the Christian consciousness is referred to. It
is pointed out that too narrow and inadequate a view is taken of this
Christian consciousness.
If the ChriBtian conaciousness were definitely understood to be the senti-
ment of regenerate men, inhabited by the personal Holy Spirit, it would be
entitled to some measure of respect. It would have much in common with
Edward's treatise on the Religious Affections, or with the subjective
spirituality of the Puritans. As it is, it is natural feeling in many cases, not
spiritual feeling : a mere public sentiment, wide enough to take in the con-
LITERATURE. 1 83
edoiiaiess of any man who ia not an atheist — a Strauss or Renan. It does not
preenppoae regeneration by the Spirit. The Bible does not regulate this
Christian consciousness, but conversely ; the latter is used as the judge and
arbiter of the Bible.
In speaking of Brethrenism and its literature on the work of the
Holy Spirit^ while acknowledging that many excellent things are
found in it, on the distinction between Christ's work for us and the
Spirit's work in us, he states that there are three points where their
ductrinal views on the Spirit are mischievous to the last degree.
1. They have very much resuscitated the Cocceian notion as to the alleged
lov platform of the Old Testament saints. Th^y represent them all as
burdened and fettered by the spirit of bondage, till one hardly sees where
t[niitaality remains. They thus come to divide the Church which was one
from the days of Abel into two.
2. They make a presumptuous claim to be in their assemblies under the pre-
sidency (rf the Holy Ghost, as they phrase it, and, accordingly, they venture to
cany out the decrees and resolutions come to under this imagination with a
confidence little less than Apostolic.
3. They take exception to what most other Churches, not swamped by
ritoaliam, have always regarded as one of the most important and blessed
duties — to prayer for tJie Holy Ghost The Church of God in all ages, accord-
iDg to the most explicit Scripture examples, the Greek Church, the Roman
Church, and the Protestant Churches, in the exercise of a deep Christian instinct,
have invocated the Holy Ghost, and expected larger and larger supplies and
communications ; and they grieve for and confess their sin in not having more
implored His help and presence. This sect, by an obvious misinterpretation
of Scripture, objects to the practice of praying for the Spirit, because forsooth
He was given at Pentecost.
There are many other points touched on of present-day interest regard-
ing which we might desire to give the well-balanced views here ex-
pressed, but our space forbids. The conclusion drawn from the
historical sketch to which we have already alluded needs to be deeply
pondered. It is that without a full testimony to the divine per-
sonality and agency of the Holy Spirit, no blessing can be expected
on the ministrations of any Church.
A knowledge of the history of the Jewish nation between the close
of the Old Testament canon and the birth of Christ helps to a better
understanding of many things in the New Testament Scriptures.
That state of society among the Jews in which Christianity foimd its
startmg-point was the outcome of the struggles through which it had
passed in preceding centuries. Many works have been written on
this interesting period of Jewish history from Prideaux and Shuckford
downward, but they have been rather formidable for any but those
•who had time to devote to the study. The last issue of the series of
Bible Class Primers, issued under the editorial care of Professor
Salmond, Aberdeen, takes it up and deals with it in a very interesting,
lucid, and thorough manner. Historical Connection between th
Old and Sew Testaments, by the Rev. John Skinner, M.A., Kels
184 LITERATURE.
(T. <k T. Clark, Edinburgh.) We have five chapters, each one giving
a succinct and clear view of the history of Jewish people under the
successive masters — ^the Persians, the Greeks, the Maccabees, the
Asmonoeans, the JElomans — that ruled over them during the whole of
this period. The origin and subsequent development of the various
parties, political and religious, into which society became divided, are
traced, and the part which they played very ably presented. Many
will be thankful for such a valuable help in guiding a Bible class over
this fruitful and intensely interesting period of Jewish history. Mr.
Skinner is right in seeing in the Sadducees the prototypes of our
modem secular politicians.
The Sadducees held, like some more modern politicians, that the law of
God had no application to politics. If Israel was to be made great and pro-
sperous it must be by well-filled treasuries, strong armies, skilful diplomacy^
and all the resources of human statecraft. God had left all such matters to
human sagacity, and to expect a (^vine deliverance merely by making the
people holy, they accounted sheer and dangerous fatalism. Their religious
position was little more than a protest against the extreme demands which the
Pharasaic system made on faith and conduct. They rejected the entire mass
of scribe-made law, acknowledging only the authority of the written word.
To the Messianic hope they were profoundly indifferent. They denied the
doctrine of the resurrection, avowedly because it was not contained in the
Scriptures, but really because they had no need for it. They were men of the
world, whose thoughts and aims were confined to the present life, and they
had no interest in a spiritual world or a life beyond the grave.
One of the earliest " trumpet notes," on the new war of overtures
and speeches over the Confession of Faith with which we are
threatened, has been recently given forth by the Rev. John M'Ewan,
Edinburgh, in his pamphlet — The New Movement in the Free Church :
its Origin, Nature, and Danger (Jkmes Gemmell). It is the sub-
stance of what was delivered by him in his Presbytery, when moviug
the rejection of Professor Blaikie's overture for some change in the
Confession or modification in the terms of the formula. Defeated by
a small majority, Mr. M'Ewan has done well to give his excellent
speech in this form to the public, that they may have the opportunity
of judging of this " new movement '' in the light in which it is here
presented. It contains a calm, judicious statement of the very
serious question that is being raised, and sets forth the grounds 011
which its agitation oxight to be opposed by all who are satisfied with
our time-honoured Confession as it stands, and who desire to see their
Church served only by men who can honestly accept it as the con-
fession of their faith, and not by those whose loudly-proclaimed
" loyalty " to their Church is so curiously shown in dissatisfaction
with the Church's creed. As Mr. M'Ewan observes, '* it is indeed an
ominous thing for the Free Church that a Professor in each of her three
colleges should be found taking the lead in this assault on her Con-
fession of Faith." These men were appointed and have solemnly
promised to maintain and teach the whole doctrine of the Confession^
LITERATURE. I 85
and if in place of loyally doing this they are in any way assailing that
Confession, then they are plainly breaking faith with the Church and
ought to be called to account without delay. But if such unfaithful
procedure on the part of her Professors can be tolerated by the Church,
then there need be no wonder at the appearance of such overtures aa
that so Tigorously opposed in this trenchant pamphlet. We observe
that near the end the writer says : " There seems to us only one
ground of hope, and our hope is in the people." It is well to have
such a hope, but there is surer ground of confidence than this, for
"the people," bs well as ''the leaders/' are but men. It is iu the
erer-living God of Truth, who loves His own cause and has the hearts
of all in His hand, that hope must be reposed in all contendings for
'Hhe faith once delivered to the saints." And it would not have
been out of place to have emphasised this at the conclusion of such a
speech, for is not the lesson being everywhere painfully taught —
" Cease ye from man " 1
The Glasgow Sabbath School Union is an institution that has shown,
and is still showing, commendable energy in seeking to raise Sabbath
school teachers to a high level of fitness for their important work, in-
tellectually and spiritually. The February number of the Magazine
issued by it (John M'Callum <fe Co., Buchanan Street, Glasgow) has
been sent to us, and we are pleased to learn that such an excellent
periodical has an extensive circulation. The Notes on the lessons are
Tery carefully prepared, and must prove very helpful to those con-
sulting them.
Tenacity of conviction is a good quality when the conviction
is well grounded^ but when it lacks this basis it cannot be so
highly commended. Mr. J*. Johnstone of Edinburgh firmly abides
by his interpretation of the '^ mystery " spoken of in the Pauline
Epistles, although he feels that he is almdst, if not altogether, alone
in this view. He has published two supplements to the second
edition of his book dealing with this subject, entitled The Words
"Hdy ApastUa" in Efhe»ian$ Hi, S, and About the Type and Anti-
type, There are some good things in these pamphlets, as there are in
all that Mr. Johnstone writes, but the main position they are meant
to buttress is not worth all the labour he is bestowing upon it. The
discussion about the strict meaning of the words Type and Antitype
seems to us to partake very much of the nature of a quibble. We
could wish to see the undoubted gifts the author possesses devoted to
more useful labour.
The Presbyterian Review for April maintains its character for
solidity and ability. An excellent article, which all preachers should
ponder, puts very clearly The Differences between the Oratorical and
Rketorieal Styles. The discussion of Woman's position and work in
the Church in one of the articles, and in an Editorial Note by Pro-
fessor Warfield, shows the worthlessness of many current views when
brought to the test of Scripture and common sense. The reviews of
current literature are done with great care and judgment.
1 86 OUR FOREIGN MISSION.
OUR FOREIGN MISSION.
Wb have much pleasure in reporting that the Rev. George Anderson,
Mrs. Anderson and their three children arrived safely in Scotland on
Thursday the 1 8th April, after a pleasant and rapid passage from
Bombay to Marseilles. There they left the vessel and proceeded per
rail through France, and thence homeward by the ordinary route.
Mr.* Anderson was able to assist at the communion services in Bed-
ford Street Church, Glasgow, on the first Sabbath after his arrival,
and doubtless he would enjoy such a privilege in the company of
brethren from whom he had been separated for a number of years,
and amid the outward decorum and quietness observable in the great
city, and the early associations connected with the day of rest. It
will be observed from the cover of the Magazine that Mr. Anderson
has received regular appointments during the next two months, and
will have the opportunity of letting his voice be heard in a number
of our congregations on the great themes which the servant of Christ
is commissioned to unfold, and on the paramount duty of the Church
to press forward in active effort for the evangelisation of the heathen
world. Meanwhile Mr. Blakely, assisted by our excellent Catechist,
will carry on the regular Sabbath-day services in our Church at
Seoni, and prosecute the educational and evangelistic work as far as
they are enabled. Mrs. Blakely will also have abundance of employ-
ment in connection with the Orphanage, Girls' School and Zenana
Work. Let the members of the Church at home strengthen their
hands, and encourage their hearts by earnest and continuous prayer
under God, that He would grant them all needed wisdom and guid-
ance, and greatly bless their labours.
We gladly transcribe the following extract from an address de-
livered by Mr. Fraser, one of the Commissioners of the Central Pro-
vinces of India, when laying the cornerstone of Mission Buildings at
Jabulpore, connected with a section of the American Church. Mr.
Fraser said: — ''As an administrator I am bound to neutrality in
matters of religion, so far as the relations of the Government with the
native population are concerned. But as an individual, I am at
liberty to express my sympathy with all non-political movements of
which my judgment approves. In my experience, those who deprecate
mission work are generally people who know nothing about it.
Ignorance is the distinguishing characteristic of the ordinary despiser
of missions, at home and abroad. There are, no doubt, however,
critics who take more pains, and still arrive at unfavourable con-
clusions. We must not refuse to listen when these men point out
what may be weak spots in our armour ; and if we may learn from
our enemies we certainly may do so from those who style themselves
OUR FOREIGN MISSION. 1 87
oar friends. For the rest^ however, I detect in most of the criticism
of these so-called candid friends a one-sidedness of view, and a
certain absence of sympathetic touch, which would in any other
sphere of thought, stamp them as quite unfit for critical function.
If defects exist, it is easy to remedy them. There is nothing in
Christianity detrimental to accuracy, either in accounts or statistics.
It may be that direct results in the shape of conversions and
baptisms are not so startling as the Church at home would like
to see them. But this is only a superficial estimate of the situation.
No man who studies India with a seeing eye can fail to perceive
that the indirect results of missionary enterprise, if it suits you
so to call them, are, to say the least, pregnant with promise. The
Dagon of heathenism is being undermined on all sides. To the
careless bystanders the image may loom as yet intact in all its
ghostish monstrosity ; but its doom, we know, is written, and great
will be its fall I have often given it as my opinion that ere many
yeans are over we shall have in India a great religious upheaval.
The leaven of Western thought and the leaven of Christianity to-
gether are working on the inert heap of dead and fetid super-
stitions, and by processes which cannot always be closely traced are
spreading a regenerating ferment through the mass which must in
time burst open the cerements that now enshroud the Indian mind.
It may not be in our time. It may not be in the time of our im-
mediate successors. But it will he, when He sees fit with whom
a thousand years are as one day. My own belief is that it will be
sooner than the world or even canons of the Church suppose.
What the Indian Church of the future will be, by what organiza-
tion governed, to what precise creeds affiliated, I, for my part, do not
pretend to foresee. It is being hewn out now by many hands,
furnished from many countries. But the main burden of the grow-
ing work must erelong be taken up by the children of the Indian
^U. It is not beyond the bounds of possibility that the native
Church may in time produce its own apostle, destined to lead his
countrymen in myriads to the feet of Christ. The story of Buddha
may renew itself within its pale."
Just on the eve of going to press, a most interesting letter for the
young from Mrs. Blt^ely, Seoni, has reached us. It is dated 9th
April, and gives a very vivid picture of the Orphanage and the Girls*
School We are sorry to be under the necessity of holding it over.
Its donng words however we give now : — '' Let me remind all friends
of the Mission that my hushand and I are in a very trying position
at present. We have such an imperfect knowledge of the language,
and besides all the people seem to be trying us, to see whether they
are to have all their way, or if we are to have ours. . .' . We do
need your prayers. Pray that we may have special wisdom given to
OS for our peculiar difficulties at present."
1 88 ECCLESIASTICAL INTELLIGENCE.
d^ulzBtaBtic^l InttiUqtnct.
Induction at Drohore, Ireland. — The services in connection with
the induction of the Kev. Edward White into the pastoral over-sight
of the Original Secession congregation of Dromore, Macosquin, were
held on Wednesday. The congregation had been for the rather
lengthened period of eight years without a pastor, and the members-
deserve no small credit far having held together during the protracted
vacancy. The last minister was the Rev. James Patrick, who was
translated to Carnoustie. Rev. Edward White, the new pastor,
received a unanimous call from the congregation. At that time he
was settled in Kirriemuir, in the O.S. Presbytery of Perth, and pre-
viously he had been labouring successfully in the mission field in
India, from which he was obliged to retire owing to the ill-health of
his wife. We heartily join iii welcoming Rev. Mr. White to this
district, and we are sure the Dromore people will have no cause to
regret their choice. At the induction services the following ministers
were present : — Rev. John Robertson, Ayr (Moderator) ; Rev. Andrew
Miller, Kirkintilloch ; Rev Alexander Smellie, M.A., Stranraer ; Rev.
W. W. Spiers, Darvel, Ayrshire ; and Rev. John Moody, B.A., Board-
mills, Lisbum. There was a large attendance of the members of
the congregation, the following ministers being also present : — ^Rev.
D. Mair, M.A., Killaig ; Rev. James B. Houston, Aghadowey ; Rev.
James Smyth, Crossgar; and Rev. F. Torrens, B.A., Macosquin.
The services were opened by Rev. Mr. Spiers, and afterwards Rev.
Mr. Robertson preached an excellent sermon from Deuteronomy,
thirty-third chapter, and 29th verse. Rev. Andrew Miller clearly
and ably defended the Presbyterian system of Church Government ;
Rev. Mr. Robertson put the questions to Rev. Edward White, who
was then set apart to the duties of the ministry in Dromore. Rev.
Mr. Smellie delivered an eloquent and impressive chaise to the
minister and people ; and the services were brought to a close by
Rev. John Moody, B.A. At the conclusion of the services the people
had an opportimity, of which they gladly availed themselves, of
welcoming their new pastor. In the evening a social meeting was
held in the church, which was crowded. The chair was occupied by
the Rev. A. Miller, Kirkintilloch, and after tea had been partaken of,
addresses were delivered by him, the newly inducted pastor, Mr.
White, the Rev. Messrs. Mair, Killaig; Moore, Ringrend; Lynd,
Bally laggin; Smith, Crossgar; Smellie, Stranraer; Moodie, Board-
mills ; Spiers, Darvel ; and Robertson, Ayr. The interesting meeting
was brought to a close by praise and the benediction. — From the
Coleratne Chronicle, Mr. White was introduced to his new charge
on the following Sabbath by the Rev. A. Smellie, Stranraer.
We heartily congratulate our friends at Dromore on this auspicious
settlement of Mr. White in the midst of them, after their lengthened
vacancy. Again their eyes behold their teacher, and it is our con-
fident hope as well as earnest prayer that the ministry begun in
■such happy circumstances will prove a very fruitful one.
ECCLESIASTICAL INTELLIGENCE. 1 89
Induction at Kilwinning. — The Presbytery of Ayr met at Kil-
winning on Wednesday, April 17th, for the purpose of inducting the
£eT. Thomas Matthew, formerly of Midlem, to the pastoral charge
of the congregation there. The members of Presbytery present were
the Bey. Me8sr& Robertson, Ayr ; Spence, Auchinleck ; Spiera,
Dairel ; D. Matthew, Toberdoney ; and Smellie, Stranraer. Along
with these there were present- Mr. Hobart, Carluke; Mr. Gardiner,
PoUokshaws ; Mr. Mackay, Bridgeton ; Mr. Miller, Kirkintilloch ;
and Mr. K Ritchie, Paisley. Mr. Hobart conducted the opening
services in the church. Mr. Spiers preached from Matt. zxi. 28,
" Son, go work to-day in My vineyard." Mr. Robertson stated the
steps of procedure, put the questions of the formula, and offered up
the induction prayer. Professor Spence delivered a beautiful and
impressive address to pastor and people, founded on the account
giren in Isaiah vi. of the angelic life. And Mr. Mackay closed the
serrices with praise and prayer. In the afternoon dinner was served
in the Manse to the Presbytery and its friends, a pleasant feature of
the proceedings being the presentation of a handsome gift to Professor
Spence, who had acted as Moderator of the Session during the
Tacancy. In the evening there was a large social meeting in the
Temperance Hall, with Mr. Gardiner in the chair, at which a number
of suitable and interesting addresses were delivered. Among the
speakers were the Rev. Messrs. Ker, Taylor, and Russell, ministers of
other churches in the town, who extended a most cordial welcome to
Mr. Matthew, and who ^poke at the same time in high and hearty
terms of the late minister of Kilwinning. Mr. Matthew was intro-
duced to his new charge on Sabbath, April 21st, by the Rev. John
Sturrock of Eldinburgh.
It is our earnest hope that great good may flow to the Kilwinning
congregation, and great glory come to Christ, from the new tie
formed between pastor and people — that Mr. Matthew may carry
with him to this fresh sphere of labour " the fulness of the blessing
of the Gospel of Christ."
We are pleased to learn that previous to leaving Midlem, Mr.
Matthew received two separate testimonials (in money), both of
considerable value — one from the managers of the congregation, and
another from friends outside who wished to express their kindly
feelings towards him and their appreciation of his character and
labours. Mrs. Matthew also received a beautiful hand-bag from the
children connected with the Sabbath School.
Abbboath. — On the second Sabbath of March last, special services
were held in the church here in connection with the twentieth
anoiTersary of Mr. Stirling's pastorate. Mr. Gardiner of PoUokshaws
oonipied the pulpit during the day and at night, and delivered three
most suitable and excellent discourses. On the Monday evening follow-
ing, a social meeting of the congregation was held in the Panmure Hall,
the Bev. Mr. Stirling presiding. After tea, the Chairman made a very
interesting statement, reviewing his twenty year's work in Arbroath.
When he was ordained the membership was but 53 : at present it
vas nearly four times that number. Interesting addresses were
190 ECCLESIASTICAL INTELUGENCE.
afterwards delivered by the Eev. J. Patrick, Carnoustie : the Rev.
W.],B. Gardiner, PoUokshaws ; the Rev. R. Morton, Perth ; and Mr.
D. Finlajson, Probationer. A class under the skilled guidance of
Mr. Reid, the preeentor, rendered some pieces of music vexy taste-
fully during the course of the evening.
Ayr. — The annual social meeting in connection with the Home
Mission and Sabbath School carried on by the Original Secession
Church, was held on Tuesday evening, 5th March. Rev. John
Robertson presided, and was accompanied to the platform by Rev.
Mr. M^Vicar, Dundee ; Rev. Mr. Ritchie, Paisley ; Mr. M'Donald,
missionary, Ayr; Mr. A. S. Taylor, and Mr. John Milligan. The
hall was filled to its utmost capacity. After tea, interesting
addresses were given by the chairman, and Messrs M 'Vicar,
Ritchie, and McDonald. Praise engaged in by the audience
was suitably interspersed. After votes of thanks were proposed to
the speakers by Mr. A. G. Anderson, the Ladies' Committee by Mr.
R. Cuthbert, the managers of the Wooden Church for free use of
same by Mr. G. T. Cowieson, and the chairman by Mr. A. S. Taylor,
the meeting was closed with praise and prayer.
Bridqbton, Glasgow. — The annual business meeting of the " Home
Circle '' in connection with this congregation was held on the evening
of Tuesday, 19th March, in the small hall beneath the church. Mr.
J. Robertson, president^ in the chair. The reports submitted showed
that the past session had been a most successful one — the average
attendance being 32. The income for the session had been £4 78. 9^.,
and the expenditure £2 16s. 6d., leaving a balance of £1 lis. 3^.,
and of this sum XI 10& was voted to charitable purposes. After the
office-bearers for next session were duly appointed the meeting was
brought to a close. On the following Tuesday, 26th March, a social
meeting was held in connection with this prosperous and vigorous
association. The genial Hon. President, the Rev. J. M*Eay, occupied
the chair, and after tea able and interesting addresses were delivered
by the chairman, Messrs. James Robertson, James Conn, Samuel
Bell, John Allan, W. Anderson. A splendid programme of readings,
recitations, and music enhanced the pleasures of the meeting.
Darvbl. — ^Anniversary services were held in connection with the
0. S. Church on Sabbath, March 17 th. The Rev. Peter M* Vicar
preached in the forenoon and evening ; Rev. W. W. Spiers in the
afternoon. The attendance at all the diets was good ; in the evening
the church was crowded. The collection in aid of the manse build-
ing fund amounted in aU to the sum of £58. — On Monday evening
the congregational soiree was held in the church, which was filled by
the company that assembled. The Rev. W. W. Spiers presided.
Excellent and suitable addresses were given by the Rev. W. B.
Gardiner; Rev. P. M'Vicar; Rev. E. Ritchie, Paisley; Rev. J. D.
Robertson, U.P. Church, Darvel ; Mr. Laird, Kilmarnock ; Mr.
Hunter, Kilmarnock ; and Mr. G. Cowieson, Ayr. Several pieces
were well rendered by a class under the leadership of Mr. James
Craig. The meeting, which seemed to be enjoyed by all, was, after
the usual votes of thanks, closed with the benediction.
ECCLESIASTICAL INTELLIGENCE. I9I
Glasgow. — ^The eighth annual conversazione of the Original Seces-
sion Church literary Association was held in Mains Street Church
Hall on the evening of Thursday, 2l8t March last The Rev.
Ebenczer Ritchie, Paisley, Honorary President, occupied the chair.
There was a fair turn-out of members and other ladies and gentlemen
interested in the Association — the audience numbering about one
hundred and ten. In the course of the evening the Secretary read
bis annual report^ which gave an account of a fairly success-
ful season. William Martin, Esq., Glasgow, addressed the meet-
ing on "The Influence of Literature on Life.'' Several readings
were given, and various pieces of music rendered during the evening.
The usual votes of thanks were given at the close.
Ejlmarnook. — At a very successful social meeting of the congrega-
tion and Sabbath school here, held on the evening of April 1st, Mr.
Laird was presented with a valuable silver watch, and Mrs. Laird
with a beautiful large-type Bible, as a mark of esteem.
Paisley. — The Bazaar Committee have much pleasure in intimating
that the total drawings at the bazaar in aid of the building fund
amounted to X883. They desire most cordially to express their
thanks to all who in any way helped te bring about so good a result.
A quantity of work still remains unsold. The Committee cannot
refrain from expressing their thanks to Messrs. J. k R. Parlane, pub-
lishers, Paisley, who kindly did all the printing work free of charge.
The congregation are now in possession of a site which has cost £670,
and have to their credit £675 as nucleus of a building fund.
Sabhaih School Soiree, --On the 11th January, this Sabbath School
held its annual soiree. The hall was quite filled. Rev. E. Ritchie
occupied the chair. Tea being served, a very interesting programme
was gone over — ^teachers and scholars taking part. Addresses were
delivered by Mr. Ritchie, and Rev. Messrs. Wilson and Farquhar,
Paisley. At the close of the evening, Mr. David Begg, junior, in ful-
filment of a promise made at a similar meeting last year, distributed
a laige number of prizes to those scholars who had not been absent
more than three times during the year. This promise of prizes, we
are glad to know, has been renewed by Mr. Begg for another year.
The Sabbath School is in a satisfactory and encouraging condition.
BtbU Clcuses. — On Friday, 1st February, the young men and women
in attendance on the Bible Classes were entertained to tea by their
teacher, Mr. R. B. Parlane, in the hall of the Liberal Club. Mr.
Parlane occupied the chair, and delivered a very earnest address to
those present, who numbered about 180 persons. Each member of
class had the privilege of bringing one friend. Addresses of a
^erj interesting and instructive character were delivered by Sir
John Neilson Cuthbertson, Glasgow ; Rev. Mr. Gardiner, Pollok-
shaws ; Mr. Morton, Perth ; and by Mr. Ritchie ; also Messrs. D.
Begg, senior, and James Parlane. The evening was much enjoyed.
Congregoitumal Soiree. — ^On Friday evening, 22d inst., the con-
gr^ational soiree was held in their usual place of meeting — hall
of Liberal Club. About 200 were present. Rev. £. Ritchie occupied
the chair, and was supported by Rev. Dr. Henderson, Rev. J. Crouch,
192 KCCLESIASTIC4L INTELLIGENCE.
and Rev. T. Hobart (Carluke), and Messrs. David Begg, James Par-
lane, and R. B. Parlane. After praise, and a blessing having been
asked, a very substantial tea was partaken of. The Chairman, in his
opening remarks, stated that he was glad to see so many on this the
fourth birthday of the congregation. He felt that God had prospered
them in the past, and if they remained faithful and true to Him their
prosperity would be still greater. Most instructive addresses were
afterwards delivered by the Rev. Dr. Henderson, Mr. Cr&uch, and
Mr. Hobart. The meeting was very enjoyable, and was much
enlivened by the singing of several pieces by the Sabbath school
teachers and a few friends. After the customary votes of thanks
had been given, the meeting closed with the benediction. ^
Thitrso. — The annual social meeting in connection with the
Sabbath School was held in the Rose Street School on the evening
of Thuirsday, 21st March. The chair was occupied by the Rev. C.
S. Findlay. After tea, the secretary, Mr. Angus Macdonald, read a
report of the work of the past year which showed that the school
was continuing in a fairly prosperous condition. The chairman then
addressed the meeting, followed in the course of the evening by the
Rev. Mr. Stewart^ Castletown, Messrs. David Coghill, and John
Waters. A new feature of the evening's proceedings was a number
of well-rendered recitations, and pieces of music given by the children.
A vote of thanks to those who had contributed to the evening's
enjoyment, moved by Mr. John Shearer, brought a pleasant and
highly successful meeting to a close.
Honour to one op our Students. — It will be pleasing to our
readers to learn that Mr. James Patrick, the son of the respected
minister of Carnoustie, has graduated as M.A. at St. Andrews
University with first class honours in Classics, and in addition has
received the title of B. Sc. We congratulate him on this success
achieved in his studies in the Arts and in Science.
EDITORIAL NOTK
The obituary notice of the late Mr. William M*Conaghy, Toberdoney,
reached us too late for insertion in the present number. We may be
allowed to remind ministers and others who send notices of meetings,
that the 21st day of the month preceding issue is the latest at which
arrangements can be easily made for their insertion.
THE
ORIGINAL SECESSION MAGAZINE
JULY, 1889.
PREFATORY NOTE.
Os account of the lateness of the Synod meeting it has been thought
ad?isable, not to have an extra number of the Magazine this year,
but to issue the July number a little earlier, and to give in it an
account of the Synod proceedings, and the various reports that were
submitted to it. These have taken up so much space, that other
material could not be inserted without making it too bulky. The
past meeting of Synod was a very pleasant and encouraging one, and
>re are sure that the clear and detailed narrative of its proceedings,
famished by our busy clerk, will be read with interest and profit. It
7ill be noticed that so great was the harmony prevailing that not a
single division was taken from the beginning to the end of the pro-
ceedings. Along with firm adherence to the Scriptural position which
as a church we occupy,there was evinced a strong desire for more aggres-
sive Christian work. This key-note was struck in the excellent opening
address of the moderator — which we had once hoped to give to our
readers in this number but which we have been compelled to reserve
until September — and was maintained throughout. We entirely
sympathise with the sentiment that there is nothing in our distinctive
principles in the most remote degree antagonistic to such work, but
much in them to incite us to it, and to give us good grounds to ex-
pect the divine blessing in the doing of it. At the present time when
everywhere around us there is a loosening of the bonds of adherence
to truth, there is an urgent call to be stedfast and immovable, but we
must take care that we do no injury to the truth we hold fast, by
acting as if it were for ourselves only, and not a mighty instrument
put into our hands wherewith to seek the highest welfare of others.
The •* Pages for the Young " will be found at the end of this
number. The success with which the new department of the Magazine
has been attended, has been very gratifying, and we earnestly be-
speak the active interest of ministers, parents, and Sabbath school
teachers, in maintaining it and increasing its usefulness. We are
sorry that our young friends who have been busy with their collecting
Cirds and. boxes during the past year, will not see their names in this
number, but if they look out in September they will not fail to find
ibem.
NO. IV. VOL. XIX. N NEW SERIES.
194 RECENT SYNODS AND ASSEMBLIES.
NOTES ON RECENT SYNODS AND ASSEMBLIES.
Thb currents of religious thought aud feeling in the communitj
make themselves more than usually manifest in the supreme courts
of the various churches at their annual gatherings. If we are to
possess an understanding of the times, and to know what Israel
ought to do, we must make a careful and prayerful study of them.
The task is a difficult, and in some respects, a delicate one, and when
it falls to be done by the same hand year after year much freshness
in view-points, and in the treatment of subjects, can hardly be ex-
pected. The meetings of the yarious Synods and Assemlilies con-
nected with the different branches of the Presbyterian Church in
these lands have just been held, and in essaying a brief review of
their proceedings our aim would be to give as fair and accurate a
view of the position of each church as possible. We may refer first
to their
Aggressive Work.
at home. The success attending this may be tested by the increase
in the membership of the different churches. If they ax'e holding
those already within their fold, and making inroads upon the home
heathenism around them, then there is bound to be numerical in-
crease. Viewed in this light the progress that has been made, as
presented in the various reports on statistics, can hardly be regarded
as satisfactory, or as evidencing great aggressive power. It may be
tabulated as follows :
1887
1888
Increase.
Engli8h Presbyterian Church
62,566
63,830
1,264
United Presbyterian Church
182,170
182,963
793
Free Church
333,098
336,335
3,237
Established Church
579,002
581,56s
2,566
Total Increase, 7,860
Now, when we think of the number of agencies that have been
at work, the result, it may be confessed, is rather saddening. Even
taking into account the draining of congregations in some quarters
by emigration, an increase of less than 8,000 in a Christian com-
munity of over 2,000,000, does not, in the face of it, bear witness to
a vigorous spiritual life. The churches, if we may judge from such
statistics, are doing no more than holding their own, if they are even
accomplishing that. One encouraging feature is that the burden ot
home heathenism is being more keenly felt by the conscience of the
churches. Earnest investigation is being made into the causes of it,
and the best remedies for its removal. Discussions on the topic
occupy a prominent place in the proceedings of the various supreme
courts. The relation of the churches to the young, and the duty of
so caring for them that they may be retained and trained for active
Christian service, are matters far more emphasised than they were
wont to be. Numerous Home Mission agencies are in operation, and
their work in many ways fostered and encouraged. A more accurate
RECENT SYNODS AND ASSEMBLIES. 195
estimate of the task lying at the Church's door — of possessing the
land for Christ — is being formed. Mr. Hugh Price Hughes, ^vho has
been conducting a well-known Wesleyan Mission in the West End of
London, said recently that we needed some keen and skilled observer
to do for human beings what Sir John Lubbock has done for ants
and wasps ; one who would study their life and habits, and the or-
^'aoization of society in its various parts with minute and patient
care, recording the slightest details and characteristics. And it can-
not bo denied that recent inquiries . have placed before us far more
clearly and fully than ever before the real condition of those in the
midst of us, who are living in neglect of religion — their surroundings
;ind the influence of these upon them — the causes which have led to
their alienation from the churches, and which tend to perpetuate this
alienation. It has to be conceded that much of the blame lies on
the churches themselves, because of their want of care for them —
their failure to enunciate those righteous principles of God^s word,
which emphatically condemn oppressions from which they have
severely suffered, and their failure so to present the Gospel to them
u8 to meet their pressing needs. In their now addressing themselves
to social questions under a deep sense of their importance and of
their intimate bearing on the spiritual welfare of the people and the
progress of God's Kingdom among them, there is found a very hope-
ful sign of the times. If our nation is to be saved from ruin, the
masses into whose hands political power is being more and more
largely put, must be leavened with the moral teaching of Christianity.
.Is an indication of the spiritual life pervading the churches — a
iipiritual life, without which, all aggressive work will be comparatively
fruitless — a passing reference may be made to their incomes. The
English Presbyterian Church reports an income of £210,376, being a
considerable increase over that of the previous year. The total
income reported by the United Presbyterian Church amounts to
£375,106 lOs. Ud., being an increase of £7,097 28. 3d. over that of
the preceding year. In the Free Church the total income has been
£638,939 Os. 5^d., being an advance from preceding year of
£46,083 15s. 4^d. In the Established Church the total amount
collected during the past year was £349,973, being a decrease of
£7,937 from the sum collected during the previous year. It is thus
a lai^ sum which is contributed by the various branches of the
Presbyterian Church in these lands for religious purposes, and a sum
rear by year increasing. Still it is small compared with the amount
that is spent on pleasure in various forms. But now we go on to
touch on
Foreign Mission Work
as diacoased in the various 8upreme courts. Aud here a first place
nwst be given to the work of the Gospel among the Jews. The
[•resent is the Jubilee year of Scottish Presbyterian Missions to
the Jews. It is exactly fifty years ago since Dr. Black, Dr. Keith,
I>r. Andrew A. Bonar and Mr. R. M*Cheyne were sent out as com-
>uiaiooer8 from tlie Church of Scotland to enquire into the condition
^ the Jews of Palestine. The account of their journeyings and
196 RECENT SYNODS AND ASSEMBLIES.
investigations is given in Dr. Bonar's most interesting volume, " A
Narrative of a Mission to the Jews." The work then begun has con-
tinued ever since and has greatly expanded. The numerical results
in the way of conversions have not been large, and have often been
made matter of ridicule in the secular press. Still they have not
been without their importance. Speaking at a missionary meeting
in connection with the English Presbyterian Church, Mr. Meyer stated
that since the beginning of the century, at least 100,000 Jews have
been brought within the fold oi the Church. They were not all of
them poor, though it had always been the boast of Christianity that
to the poor the Gospel was preached. All classes of society and all
professions were represented among these converts. In regard to the
present position of the Jews, he said, that it was difficult for him to
answer the question whether they were nearer Christianity than
before, and though he could not look into the future, he believed the
morning was coming, and the great result was sure. There were
already some streaks of the dawn. Rabbinism in Europe was
crumbling away, and was losing its hold in Russia, in Galicia, and
evefi in Jerusalem. Whereas some twenty years ago it was impossible
to induce a Jew even to receive a copy of the New Testament, he was
now quite ready to buy one. Rabbinism could live only in the
strictest isolation, and when that ceased it must die. One interesting
thing in connection with Gospel work among the Jews was the ex-
change of rather unusual courtesies between the Assemblies of the
Established and Free Churches. The venerable Dr. Somerville of
the Free Church, in his recent tour in the East, visited some mission
stations among the Jews carried on under the superintendence of the
Established Church. Receiving an invitation to address the Assembly
of the National Church in connection with the presentation of the
Report of Mission Work among the Jews, it was cordially accepted
by him, and a very hearty welcome given to him when he appeared.
This was taken notice of in the sister Assembly in appreciative terms.
So much gratified was Dr. Somerville's family with the warm
reception accorded to him that one of his sons sent a very handsome
donation to the fund by which the Jewish Mission is maintained.
This was, altogether, a very pleasing incident, and gives evidence that
the bitter feelings caused by the Disruption are wearing away.
While mission work is being earned on at various places on the
European Continent, Asia Minor, Egypt and Palestine, where Jews
are found, the spiritual wants of those living in the midst of the
teeming populations of our large cities are not neglected. A very
vigorous mission among the Jews in London is prosecuted by the
English Presbyterian Church.
With regard to work among the heathen, the reports submitted to
the various gatherings spoke of earnest and successful work in
different parts of the world-wide field, but presented nothing of a
striking or unusual character. The world is being prepared for the
establishment of God's kingdom in it, and the Presbyterian Churches
in these islands are taking no small part in this great work. From
many stations on the dark continent of Africa, their agents are
RECENT SYNODS AND ASSEMBLIES. 197
shedding around them the benign and healing influence of the Gospel.
Great anxiety was expressed regarding the safety of those stationed
around Lake Njassa in Central Africa against whom and whose work
the Arab slave-dealers, secretly abetted, it is believed, by the Portu-
guese and the Germans, have risen up in arms. Their lives are in
jeopardy, and the fruits of their noble work and that of those who
preceded them, are in danger of being lost. They need and ask our
prayers. It is to be hoped that the baptism of suffering through
which the missionaries and Christian natives there are passing may
be overruled to cause the tree of the Gospel, which has been planted
there amid tears and prayers and blood, to strike its roots more firmly
in the soil. And away in the South Sea Islands the work of the
Gospel — the foundations of which were laid in the blood of the
martyred Williams — has marvellously prospered. The difficulties of
the work have recently anew been brought home to us in the thrilling
narrative of J. G. Paton, and its triumphs have been marvellous.
Islands have, by the simple message of the Gospel, been transformed
in their moral character. Once the abode of cruel and merciless
cannibals, they are now the abode of earnest and consistent Christians.
The vast empire of China is opening to the Gospel and Western
civilisation, and the hoary superstitions which have long held sway
over the many millions of its people are beginning to crumble. India
with its manifold races and castes is being leavened with the
principles of the Christian religion. The progress of the Gospel
among the diversified races in this interesting land, is not to be
measured by the number of converts. Every one possessing
anything more than a superficial acquaintance with the state
of society bears witness to the fact that there are multitudes of
Nicodemuses — men and women who not only have lost all faith
in their heathen systems, but who have actually become convinced
of the truth of Christianity, yet cannot brave the social ostracism
which would follow their openly breaking with |the faith of their
fathers and seeking admission into the Christian Church by
baptism. And, besides these secret disciples, there are many
with their faces toward the light. The faith in old superstitions
is completely undermined, even among the vast majority of those
who adhere to them. A question that received some attention
at almost all the gatherings, is one that has been discussed
very keenly of late, that in relation to the missionary value of the
large educational institutions, that are largely maintained from the
Miffiion Funds. There is only one mind among those who have
seriously studied the matter, as to the immense value of the elemen-
tary schools in connection with mission stations under the superin-
tendence of Christian agents and pervaded by Christian influence ;
bat there has been very serious questioning about spending funds,
contributed for the evangelization of India, upon institutions that are
mainly devoted to secular learning, and in which Christianity is kept
very much in the background. It is well that the matter should bo
discussed and the arguments on both sides fairly and patiently heard.
The very raising of the question shows the importance which the
igS RECENT SYNODS AND ASSEMBLIES.
churches are attaching to direct evangelistic work in the mission
field. It came out in the United Presbyterian Synod that in their
mission schools •in Rajpootana, heathen teachers were sometimes
employed in hearing the Bible lesson and teaching the Catechism.
Emphatic condemnation was pronounced upon this practice, and its
speedy discontinuance is assured. The interest taken in Foreign
Mission Work by the people at home, is shown in the immense
gatherings that assemble to hear the addresses of missionaries home
on furlough. It was our privilege to be present at such a gathering
in the Free Assembly Hall, Edinburgh, during the recent sittings of
the Assembly, and the place was crowded with a deeply interested
and enthusiastic audience. The addresses were of a most interesting
and instructive character, and often a thrill of sympathy, with the
great world-wide w^ork in \vhich the missionaries were engaged, went
visibly through the vast assemblage. It was good to be there, and
most pleasing and encouraging to see the warm interest taken in
such a matter. But from these notes about the work of the churches
at home and abroad we must come to write of their
Doctrinal Position.
In the United Presbyterian Synod there was no discussion bearing
directly on this matter. It stands doctrinally where it has stood
for some years past. Some years ago the United Presbyterian
Church adopted a Declaratory Statement explaining the sense
in which they understood the teaching of the Westminster
Confession of faith on some points, and presenting more fully sonie
aspects of Gospel truth which it was thought did not receive 8utii>
cient prominence in the Confession. It is evident from last Assembly
that the Free Church is prepared to follow it in thi^, and even to
go beyond it. The discussion on the Westminster Confession,
raised in connection with numerous overtures about the Church's
relation to it, revealed a drift away from the doctrinal position which
it has long occupied, and which has been the greatest source of
its strength. It would be difficult for any one to say where exactly
it now stands in matters of doctrine. It is true that in Principal
Brown's motion, which was carried, while the step that is to be taken
to relieve the scruples of those who object to the Confession on sonio
points, is left to the consideration of a committee, the understanding
is affirmed that this church can contemplate the adoption of no
change which shall not be consistent with a cordial and stedfast ad-
herence to the great doctrines of the Confession. But of what value
is this understanding ? Will it prove any barrier against the rising
tide of change 1 Can it not be made just as elastic as the disposition
of the various parties wish to make it? With Principal Brown's
motion in itself, we might in certain circumstances have the heartiest
sympathy, as we as stoutly maintain as any the right of the Church
to revise her symbols and adapt them to the altered circuijfistances
in which she may find herself placed. But as it is a dangerous thing
to change horses in the middle of the stream, so it is no less danger-
ous to tamper with creeds in a time of doctrinal unrest and transition.
RECENT SYNODS AND ASSEMBLIES. 1 99
If there had been cordial agreement as to tlie system of doctrine ex-
hibited in the Confession, there might have been les3 risk of revising
it or defining anew in some way the church's relation to it, but if
there was one thing more apparent in the discussion than another, it
was that even this is awanting. One ^stated that he and they who
thought with him were adherents of no system of theology at present
in existence, and that in their view the faith demanded an entirely
new theological expression. Dr. W. C. Smith went far in this direc-
tion, and evidently would desire a new creed, with perhaps some
portions of the old Confession worked into it. Now we have a right
to ask. What fixity of doctrine — what agreement in theological be-
lief— is found among those who oppose the system exhibited in the
Westminster Confession 7 One would wish to see their new Confession
ere agreeing to part with the old. We confess frankly to having a
suspicion that the new creed would be so attenuated as not to prove
capable of yielding the strong, spiritual nourishment that the West-
minster Confession for ages has done, or of giving such a backbone to
our Christianity in the future as it has done in the past. It is not
faultless, some of the things said against it are true, but we may be
excused for holding fast to it till we are presented with a better — with
one in which the same grand Biblical system of doctrine finds better
expression. But this dissatisfaction with our time-honoured Confes-
sion is not the only indication of the drift which is now becoming
apparent in this Church, and which, if not checked, may carry it far
etiough away from its original standpoint. The honour put upon
Dr. Marcus Dods in electing him the successor of the esteemed Prof.
Smeaton, marks a great change in its attitude. We should suppose
Prof. Robertson Smith would have his own thoughts on the turn of
events. That he should be deprived of his chair, and Dr, Dods — who
baa been as bold, if not, in some respects bolder, in his criticism of
Scripture — in a few years elected to a much more important and
influential position, surely shows how quickly the Church has moved
in a certain direction. We believe that in point of scholarship and
power of suggestive exposition Dr. Dods stood head and shoulders
above the candidates for the chair put forward by the Constitutional
party, and this greatly weakened their position. Still, the uncertain
sound Dr. Dods has once and again given forth on mattei*s, such as
the inspiration and infallibility of Scripture, lying at the very basis
of our Christian faith, ought to have made the Church more cautious
in entrusting to him the training of her future ministers. Scholar-
ship with soundness in the faith should be earnestly sought for in such
a position, but scholarship without this will produce. but a poor class
of preachers and ministers.
In the Established Church the change in the formula of subscrip-
tion to the Confession proposed last year, and sent down to
Presbyteries, was approved of by the majority of Presbyteries, and
was by the recent Assembly passed into a law of the Church.
Principal Cunningham, for whose weak capacity even the so-called
Apostles' creed is too much, took charge of this measure, and has, to
the deep grief of many, succeeded in getting it passed. The change
202
MEETING OF THE
Edward White, formerly of Kirriemuir, had been inducted to the
pastoral charge of Dromore Congregation ; and that the Rev. Thomas
Matthew, formerly of Midlem, had beeu inducted to the pastoral
oversight of Kilwinning Congregation. Both Mr. White and Mr.
Matthew took their seats as members of Court. The Clerk intimated
that he had received an acknowledgment of the Memorial protesting
against the contemplated resumption of diplomatic relations with the
Vatican, sent last year to the Prime Minister — ^the Most Honourable
the Marquis of Salisbury, K.G.^ and also to the First Lord of the
Treasury, the Right Honourable W. H. Smith. The minutes of the
pro re nata meeting of Synod, held in Glasgow on the 20th February
last, were read and approved of. On proceeding to the appointment
of a Moderator for the current year, it was moved by the retiring
Moderator, and unanimously agreed to, that the Rev. Peter MH^icar,
Dundee, be elected to the office, and Mr. M'Vicar took the cbair
accordingly. The newly-installed Moderator addressed the Court on
EvANGKLiSM, showing the necessity of carrying on the work of
Evangelisation within as well as without the Church. The members
of the Synod for the current year are as follows : —
PRESBYTERY OF AYR.
Ministers.
Rev. John Robertson
Rev. Professor James Spence
Rev. William W. Spiers
Rev. Edward White
Ruling Elders.
Mr. Robert Cuthbert
Mr. James Hamilton
Rev. Thomas Matthew Mr. John Barr
Rev. Alexander Smellie, M.A. Mr. Alexander Rankin
Rev. David Matthew, B. D. Mr. David Ross
PRESBYTERY OF EDINBURGH.
Rev. Thom«'is Hobart, M.A. Mr. Andrew Prentice
Rev. John Sturrock Mr. Allan Preshaw
Mr. James Anderson
Mr. John Gouinlock
PRESBYTERY OF GLASGOW.
Rev Professor W. F. Aitken,M.A. Mr. Hugh Howie
Rev. Alexander J. Yuill
Rev. John M*Kay
Rev. Andrew Miller
Rev. Ebenezer Ritchie
Rev. William B. Gardiner
Rev. George Anderson
Rev. John Ritchie
Mr. John Hall
Mr. William Peterkin
Mr. William Lyon
Mr. Joseph Buchanan
Mr. John T. Garland
Mr. William Smith
Congregations.
Ayr
Auchinleck
Darvel
Dromore
Kilmarnock
Kilwinning
Stranraer
Toberdoney
Carluke
Edinburgh
Kirkcaldy
Midlem
Mains St., Glasgow
I^urieston, Do.
Bridgeton, Do.
Kirkintilloch
Paisley
Pollokshaws
Seoni
Shottsbarn
PRESBYTERY
Rev. Ebenezer Ritchie
Rev. Alexander Stirling
Rev. Robert Brash
Rev James Patrick
Rev. George Anderson
Rev. Peter M* Vicar
Rev. Robert Stewart
Rev. Robert Morton
Rev. Charles S. Find lay
OF PERTH AND ABERDEEN.
Mr. John Govan
Mr. David Littlejohn
Mr. James J. Anderson
Mr. Alexander Carr
Mr. John Matthew
Mr. Robert Mathieson
Aberdeen
Arbroath
Birsay
Carnoustie
Coupar Angus
Dundee
Kirriemuir
Olrig
Perth
Thurso
UNITED ORIGINAL SECESSION SYNC-D. 203
It was intimated by the Rev. Charles S.Findlay that the Rev. Robert
Brash of Birsaj was unable to attend the present meeting owing to
physical weakness, and the reaaon assigned for Mr. Brash's absence was
siistaiQed. An excerpt was read from the minutes of the Irish Secession
Synod intimating that the Rev. John F. Moore, M.A., of Garmany'a
Gro?e, and the Rev. Samuel Pettigrewof Mullabrack had been appointed
to attend the Synod as their deputies^ and it was agreed to place their
names on the roll. A statement of the business to come before the
Synod was submitted by the Clerk, and the proposed order of pro-
cedure. The statement was received. A Committee on Rills and
Overtures was appointed, consisting of a minister and elder from each
Presbytery with the Moderator and Clerk — the Moderator, Convener.
Thw Committee met on Tuesday morning and submitted a report
which was received. The Rev. Robert Stewart, Olrig, and the Rev.
Thomas Matthew, Kilwinning, were appointed to conduct devotional
exercises on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings after the Synod had
been constituted. The following is an outline of the business that
came before the Synod : —
I. FINANCE. — A very encouraging statement was submitted by
the Synod Treasurer and Finance Committee respecting the finances
of the Church, and such as to indicate that the accustomed liberality
of the people had been well sustained throughout the year. The
financial reports embraced : —
1. The Synod Treasurer's StatemenU The annual accounts of the
Synod Treasurer were laid on the table, and printed copies were dis-
tributed among the members of Synod. The following portions were
read — (1) The comparative statement of contributions from Con-
LTegations to the Synod Funds for the past and preceding years ;
I-) The comparative abstract of Receipts for the years 1887-88 and
1888-89 ; and (3) The state of the Funds at the close of the financial
year. TTie certificate of the Auditors attesting the correctness of the
accounts was also read.
2. The Finance Committee's Report, The report of the Finance
Committee was submitted by the Rev. William B. Gardiner, Con-
Tener. The report conveyed the gratifying information that the
total receipts for the past year had amounted to XI 631 Os. Tjd.
lowing an increase over the receipts for the preceding year of
X48 IBs. 8d. The report adverted to the exceptionally large ex-
penditure for the year, and recommended the most stringent measures
i*intr adopted to curtail the outlay in connection with some of the
Funds. The minutes of a meeting of the Finance Committee, held
n Glasgow on the 8th May, were also read. These were to the
effect (1) That the Synod should adopt a recommendation of the
Committee regarding the raising of money for clearing off the large
iebit balance in connection with the Foreign Mission Fund ; and (2)
That the Synod should grant the sum of two guineas annually to the
Church-officer of Mains Street Congregation for his attendance on all
•he Committee meetings connected with the Synod, and held in
Mains Street session-house throughout the year. The following is
*£ie rejK>rt of the Finance Committee : —
204 MEETING OF THE
" Yoar Committee have the pleasant duty of reporting that the total receipts
for the year have amounted to £1,631 Os. 7id. as against £1,582 3s. ll^d. for
the year preceding, thus showing an increase of £48 16s. 8d. Taking into
account the fact that last annual Bepori indicated a considerable advaAce on
the former year's income, the additional revenue for this year is certainly most
gratifying, and should awaken a feeling of thankfulness to the Lord. The
spirit of liberality displayed by our people is a good evidence of the spiritual
vitality of our Congregations, and should tend to banish disquieting fears for
the future. Everything seems to betoken that the tide has turned in the
commercial prosperity of the country, and it is to be hoped that those engaged
in Agricultural pursuits, who still feel the depression incident to poor crops
and low-priced produce, will speedily share in the revival of trade and higher
markets, and as the result, increased contributions will flow into the Lord's
Treasury.
" It is to be regretted that the Expenditure for the year has considerably
exceeded the Income, and that some of the Funds are more than exhausted.
This should lead the Synod to reflect on the possibility of curtailing the outlay
in some directions. While every legitimate effort should be made to increase
the revenue — and we are far from thinking that the resources of our people
are exhausted — it is only right and proper that prudential measures be adopted
in laying out the amount received to the best possible advantage.
*' As resolved on at last meeting of Synod, a Church-door Collection was
made during the year by the majority of the Congregations in aid of the
Students and Bursary Fund ; but it is to be regretted that some Congregations
have failed to carry out the Synod's instructions in this respect. This cannot
be owing to any lack of information by your Committee in regard to the
different Funds for which a Collection was asked, as due intimation was made
once and again tli rough the medium of the Magazine ; but is due either to
forge tfulness on the part of the office-bearers, or to the difficulty of getting so
many public Collections made. Still it is believed that if the Collections were
taken up at the dates appointed by the Synod, all local claims on the liberality
of our Congregations might be adequately met without special appeals for
Collections coming with too great frequency from the pulpit.
*'The Biennial Collection for the Aged and Infirm Ministers' Fund falls to
be made during the ensuing year, and it will be for the Synod' to appoint a
day for this Collection being taken up.
** The Committee will lay before the Synod a plan for wiping out the
deficiency in connection with the group of Funds having a special bearing on
Mission work in the foreign field, and the hope is expressed that either the
proposal they have to make, or some other method better fitted to accomplish
the end in view, will receive the sanction of the Synod at its present meeting,
and be heartily carried out, so that the Committee may be in a position to
report favourably on this matter by another year.
" The Committee have been under the necessity of drawing on the money
uplifted from the Clyde Trust last Martinmeis, when two Bonds to the amount
of £500 became payable. The hope was cherished that before the financial
year closed, the Committee would be in a position to re-invest the half of thi^;
amount ; but their expectations have not been realised. At the earliest
poasible term, as much as can be withdrawn from the Ministers' Widows' and.
Orphans' Fund will be invested, and the amount transferred for the time
being to the open account of the Aged and Infirm Ministers* Fund will be
again invested, so as to yield a larger rate of interest than can be obtained
from the Bank in the ordinary way.
UNITED ORIGINAL SECESSION SYNOD. 205
"Legacies to the amount of £92 were received last year. These consisted
of £90 from the estate of the late Miss Murray, Glasgow, and £2 from the late
Miss Catherine Walker, Peterhead. According to the deed of settlement it
was left with Professor Aitken to place the amount of Miss Murray's legacy to
any of the Mission Funds of the Church, and according to his instructions the
legacy has been equally divided between the Home and Foreign Mission Funds.
It has been reported to your Committee that the additional sum of £93 15s. Od.
minus the legacy duty, will shortly be received from Miss Murray's Trustees,
as port of the residue of her estate, and this amount will be placed to the credit
of whatever Funds Professor Aitken may determine.
'* According to the terms of Miss Walker's settlement the amount received
from her Trustees was equally divided between the Synod's Business and Hall
Food and the Foreign Mission Orphanage Fund, as the half was left * to the
Foreign Orphanage in connection with the Original Seceders' Church,' and the
other half <to the Divinity Hall in Glasgow in connection with the said
Church. '"
The Income for the year has come from different sources which may be thus
cL&aeified:
L Church-door Collections, Congregational Subscriptions,
Children's Collecting Cards and Family Boxes ... £859 2 2^^
U. Contributions from Associations, Sabbath Schools and
Bible Classes
m. Donations
A V a A^Ca^vL\^mMSm3 ■•• ••• ••« ••• •■• ••*
w m AJlbCft'BSv ••• ■•• ••• ••• •••
VI. Realised in India
VII. Irish Synod — Congregational Collections and Collecting
VI !I. Widows' Fund — Annual Premium of Members ...
IX. Proceeds of sale — Testimonies and Bules of Procedure ...
Making a total of ... ... ... £1,631 0 7^
Iq the Statement of purely Congregational contributions herewith presented
to the Synod, it ia pleasing to observe that all the Congregations have remitted
more or less to one or other of the Funds, while several who were formerly
^iog behind are now advancing in the right direction. It is satisfactory to
report that the majority of Congregations show an increase in their contribu-
tions, and that the net increase has been £37 158. OJd.
Following our usual course we shall now advert to the different Funds of
the Church aerieUim.
1. The Synod's Bitsiness and Hall Fain). — The Receipts for the year have
iDMonted to £128 7s. 8id., and come from the following sources :— Church-
iooT Collections, £94 10s. Od. Donations, £1 1 15s. Od. ; Donations to meet
Legal Expenses in the Edinburgh Church Property Case, £11. Legacy, £1.
Collection at Synod Sermon and Sales, £2 lis. 7id. Interest, £7 lis. Id.
The Expenditure for the year has been £172 10s. 7d., and is made up of the
following charges :— Theological Hall, £69 12s. Od. Official Expenses, £37
15s. 2d. Printing, £30 6s. 6d. Travelling Expenses, £15 2s. Od. Pulpit
S:ipply to Editor for two years, £4 12s. Od. Psalmody Alliance, £1 12s. 6d.
Uterest to Edinburgh minister, £3 12s. lid. Interest on money drawn from
other Funds, £9 17s. 6d. The debit Balance against this Fund now amounts
to £234 121B. Bid.
2. Thx Houk Missioic Fund. — The year's Receipts amount to £196 128. 4d.,
and have been thus derived : — Church-door Collections, £118 ISa. 9d. Con-
29 8
187 1
92 0
117 8
283 15
Hi
6
0
7
1
35 1
26 0
1 2
84
0
7
2o6 MEETING OF THE
tributions from Associations, £3 198 lOd. Donations, £1S 12s. 6d. Legacy,
L.45. Interest, L.IO 6& 3d.
The year's expenditure has amounted to L.2S4 17s. 4d., and consists of grants
for Salaries, L.276 2s. 4d., and for Tracts, L.5 ; while for Rent of Mission
premises a grant of L.3 15s. Od. has been made.
3. The Mutual Assistance Fund. — The Receipts daring the year have
amounted to L.302 5s. lO^d., and may be classified thus : ~ Church -door Col-
lections, L.271 Is. Hd. Contribution from an Association, L.I. Donations,
L.17 5s. Od. Interest, L. 12 19s. 6d. Including a Legacy which has been
transferred from the Investment Account, the present amount available for
use, after meeting the deficiency on last year's dividend and defraying the
expanses of printing and posting a circular issued by the Committee in charge
of this Fund, is L.373 17s. GJd.
4. The Foreiox Missiox Fcnd. — The Receipts for the year have reached
the sum of L.519 9s. 4d., and come from the following sources : — Church-door
Collections, L.198 9s. Od. Contribution per Family Boxes, L.32 6s. Od. Col-
lections from Congregations connected with Irish Synod, L.28 Ss. 2id. Con-
tributions from Associations, L.18 12s. IJd. Collections uplifted at Missionary
Meetings, L.12 4s. 8d. Special Donations for benefit of Village Teacher, L.10.
Special Contributions for Zenana Work, L. 11 1 3s. Od. Donations, L.47 3s. Od.
Legacy, L.45. Exchange on Foreign Remittances, L.59 1 8s. 6d. Realised
from Girls' School at Seoni, L.49 17s. lid. Interest, L.5 fis. lid.
The Expenditure for the year has reached the large sum of L.7G9 lis. 5d.,
and may be thus arranged : — Salaries and Gratuities to Agents, L 366 15s. Od.
Zenana Work, including Female School, L.54 2s. 9d. General Expenditure,
L.89 12s. Id. Official Expenscsat home, L.13 6s. lid. Printing, L.2 I6s. lOd.
Life Assurance Premiums, L.16 9s. 4d. Extraordinary Expenditure for
pissage money and outfit, L.215 Ss. 6d. Interest for money obtained from
other Funds, L. 1 1 58. Od.
The debit Balance against this Fund, which has been increasing for a few
years, now reaches the sum of L.452 2s. 8id.
5. The Orphanaqe Fund. — The year's Receipts amount to L99 9s. 6d.,
and have thus been derived : — Patrons of Orphans in Scotland, L.50. Patrons
of Orphans in India, L.20 8s. Od. Donations, L.7 13s. Od. Contributions,
L.5 17s. Od. Legacy, L.l. Irish Secession Congregations, L.6 3s. 6d.
Interest, L.8 78. lid.
The year's Expenditure has amounted to L. 124 6s. 8d. This sum has been
laid out on the Orphanage, and includes the feeding, clothing and education
of the Orphans, with the Salaries paid to the Matron and Servants, and the
amount expended in the up-keep of the building.
6. The Seoni Mission School Fund. — The Receipts for the year have come
to L.238 is. Od., and iiave been drawn from the following sources : — Raised by
Juvenile Collectors, L.84 lOs. 4d. Realised in India, L.153 10b. 8d.
The Expenditure for the year has been L.229 18s. lid. This amount has
been expended thus :^ Salaries of Teachers, L.198 lis. Od. Apparatus, repairs
ou Building and incidental charges, L.21 38. 5d. Expenditure at home, L. 1
15s. 9d. Interest on money due to other Funds, L.8 8s. 9d.
The debit Balance in connection with this Fund is L.242 58. Ud.
7. The Aged and Infirm Ministers' Fund.— The year's Receipts have
been L.39 5s. Od., and with the exception of LI 68. Id. obtained from a
Church-door Collection this amount has been obtained from Interest.
UNITED ORIGINAL SECESSION SYNOD. 207
The year's Ezpendiinre has been L.35, being a grant made to a Minister in
affliction and his family.
8. The Mikistsbs' Widows* and Orphans* Fund.— The Receipts for the
year have been L.53 2s. Od. This amount is made up of a Church-door Col-
lection of L.0 7s. Od. Annual Premium of Ministers, L.26 ; and Interest,
L.26158.0d.
There hare been no disbursements from this Fund.
9. The Stodentb' and Bursaht Fund. — ^The year's Receipts have amounted
toL54 78. 11^., and may be thus classified :— Church-door Collections, L.44
4s. 11^. Donation, L.2. Interest, L.8 38. Od.
The year's Expenditure has been L.16 128. Od., and consists of L.15 for
Borsaries, and L.1 12s. Od. for Outlay at Bursary Competition and Books for
Bonars.
Yonr Committee have only to state in closing that the amount at the Synod's
Credit when the financial year ended is L.291 Ss. OJd. less than was at the
Synod's disposal at the Close of the preceding year, and may be stated thus : —
Amount Invested, .... £2,240 0 0
Amount in Clydesdale Bank, - - 539 18 5
Amount in advance to Seoni Mission, - - 137 18 1
Total £2,917,16 6
Respectfully submitted in name of Finance Committee.
William B. Gabuineb, Convener.
Glasgow, 9th May, 1889.
3. Hu Report on the Collecting-Card and Box Scheme. — The yearly
lieport on the Scheme for raising money for Missionary purposes by
means of Family Boxes and Children's Collecting-cards, was presented
by the Rev. Alexander Stirling, and is as follows : —
** It is my pleasing duty again to submit the Annual Report anent the
Family Boxes and Collecting-Cards. As in former years the Box Labels and
Cuds have been distributed throughout most of our Congregations, but the
remit has not been so encouraging as, judging from past years, we were led to
•aticipate. It may be observed that three of the congregations that formerly
received the Cards, have sent no returns this year. And that while in some
Congregations there has been a slight increase in the contribution to the
K^beme, in others there has been a considerable decrease. Let us hope for
^letter things in future. What an evidence of the real progress of vital
religion we have in the steady and continuous growth of the grace of Christian
libendity. May this evidence of experimental piety more and more abound
.moog us. God will thereby be glorified and His great work on earth pro-
moted. The following is an Abstract of the Revenue and Expenditure : —
'* In eleven of our Congregations the Family Boxes have been used, with
^ result, that the sum of £32 Is. 6d. has been raised. Last year it amounted
to £37 68. 9d. ; in 1886-87, it was £35 Os. 2d., thus showing a deficiency of
^1 6i. 3d. eompared with last year, and of £3 19s. 8d. compared with the
previous year.
" In eighteen of our Congregations the Collecting-cards have been used,
<ukithe aum raised thereby is £84 10s. 4d. Last year it was £94 3s. Id.,
showing a decrease of £9 128. 9d. in the contributions by this means, for the
year just closed. In three of the Congregations in connection with the Synod
^ Ireland, 0>llecting-cards on behalf of the Orphanage have been used, by
2o8 MEETING OF THE
which the sam of £6 3s. 6d. has been collected. Last year it was £16 ISs. Od.
There is thus a deficiency for the year ndw closed of £10 lis. 6d. The total
amount raised by both Synods is £122 14s. 4d., which is £25 10s. 6d. less than
the total of last year, when it was £148 4s« lOd.
"The following are the items of expenditure in connection with the
management of the Scheme. Box Labels and Ck>llecting-cards, £1 Os. 6d. ;
Postage, kc, 7s. 6d. ; total, £1 148. Od. This leaves the net credit balance of
£121 Os. 4d. Respectfully submitted by
**Albxandeb Stiblikg.
"Arbroath, 24th May, 1889."
After considering the statement of the Synod Treasurer and the
Report of the Finance Committee, it was moved by the Rev. Thomas
Uobart, seconded by the Rev. Charles S. Findlay, and unanimously
agreed to, that the Treasurer's statement be received with gratitude
to the Great Head of the Church, for the measure of liberality dis-
played by our people; that the Finance Committee's Report be
adopted, and printed along with the Synod minutes ; that the Com-
mittee, and particularly the Convener, be cordially thanked for
attending to the finances of the Church during the past year ; and
that the Committee for the coming year consist of the following : —
viz. Mr. Hugh Howie, Glasgow ; Mr. Laurence Henderson, Glasgow ;
Mr. A. G. Anderson, Ayr ; Mr. Charles P. Leiper, Clydebank, Glas-
gow; Mr. James Pat on, Pollokshields, Glasgow; Mr. S. W. M'Cracken,
L.D.S., Glasgow, and the Synod Treasurer — the latter Convener.
The recommendation of the Finance Committee in regard to the
raising of £400 to wipe off the debt in connection with the Foreign
Mission Fund, was subsequently considered, when it was agreed to
authorise the Clerk to adopt such measures as he may judge most
expedient, either by issuing a circular letter, or otherwise, for raising
the amount required, and to commend this special effort to the con-
sideration of the Ministers, Office-bearers, and members of the Church,
as well as to those interested in Foreign Mission work in connection
with other denominations. It was also agreed to adopt the recom-
mendation of the Finance Committee in regard to a gratuity to the
Church Officer of Mains Street Congregation, and to make an annual
grant of two guineas out of the Synod's Business and Hall Fund, for
attendance at all Committee meetings, held in Mains Street Church,
in connection with the Synod.
On the motion of the Rev. John Sturrock, seconded by the Rev.
Thomas Hobart, the report submitted by Mr. Stirling waa received,
and the warmest thanks of the Synod were given to him for attending
to the matter with which he had been entrusted. Mr. Stirh'ng was
appointed to continue superintending this mode of raising money,
and it was agreed that the proceeds of the Boxes and Cards should
be for the same objects as formerly.
11. THE ORIGINAL SECESSION MAGAZINE.— The Report of
the Committee entrusted with the management of the Original
Secession Magazine was presented by the Rev. Thomas Hobart,
Convener. A printed financial statement, prepared by Mr. Robertson,
Treasurer of the Committee, and showing his intromissions in con-
UNITED ORIGINAL SECESSION SYNOD. 209
uection with the periodical, was also submitted. This statemeut
being printed and iii the hands of members, was held as read. The
Committee's Report will be found on a subsequent page.
On hearing this report, it was moved by the Rev. A. Smellie, seconded
by the Rev. John Robertson, and unanimously agreed to, that the re-
port be adopted and printed in the Magazine ; that the best thanks be
tendered to the Committee, and particularly to the Convener and
Treasurer, for attending to the interests of the periodical during the
past year; that a special vote of thanks be given to the Editor, for
the ability and fidelity he has displayed in conducting the Magazine;
and that the Committee be re-appointed — Mr. Hobart, Convener.
Ill THE DIVINITY HALL.— The Report of the Hall Committee
was laid on the table by the Rev. Thomas Hobart, Convener.
As the report was printed and circulated among the members
only a portion of it was read. The report referred to the number of
students in attendance at last Session of the HaU, and to the arrange-
ments made for carrying on the work of the two classes by Professor
Spence, in the much-regretted absence of Professor Aitken, through
illnesa I'he report next alluded to a grant of fifteen guineas received
recently from the Reformed Presbyterian Synod, as an acknowledge
ment of their indebtedness to our Church for the theological training
of their students. Professor Spence's report of the work undertaken
during the past Session, and reports of Presbyteries bearing on the
training of students under their care were given, along with a report
concerning the last Bursary competition and the names of the
successful Bursars.
On bearing this Report, and a supplementary verbal report given
in by the Convener, it Tvas moved by the Rev. John M*Kay, seconded
by the Rev. John Ritchie, and unanimously agreed to, that the re-
port be adopted and printed in the Magazine ; that the Committee,
and particularly the Convener, be warmly thanked for attending to
the duties devolving on them in connection with the Divinity Hall ;
and that the Committee be re-appointed, with the addition of the
Rev. Alexander Smellie — Mr. Hobart, Convener. It was likewise
agreed that the arrangements made for carrying on the work of the
Hall (during the coming session), by Professor Spence, and as re-
ported by the Committee, be approved ; that Mr. Hobart be ap-
pointed to deliver a valedictory address to the students at the forth-
eoming Session of the Hall ; and that the Committee be authorised
to consider the question of remodelling the present Syllabus of inter-
?fissional study for students, and submit a report thereon at next
meeting of Synod.
At a subsequent sederunt, when Professor Aitken was present, he
^as heard in connection wdth the arrangements for carrying on the
^ork of the Hall. He stated to tlie effect that owing to the state of
his health, and the paramount claims of his Congregation on his time
and strength, he was under the necessity of tendering his resignation
s*s occupant of the Chair of Biblicid Criticism in connection with the
iHnnity Hall ; but he indicated his willingness to devote three days
weekly to the work of the Hall during the coming Session, provided
2IO MEETING OF THE
some arrangement was made for granting him partial relief from
pulpit and pastoral work in Mains Street Congregation. The Synod
heard of Professor Aitken's resignation with deep regret, but in the
circumstances resolved to let it lie on the table, and to remit to the
Hall Committee the consideration of this resignation, with instruc-
tions to communicate with the Clerks of Presbyteries, if need be, and
ask them to report the resignation of Professor Aitken to their re-
spective Presbyteries at the earliest possible date, and in view of
a pro re nata meeting of Synod being called for the appointment of
another Professor. It was also agreed to locate Mr. Samuel Walker,
preacher of the Gospel, in Glasgow, for two months, to assist Pro-
fessor Aitken in his pastoral work, and to give him the usual UUenU
for that period out of the Synod's Business and Hall Fund ; and
further it was agreed to modify the arrangements previouslj made
for carrying on the work of the Hall during the ensuing session, so
far as is rendered necessary by the services of Professor Aitken.
IV. PULPIT SUPPLY.— The Report of the Committee of Supplies
was submitted by the Rev. Andrew Miller, Convener. The report
referred to the arrangements made during the past year for providing
the vacancies with a supply of public ordinances, as well as in attend-
ing to the supply of Professor Spencers pulpit during the past session
of the Hall. The following is the report read : —
'* In presenting this Report to the Synod your Committee have to state thst
owing to the number of vacancies and the lack of Preachers during the greater
part of the year their work was more difficult than it has been for some
time. They are glad, however, to ^tate that this was recognised by the
Ministers in general, and ready response was given to the calls made for their
services.
'* At the beginning of the year there were two vacancies, and the usual supply
had to be made for the pulpit of Professor S pence during the time of the Hall.
In the month of August the Rev. T. Robertson, after a faithful service of
many years in Kilwinning, resigned his charge of the congregation there for
the purpose of proceeding abroad. The Kilwinning congregation wished
supply as frequently as possible, and your Committee were able to give them
about three Sabbaths each month during the vacancy. At the beginning of
winter Professor Aitken was, owing to the state of his health, compelled to
leave for the south of England. During his enforced absence regular supply
was given to Mains Street pulpit. As the Synod are aware, he has been again
enabled to resume his pulpit work, and your Committee would express the
hope that strength will be given him for performing his duties to his congre-
gation, and to the Church at large. At the meeting of Synod held in the
Spring, Mr. White was translated from Kirriemuir to Dromore ; and Mr. T.
Matthew from Midlem to Kilwinning. About the same time Messrs. David
Finlayson and Samuel Walker were licensed by their respective Presbyteries.
The former was appointed by the Presbytery of Perth and Aberdeen to labour
at Kirriemuir for six months. The friends at Midlem intimated to your
Committee that they would like supply every Sabbath, and this yonr Conn-
mittee have up to this time been able to give. In addition to the services of
Mr. Walker, your Committee have had during the month of May those of the
Rev. G. Anderson on his return from Seoni.
** Owing to increasing age and infirmities Mr. Tyndal has been unable to take
UNITED ORIGINAL SECESSION SYNOD. 2TI
«sy appointineiit. Mr. Carrathers has willingly given his seryices when
caOed on ; and Ministen are reminded that he will gladly give them what help
be can when they have to leave their pulpits for a Sabbath.
" As nsoal yoar Committee have to record their sense of the kindness shown
to tiiem by their brethren of the Irish Synod. Had it not been for their
gaeioiu help in supplying Dromore, particularly during the winter months,
the work of your Committee would have been much more difficult.
" Respectfully submitted.
** Andrew Miller, Convener.
"Kirkintilloch, May 23rd, 1889."
On this report being read, it was moved bj the Rev. Thomas
Hobart, and unanimously agreed to, that the report be adopted and
printed ; that the cordisd thanks of the Synod be accorded to the
Committee, and more particularly to the Convener, for attending so
carefuUy to the supply of the vacant pulpits, and that the Committee
be reappointed — Mr. Miller, Convener.
V. MISSIONARY OPERATIONS.— On the Tuesday evening of
the Synod week, the usual Missionary sederunt was held, when in-
teresting reports were presented of work accomplished both in the
Home and Foreign field. The reports were submitted in the follow-
ing order : —
1. Report an Foreign Mission Work. — The report of the Foreign
Mission Committee was laid on the table by Rev. William B. Gar-
diner, Convener. As printed copies were in the hands of members,
it was held as read, and the Convener was heard in explanation of its
contents. The Rev. George Anderson, who has recently returned
At>m Seoni, addressed the Court Thereafter it was moved by the
Her. John Sturrock, seconded by the Rev. Thomas Hobart, and
unanimously agreed to, that the report now submitted on our
Mission in Seoni be cordially adopted and printed in the Magazine ;
that the best thanks of the Synod be given to the Committee and
specially to the Convener for their labours during the past year, and
tiiat they be re-appointed ; further that the Synod, acknowledging
^th gratitude the goodness of God in the past, resolves anew to
prosecnte the work with increased earnestness in humble dependence
Qpon Divine help, and again commends the Mission to the prayerful
sympathy and liberality of the whole Church. It was agreed to add
the name of the Rev. Thomas Matthew, Kilwinning, to the Foreign
Mission Committee, in room of Mr. John Uarwood, deceased.
2. Report on Home Mission Work, — The Report of the Home
Misaon and Congregational Work Committee, was presented by the
Bev. Peter M*Vicar, Convener. During the consideration of this
Heport the Rev. A. Miller, Ex-Moderator, took the chair. Printed
copies of the report having been circulated among the members, it
▼as held as read, and Mr. M'Vicar gave a summary of its contents.
It was then moved by the Rev. Thomas Hobart, seconded by the
Kev. Ebenezer Ritchie, Aberdeen, and unanimously agreed to, that
^he Report be adopted and printed in the Magazine ; that the Com-
i&ittee and particularly the Convener, receive ' the cordial thanks of
the Synod for superintending the Home Mission Work carried on in
aX2 MEETING OF THE
different localities, and that the Committee be re-appointed with the
addition of the Rev. Thomas Matthew, Kilwinning, in room of the
Rev. Thomas Robertson, with Mr. M'Vicar as Convener. It was
further moved by the Rev. Thomas Hobart, seconded by the Rev.
John Ritchie, and agreed to, that the Home Mission and Congrega^
tional Work Committee be empowered to obtain statistics concerning
Sabbath Schools and Bible Classes every year, but on congregational
work in general, statistics are to be obtained triennially.
VI. PETITIONS AND REFERENCES.— Several Petitions from
Congregations for pecuniary aid, and References from Presbyteries
and Committees came before the Synod for consideration. Among
these the following may be noticed : —
1. Petition from Lauriston Congregation. — ^A Petition from Lauri-
ston Congregation, Glasgow, asking for a renewal of the grant from
the Home Mission Fund for another year was laid on the table and
read. On the motion of the Rev. William B. Gardiner, it was agreed
to make a grant of £50 to Lauriston Congregation out of the Home
Mission Fund for the current year.
2. Petition from Bridgeton Congregation, — A Petition from Bridge-
ton Congregation, Glasgow, asking a renewal of the grant from the
Home Mission Fund, was read along with relative documents, and
Mr. Wm. Teterkin was heard in its support It was then moved by
the Rev. Charles S. Findlay, seconded by the Rev. John Ritchie and
agreed to, that a grant of X60 be made to Bridgeton Congregation
out of the Home Mission Fund for the ensuing year, and that the
Synod receive with special approbation the statement made concern-
ing the entire removal of debt on the congregational property in
Bridgeton, and the efforts being put forth by the Congregation for
buying up the ground annual.
3. Petition from Carnoustie Congregation, — A Petition from Car-
noustie Congregation asking for a renewed grant from the Home
Mission Fund to enable them to maintain ordinances, was read. An
extract from the minutes of the Perth and Aberdeen Presbytery re-
commending that the prayer of the Petition be granted, was likewise
read. On the motion of the Rev. Thomas Hobart it was unanimously
agreed to grant the sum of £50 out of the Home Mission Fund to
Carnoustie Congregation for the current year.
4. Reference anent Ayr Mission. — Took up a Reference from the
Home Mission Committee anent a grant of X20 to Ayr Con-
gregation to supplement the amount raised locally as the salary
of the Missionary, labouring under the superintendence of the
Ayr Session. The reference was read, and the Rev. John Robertson
and Mr. Robert Cuthbert heard in explanation. It was thereafter
moved by the Rev. Thomas Hobart, and unanimously agreed to, that
the sum of £20 be granted out of the Home Mission Fund to aug-
ment the salary of the Missionary during the ensuing year, on con-
dition that he devote his whole time to Mission work.
6. Reference anent the License of a Student. — The Clerk of the
Perth and Aberdeen Presbytery reported that Mr. James Young,
Student of Divinity, Perth, has given in all his public trials for
UNITED ORIGINAL SECESSION SYNOD. 213
license as a Preacher of the Gospel, but as he had not yet joined in
Coyenanting, he moved that the Presbytery be permitted to license
Mr. Young on receiving a promise that he will embrace the first
faTourable opportunity of joining in the Bond. The permission
craved was granted unanimously.
6. Reference anent Rev, George Anderson^ Seoni, — A Reference from
the Foreign Mission Committee anent the relation in which the Rev.
George Anderson, recently of Seoni, shall sustain to the Committee,
was considered. The reference was read, and the Convener of Com-
mittee heard in explanation. After deliberation, it was moved by
the Rev. Thomas Hobart and unanimously agreed to, that seeing Mr.
Anderson's connection with the Foreign Mission Committee termi-
nates on the 31st instant, an allowance of £100 be given to him out
of the Foreign Mission Fund for one year, from the 1st June ensuing,
and that Mr. Anderson be regarded as occupying the status of an
ordained Minister without a charge. It was further agreed to pay
the premium on Mr. Anderson's Life Insurance Policy due in Sep-
tember next^
7. Reference anent Mr, David Finlayson, — A Reference from the
Foreign Mission Committee anent Mr. David Finlayson, preacher of
the Gospel, and the accepted Missionary for India, was considered.
The reference was read, and the Convener of Committee heard in ex-
planation. After lengthened reasoning, it was moved by the Rev.
Thomas Hobart, seconded by the Rev. Charles S. Findlay, and agreed
to, that the Synod ftrst confirm the acceptance of Mr. Finlayson as a
Missionary for India, by the Foreign Mission Committee ; and second^
remit to the Foreign Mission Committee to hold a special meeting at
the close of the approaching meeting of the Hall, with power to fix
the time when Mr. Finlayson shall be sent out to Seoni.
VII. REPORTS FROM SPECIAL COMMITTEES.— A number of
Committees appK>inted at last meeting to discbarge special work, gave
in reports, and these may be thus referred to : —
L Report on Proposed Union with the Reforvied Presbyterian
Synod — The Report of t|ie Committee on Union with the Reformed
Presbyterian Synod was presented by the Rev. Alexander Smellie,
Convener. The report was to the effect that the Committee had met
on several occasions with the Committee of the Reformed Presby-
terian Church, that the greatest harmony and brotherly feeling had pre-
nuled among the members, and that they were of one mind in regard
to every matter that had come before them, except on one practical
point, which was deemed of essential importance by the brethren of
the Reformed Presbyterian Synod. The Committee asked for re-
appointment, believing that additional meetings would prove bene-
fel to all parties. On the motion of the Rev. George Anderson,
Conpar Angus, seconded by the Rev. Willian W. Spiers, it was agreed
to receive the report submitted by the Committee with an expression
cf gratification at the progress which had been made towards a Union
"■ith the Reformed Presbyterian Church; that the Committee be
thanked for their diligence in attending to the important matter
•
314 MEETING OF THE
with which they were entrusted ; and that they be re-appointed —
Mr. Smellie, Convener.
2. Report on Congregational Psalmody. — The Report of the
Psalmody Committee drawn up by Mr. Robert Howie, Convener, was
laid on the table and read by the Clerk. The following is the
report : —
Your Committee at its first meeting decided to issue to all the Ministers a
circular of queries, with the view of ascertaining the present position of the
various Congregations regarding Psalmody ; — and at same meeting it was
agreed that several gentlemen should be added to their number — of whom the
following accepted the position :— The Rev. E. Ritchie, Paisley ; and Messrs.
James Lindsay, Edinburgh ; James Paton, Gla^ow ; John L. Howie, PoUok-
shaws ; and Andrew Lawrie, Kirkintilloch.
QUEBIES.
Circulars were issued accordingly', as per copy attached hereto, and repliea
were received from twenty -one Congregations to the queries.
These replies may be tabulated as follows : —
I. As to Precentors— 1. Have you any stated leader of Psalmody in the Con-
gregation?— 16 Congregations have regular Precentors, ^hile 5 have 2 or
more acting by turns.
n. As. to Classes— 2. Has he a Class for the practice of Sacred Music, and
if so, what are its times of meeting ? If not, could such a Class be organized
without difficulty ? 5 Congregations find Classes not to be practicable, for
various reasons. 2 Congregations have not Classes, no reason being assigned.
13 Congregations have Classes, or are to have them in the winter ; one will
have a Class ** when the New Psalmody is forthcoming."
III. As to Books of Tunes — 3. Do you employ any special Book of Psalm
Tunes ? If so, please give its title and publisher's name. 6 Congregations name
no special Book as in use ; 5 Congregations use the old Scottish Psalmody (now
out of print) ; 3 use the new Scottish Psalter which has replaced it ; 3 use Dr.
Henderson's Church Melodies, (published by Messrs. J. & R. Parlane,
Paisley) ; 3 use the Northern Psalter, (published by W. Carnie, Aberdeen) —
2 of these use it along with the old Scottish Psalmody ; while 1 uses the
new Psalter, issued by the Irish General Assembly, along with the old Scottish
Psalmody.
IV. Lists of Tunes — 4. Could you give the Committee a list (more or less
complete) of the Tunes most commonly used in your Congregation ? Please
also name any Tunes which you would like to have added to that list. Pretty
full lists have been received ; these, it is observed, vary according to the Books
in use by the respective Congregations. The Lists of new Tunes desired to be
introduced, consist chiefly of the new copyright Tunes, found in the new
Scottish Psalter and in the other Books in use.
V. As to intimating the Tune to be sung — 5. Do you intimate the Tune to
be Bxmii, in giving out the Psalms, or could this be conveniently done ? In
13 Congregations this is done ; in 3 it might be done, though it has not
hitherto been ; while in five Congregations it is not done, and it is believed it
would not be advisable (or useful) to do so.
VI. Suggestions — 6. Have you any suggestions to make, which might be
serviceable to the Committee in their work? The suggestions made, were
various ; 4 of the replies recommended standing at praise, (1 of these also re^.
UNITED ORIGINAL SECESSION SYNOD. 21$
conuneDding the formation of a Ck>ngregational choir) ; 5 recommend the
tdopfcion by the Synod of a single Book of Tanes for use by all the Congrega-
tions. 1 of these 5, advises the adoption of the new Scottish Psalter, (T.
Kelson & Sons), while others suggest that the Synod should issue a new
Collection of Tunes. I Congregation recommends the adoption by the Synod
of the new Metrical Version of the Psalms, with Tunes, issued by the Irish
General Assembly. The other recommendations are : — The formation of
dasses in Congregations ; the use of chants ; and, that the Synod should issue
a selection of short portions of Psalms, witli Tunes for children, to be used in
Sabbath Schools, &c. This last Euggestion, the Committee unanimously re-
commend to the Synod's special consideration. The suggestion that the
Synod should issue a special Book of Tunes, was remitted to a sub-committee,
who, after going minutely into the matter, coiild not see their way to recom-
mend its adoption.
" Report of Suh-Gommittee regarding SuggestioJM for U. 0. S, Synod, issutTig a
New Book of Psalm Tunen.
Tonr Sab-Committee find from comparing the lists of Tunes wanted by tho
Tikrions Congregations, with the contents of the various Books published and
presently in use, that an addition of some 36 Tunes, mostly copyright and
therefore expensive, would be required to the Book published by Messrs. J. &
R. Parlane ; and that they cannot in the circumstances recommend the Synod
to incur this expense.
To publish an entirely new Book of Tunes, would be still more costly, and
would be a hazardous enterprize, when so many collections are already in use.''
On considering the whole matter, your Committee regret that they do not
lee how they can recommend the Synod to issue a new Book of Tunes, as
teems to be contemplated by a number of the replies received from Congre-
gations.
The Books already in the hands of the public, including the Psalters of the
three large Presbyterian bodies in Scotland, and that of the Irish General'
Aaaembly (all of which have Tunes fitted to the Psalms), take up the ground
so folly, that there seems no room for a new Book of Tunes. This could only
be made up by selecting from the existing Books ; and as the lists of Tunes de-
aired, consist chiefly of copyright Tunes which it would be expensive to print,
the selection would necessarily be a costly Book.
Nor can the Committee recommend the Synod to adopt exclusively any one
of the existing Books for all its Congregations. Each of these Books has its
good points ; and while some of them, notably the Northern Psalter — contain
a great deal of music of the more elaborate class, not well suited for Congrega-
tional singing, all of them give the ordinary Psedm Tunes, which are the most
important, in good, though varying forms.
The Committee rejoice, that the replies received from the various Congrega-
tioos evince an awakened interest in the subject of public praise, and an
amount of commendable effort towards improvement in the rendering of this
part of worship ; and they feel that even in this, their appointment by the
Synod has not been altogether fruitress.
RoBEBT Howie, Convener,
After hearing this report and deliberating thereon, it was moved
ty the Rev. Robert Morton, seconded by the Rev. Alexander Smellie,
and ananimouslj agreed to, that the report le adopted and printed ;
tbat thanks be given to the Committee and more especially to the
2l6 MEETING OF THE
Convener for attending bo diligently to the work with which they
were entrusted ; that the recommendation of the Committee regard-
ing the compilation and publication of a Book of Praise for Sabbath
Schools and Classes bo adopted, and that the Committee be em-
powered to issue such a Book together with a collection of appropriate
tunes, with all convenient speed — the Committee being restricted in
carrying out this remit to a sum not exceeding five pounds out of the
Synod's Business and Hall Fund. It was agreed to re-appoint the
Committee, with those added to the number last year, and with Mr.
Robert Howie, Glasgow, and Rev. Ebenezer Ritchie, Paisley, as joint-
Conveners.
3. Report on Correspondence toith the Dutch Reformed Church. —
The Committee appointed at last meeting to correspond with the
Reformed Church of Holland submitted the correspondence which
had passed during the year. The letter sent to Holland and the
reply received from the brethren there were read, and are here given :
1. Letter from the Synod of United Original Seceders, Scotland,
to the Synod of Dutch Reformed Churches (Doleerendc)
appointed to be held at Utrecht on Monday the 24th day of
June, 1888.
Deak Brbthrbk, — ^lo the name of the Synod of United Original Seceders, we
send to you our fraternal greetings, praying that the Divine presence may be
abundantly enjoyed by you when assembled together in Synod, and the Divine
guidance vouchsafed in the discussion of all the matters that may come before
you, 80 that your meeting may give a new impetus to the cause you have so
nobly espoused and which God has hitherto so manifestly blessed.
At our recent meeting of Synod in Glasgow, the letter sent from yon was
received with great gratification. We all felt devoutly thankful to the Great
Head of the Church for having so signally owned and prospered your efforts
for securing the freedom of the churches in Holland in subjection to the Word
of God. Our hearts were moved with gratitude on hearing that the number
of churches that had joined the moTcment towards freedom had doubled since
last June; and that under many hardships and privations ministers and people
have shown great stedfastness and self-sacrifice, and have been enabled to
carry on important religious, educational and charitable work in their different
districts. You have our deepest sympathy while undergoing the persecution
to which you are being subjected, and wc hope that in the good providence of
God this trial may soon terminate. To cheer you in the midst of your suffer-
ings, we would remind you of the words of our Lord and Master (Luke vi. 22>
23) '* Blessed are ye when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate
yon from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as
evil, for the Son of Man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy ;
for, behold, your reward is great in heaven ; for in like manner did their
fathers unto the prophets."
We were very pleased to Icam that there was some prospect of an honour-
able union between you and the churches that separated themselves from the
State Organisation half a century ago. We trust that the prospect may be
realised, and your hands strengthened in your earnest contendings for the faith,
and in all your work for the Lord. Our hearts were also gladdened with the
intelligence that along with the stand you have been enabled to make for the
UNITED ORIGINAL SECESSION SYNOD. 2l7
spiritoAl liberties of the chnrches there has been a manifest awakening of
Epiritu&l life amongst the people, displaying itself in increased delight in
the Word of God, a deeper sense of sin, a stronger faith and more abundant
pnyerfalness. Surely tnis may be accepted as furnishing clear evidence that
the Lord is with you whoever may be against you, and that He is saying unto
yoa, " Be strong, and of a good courage ; fear not, nor be afraid of them : for
the Lord thy Goid, he it is Uiat doth go with thee ; he will not fail thee, nor
forsake thee."
We trust and pray that your first meeting of Synod — connecting yon as it
does with the days of old, which were days of the right hand of the Most High,
0117 be the means of more firmly securing the advance already made, and oe-
come another starting point for further advance. The place where you meet
is encircled with historical associations, but we should think that none will be
more inspiriting to you than the one recalling the Union of the Northern Pro-
finoes for the defence of civil and religious freedom in the beginning of the
year 1579. The struggle which you are seeking to maintain is essentially the
nme as that so nobly sustained at that early period ; and that He who then
Btrengthened the hands of your heroic ancestors may strengthen yours is our
etrneit prayer.
We have had a pleasant and encouraging meeting of our Synod. The vari-
GQs Reports submitted to it gave evidence of good work being done, both at
borne and abroad, and the discussions and conference on the Stote of Religion
were all carried on in the spirit of brotherly love and amity, and with a deter-
mination to abide in the "old paths," into which we feel we have been divinely
led. We have also a prospect of union with one of the branches of the divided
Keformed Church — that known as the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scot-
land. Your honoured delegate to our Synod a year ago, the Rev. F. Lion
Otehet, also addressed their Synod, which was held in Glasgow a week later
than ours. A union between us would be advantageous to us both, and would
giTe more force to our common testimony in favour of those principles of civil
and religions liberty vindicated and embodied in the civil and ecclesiastical
constitution established at the Reformation. We earnestly trust that diffi-
culties in the way may be removed, and a Scriptural union speedily attained.
The desire expressed in your letter for the maintenance of intercourse be-
tween ns was warmly reciprocated. It has proved very helpful and stimulat-
i&g to oarselves, and anxiety was expressed to send a delegate to your Synod,
to conrey face to face our fraternal greetings. It has not been found practicable,
however, to do so this year, but we hope that this may be accomplished on
nmp future occasion. We also hope to see at our annual meeting some of the
hretbren from Holland, whom we have learned to esteem so highly, and whose
work finds a large place in our sympathy and prayers.
And now, beloyed Brethren, may He who walks amid the seven golden
candlesticks, and who holds the seven stars in His right hand, be in the midst
of yon, ffuiding and upholding you in all your deliberations, and leading you
tosQch aecisions as will be glorifying to His Great Name, and advantageous
to yourselves. *' And the Ix>rd make you to increase and abound in love one
to«ard another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you : to the end
Be may stabliah your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our
Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints. "
•* We are living ; we are dwelling
In a grand and awful time ;
In an age on ages telling.
To be living is sublime.
Oh, let the soul within you
For the truth's sake go abroad.
Strike 1 let every nerve and sinew
Tell on ages— tell for God."
Yours in the fellowship of the Gospel,
In name of the Synod,
(Signed) ANDREW MILLER, Moderator,
„ WILLIAM B. GARDINER,(7/crZ;.
Glasgow, l^h June, 1888.
2l8 MEETING OF THE
2. — Letter to the Synod of the United Original Seceders to meet at
Edinburgh (D.V.) on Monday. May 27, 1889.
Beloved Brethren, — The Synod of Dutch Reformed Chnrchea, which
met at Utrecht in June, 1888, and again in January, 1889, has received with
feelings of great affection your fraternal letter, dated Glasgow, June 16, 1888,
a translation whereof has been entered in the minutes of the Synod.
It would have given us great joy if we, in accordance with the resolatiovk
of the Synod, could have deputed one or more brethren to your Synod,
personally to convey unto you the fraternal greetings of our Churches, to
assure you of our interest in your welfare, and of our earnest desire that the
renewed correspondence between our Churches may not only continue, but
become ever more fraternal, and that the bonds of Christian brotherhood may
be drawn closer. As we cannot, however, for various reasons, at this time
appoint delegates to your Synod, we send you this letter, praying that the
Lord may be in your midst, and may grant you a season of rich blessing, when
yon are met to deliberate upon the affairs of your Church, the upholding of the
truth, and the extension of the Lord's Kingdom.
You will be interested, dear Brethren, to hear that the blessing of the
Lord has been vouchsafed unto our Churches, in a very marked manner during
the past year. About two hundred and sixty Churches, large and small— that
is fully a hundred more than when we last wrote to you — have now broken
with the anti-Christian State Organisation of 1816, and returned to the
Scriptural, well tried Standards of the Dutch Churches of the Reformation.
Churches and manses have been built or procured over the length and breadth
of the land, and that with the more diligence as every claim for the maintaining
of our right on church buildings, manses, glebelands, and funds has been
ignored in the Courts of Justice. Provision has been made by the people in a
very liberal manner, and in many cases above what seemed possible, for the
maintenance of public worship, the instruction of children in Christian schools,
for the support of the poor and also for the spread of the Lord's Kingdom
amone the heathen. Our classes have regularly met, and our Church affkirs
have been conducted in conformity with the " Kerkenordening" of the Re-
formed Churches, subject in all to the Word of God. There are many vacancies
in our Churches, and the services of the Ministers — about 80 in number at
present — are consequently laborious ; but the Free University at Amsterdam
gives good promise of supplying the need of ministers. No less than 15 former
students of that University, are now admitted as ministers in our Churches, and
at least ten more are expected in the course of this year, to enter upon the
ministry. Spiritual life is manifest in many congregations, though never so
much as could be desired, and church discipline is exercised. For these and
many other mercies we have great cause to give thanks unto the Lord our
God.
The present movement of Reformation has not yet run its course, bat is
continuing. The eyes of many are gradually getting opened, for the great sin
and danger of remaining under an Organisation, which is no Church, but rules
over the Churches, and which recognises as ministers, and members, and pro-
fessors in theology equally those who confean the Lord Jesus .is the Son of Qod»
and those who deny the inspiration of Scripture, the divinity of the Saviour,
the redemption through His sacrifice, yea, every fundamental doctrine of the
Christian faith. May the Lord continue to have mercy upon the Churches in
this land, and bring many yet out of the bondage under this State Orgamsation
to the obedience of the Word, and to honour Him as the Great Head of the
Church.
Tiie proposed and much to be desired union between our Churches and the
Christian Reformed Church — the Secession Church of 1835— has not yet taken
place. In January last our Synod met at Utrecht, and the Synod of the
Christian Reformed Church at Kampen, specially to consider the matter of
Union, and both Synods agreed upon most articles of a draft act of Union ; but
on two points — the university course of study for future pastors of the Churches,
and the form of procedure after the Union to free churches from the State
Organisation — tlie Synods could not quite agree, so that these matters have to
UNITED ORIGINAL SECESSION SYNOD. 219
be reconsidered and the voice of the Charches upon them more fully heard.
We have to .abide the Lord's time and good pleasure, and we trust that He
will remove all obetsicles to the Union of Churches, which are one in Confession,
charch government, form of worship — branches of the same parent tree.
Oar nex^ meeting of Synod will (D. V. ) take place in June, 1890, in the city
0/ Leeoivardea, and we should be glad indeed to welcome at our Synod
delegates from your Church .
And now, dear Brethren, may the Lord God be with you, bless you,
itreagthen yon in all your labour for His Name at this time while assembled
in Synod. May brotherly love continue between our Covenant Churches.
Remember us in your prayers. And believe us in the bonds of the Gospel antl
of Christian fellowship. — In the name of the Synod, the Committee for corres-
pondence with Sister Churches,
F. L. Rutgers, Deput. Synodi.
A. F. DB Savornin Lohman, Deput. Synodi.
J. WoLTJER, Deput. Synodi.
F. Lion Cachet, V.D.M., Dep. Syn.
It was thereafter moved by the Rev. John Robertson, seconded by
the Rev. Thomas Hobart, and cordially agreed to, that the Synod
Hear with approbation the letters now submitted, and appoint the
following Committee to draw up and transmit a reply to the letter
recently received from Holland, viz. the Moderator and Clerk, with
the Rev. Robert Morton, — the Moderator, Convener.
4. Report of Committee appointed to confer with Dr, Donald
Munro. — The Report of the Committee appointed at last meeting of
Synod to confer with Dr. Donald Munro, of Wheatholm, Pollokshaws,
waa submitted by the Rev. Andrew Miller, Convener. The report
was to the effect that a meeting of the Committee had been held in
GJaagow last February, to which Dr. Munro had been invited ; that
after some conversation Dr. Munro had read a paper, stating the
ttrms on which he was willing to confer with the Committee, but
«hich were of such a nature that the Committee felt precluded from
assenting to them, and that Dr. Munro had refused when asked to
furnish the Committee with a copy of the paper he had read. The
Ccmmittee had, therefore, to report that nothing had been done in
the way of bringing this case to an amicable conclusion. Before dis-
posing of this report, it was agreed to consider whether the document
which had been laid on the table at the meeting of the Committee
en Bills and Overtures, and which the Committee by a majority had
agreed to transmit, should now be taken up. This document con-
tained a review of the Synod Committee's meeting, along with the
full text of the paper read at said meeting by Dr. Munro, and con-
cluded with a petition to have the whole case remitted to the
Glasgow Presbytery that it may be entered on de novo.
After reasoning, it was moved by the Rev. Robert Morton, seconded
by the Rev. John Sturrock, and unanimously agreed to, that the
Committee's Report be received with thanks for their diligence in
the matter entrusted to them, and that the Committee be discharged ;
and further, that the Synod refuses to take up the Petition of Dr.
Munro, and declares that as Dr. Munro has not availed himself of the
opportunity given him of conferring with the Committee appointed at
Jit meeting of Synod, no further action be taken in the case ; and
that Dr. Munro be informed that until he obtemper the decision
220 MEETING OF THE
arrived at on 13th September, 1881, by the Glasgow Presbytery,
along with Assessors appointed by the Synod and having Synodical
powers, no petition from him will be received. The Moderator in-
timated this decision to Dr. Munro accordingly.
6. Presbyterian Alliance, — The Rev. Dr. Mathews, Secretary cf the
Presbyterian Alliance^ was present by appointment of the Executive
Commission of the Alliance, and on the invitation of the Moderator
addressed the Court. Dr. Mathews referred in a most interesting
address to the objects and aims of the Alliance, and asked the Synod
to continue their cordial co-operation and sympathy therewith. Dr.
Matliews presented the Synod with a copy of the proceedings of the
recent meetings of the Alliance in London. At the close of his ad-
dress it was moved by the Rev. Robert Morton, seconded by the
Rev, John Sturrock, and unanimously agreed to, that the cordial
thanks of the Synod be tendered to Dr. Mathews for his presence and
instructive address, and that he be assured of the Synod's hearty
concurrence in the design for which the Alliance was organised, and
in the desire that it may be productive of great good among the
different sections of the Reformed Church. The Moderator conveyed
to Dr. Mathews the thanks of the Synod for his address, and for the
volume of proceedings which he had laid on the table.
The Deputies appointed at a previous meeting to attend the meet-
ings of the Presbyterian Alliance in London in July last, intimated
that they had been present, and submitted a report of the proceed-
ings, which was received.
The minutes of meetings held by Executive Commission of the
Alliance were laid on the table and partly read by the Clerk. It was
agreed to make an annual grant of two pounds out of the Synod's
Business and Hall Fund to the Alliance, to assist in meeting the ex-
penses entailed in carrying on the operations of the Alliance.
6. Report anent Bible-Class ManuaL — A Report by the Committee
on the Bible-Class Manual was submitted by the Rev. William B.
Gardiner, Convener. The report stated that owing to circumstaaces
the Committee had been prevented from performing the duty
assigned them, and they expressed regret at the delay that had takea
place in the preparation of the hand-book , but if re-appointed would
endeavour to have it in readiness for next meeting. The Committee
asked power to have the draft put in type and copies distributed
among the members prior to next meeting of Synod. After hearing
this report, it was moved by the Rev. Robert Morton, seconded by
the Rev. Thomas Hobart, and agreed to, that the report be received,
and that the Committee be re-appointed with power to print the
draft of the proposed Manual, and send copies to members of Synod
previous to next meeting.
7. Report on " Acts Rescissory.'* — A verbal Report was submitted
by the Rev. Thomas Hobart, Convener of the Committee, appointed
at a previous meeting to make efforts for the repeal of the " Acts
Rescissory.*' The report indicated that no action had as yet been
taken to have the subject brought before the House of Commons ;
but^ if re-appointed, the Committee would co-operate with the Com-
UNITED ORIGINAL SECESSION SYNOD. 221
mittee of the Reformed Presbyterian Synod, for steps being taken
with this end in yiew. The Committee was accordingly re-appointed
—Mr. Hobart, Convener,
VIII. SPECIAL FUNDS.— Reports were submitted on three
separate Funds of the Synod. These embraced : —
1. Tht Mutual Assistance Fund. — The annual Report of the Com-
mittee on the Mutual Assistance Fund, prepared by Mr. William
GibsoD, Convener, was laid on the table and read by the Clerk. The
report was to the effect that the total amount available for distribu-
tion at the present time, including the balance of Miss Wood's
Legacy transferred from the investment account, was £373 17s. 6^d.
The Committee recommended the allocation of the sum of £347 10s.
so as to make the stipends of aid-receiving Ministers, unless in two
eiceptional cases, £130, with a manse. The report conveyed tho
gratifjiDg information that the Congregations of Darvel and Paisley
7ere now self-supporting. Tho following is the Report of the
Committee : —
"The Committee charged with the management of this Fund have to report
that the amount received for the year haa been £302 5s. 10^. , showing an in-
crease of £35 lOs. 34d. over the previous year. The total amount available for
distribution is £373 17s. O^d., which includes the whole balance of the late Miss
Wood's Legacy, which has been transferred from Investment Account. Your
Committee propose to allocate £347 10s. as follows, making the stipends of
aid receiving Ministers £130 with manse, excepting those two congregations
vbo receive the maximum grant.
Sacramental Supplement Total
stipend. Ezpenaea. to Stipend. Manse Stipend.
Aberdeen £100 0 0 — £30 0 0 — £130 0 0
Aiehifileck. 3000 — 5000 — 8000
Blmy 8000 £800 42 00 — ISO 00
Ciwpar-Aiigns 70 0 0 — 50 0 0 £10 0 0 120 0 0
I>VTel (5 months) 120 00 — 434 — 130 00
I>rcaoTe (1 montbX 8000 — 368 ^ 120 00
Xi41«a 120 0 0 — 10 0 0 — 130 0 0
'-•iii? 80 0 0 — 50 0 0 10 0 0 130 0 0
^kttobara - 120 0 0 — 10 0 0 — 130 0 0
Ttherdoney 100 00 — 8000 800 ISO 00
Tiaiso 8600 600 40 00 — 180 00
£819 10 0 £28 0 0 '
28 0 0
£847 10 0
This will leave a balance of £26 7s. 6id. to be carried to credit of next year's
accoDut.
lo last year's Report your Committee pointed out that £100 extra would
^•e required for this year to maintain the stipends at £135, and the Synod gave
MI powers to the Committee to visit any of the Congregations and press the
iluma of this Fand. It was found impracticable to do this, and at a meeting
of tKe Committee held in December last, it was agreed after full consideration
^ isaoe an appeal by circular to ministers and office-bearers on behalf of the
Pood. This was done, and the result has been an increase, as already stated,
cf £35 lOs. 3id. over the previous year. Your Committee think that the
people geaermlly are contributing according to their ability and are not hope-
^that much more can be expected from those congregations who (while self-
scpporting) ^ve substantial support to this as well as the other schemes of the
222 MEETING OF THE
Church, and, therefore, would suggest that the Synod should devise some
means for urging at least some of the aid -receiving Congregations to make an
«ffort to increase their minister's stipend, and relieve the Fund to a corre-
Bponding extent.
Your Committee would suggest that in view of present circumstances and
future prospects the Synod should adopt some measures by which a limit
should be put to the time any Congregation should be permitted to draw the
maximum supplement.
Your Committee are delighted to be able to report Darvel as now self-
supporting, and also tliat Paisley Congregation is in the same happy condition.
Would that some others of our Congregations speedily imitated these examples
of Christian liberality !
The total amount raised from all sources has been ;^,042 17s. 3}d. against
;^6,987 15s. 4^d., for the previous year, being an increase of ;f55 Is. 11 Jd., and
showing an average contribution of £l 19s. SJd. per member, against
£2 Is. l^d. during the year preceding. The average contribution per member
for the Synod Funds has been 5s. 4d. against 58. 4|d. for the previous year.
It has to be noted in closing that this is the first time complete returns have
been received from all the Congregations, and the Committee would express
the hope that in future all the congregational treasurers will furnish similar
returns year by year, to enable us to submit to the Synod a full and accurate
report of the income and expenditure of the whole of the Congregations."
Respectfully submitted by William Gibson, Convener.
On hearing this report, it was moved by the Rev. Thomas Hobart,
seconded by the Rev. Andrew Miller, and agreed to, that the recom-
mendation of the Committee regarding the allocation of the amount
on hand be adopted ; that the Committee, and particularly the Con-
vener, be thanked for their attention to the interests of this Fund,
and that the following Committee be appointed to manage the Fund
during the current year : — viz., Mr. William Gibson, Kirkintilloch ;
Mr. James Lindsay, Edinburgh; Mr. Hugh Howie, Glasgow; Mr.
Laurence Henderson, Glasgow ; Mr. A. G. Anderson, Ayr ; Mr.
Charles P. Leiper, Clydebank, Glasgow ; Mr. James Paton, PoUok-
shields, Glasgow ; Mr. S. W. M*Cracken, L.D.S., Glasgow, and the
Synod Treasurer. It was agreed to appoint Mr. A. G. Anderson
Convener of the Committee, in room of Mr. William Gibson, resigned,
and to tender special thanks to Mr. Gibson for the able manner in
which he has discharged his duties while acting as Convener of this
Committee for several years.
The Clerk reported that in view of the stipend of some of the
Ministecs being reduced this year, a few friends in Edinbui^h had
placed at his disposal the sum of £15 for distribution among some
of the aid-receiving Ministers. The Synod received this information
with approbation, and agreed to thank the generous donors for their gift.
2. Th€ Ministers^ Widows^ and Orphans* Fund, — The report on the
Ministers' Widows' and Orphans' Fund was laid on the table and read
by the Clerk. The report indicated that the receipts for the past
year amounted to £53 28. Od., and that nothing had been disbursed ;
while the sum at the credit of the Fund at the close of the financial
year was £1,033 14s. 2^d. It was intimated that the Rev. David
UNITED ORIGINAL SECESSION SYNOD. 223
Matthew, B.D., Toberdoney, had become a member of the Fund.
The report contained a recommendation that Presbytery Clerks be
iostructed to intimate to the Synod Clerk the date of a Minister's
ordioatioQ within their bounds, in order that he may transmit a copy
0/ the roles hearing on the management of this Fund, and call the
special attention of the newly-ordained Minister to the rule referring
to the pajment of the first premium.
On the motion of the Rev. Thomas Hobart, seconded by the Rev.
John Sturrocky it was agreed to adopt the report with the recom-
loendation contained therein, thank the Committee for their diligence,
and re-appoint the Committee to take the management of this Fund
—the Moderator, Convener.
3. The Aged and Infirm Ministers* Fund. — The report on this Fund
wu submitted by the Finance Committee, and indicated that the
receipts for the year had been £39 53. Od., and arose chiefly from the
iuteiest accruing from the amount invested. The amount expended
hsd been £S5.
On the motion of the Clerk it was agreed to make a grant of £35
oat of this Fund for behoof of the Rev. Alexander Ritchie and family.
IX. CONFERENCE ON RELIGION.— On the Wednesday after-
nooD the Synod held a brotherly conference on the State of Religion.
After praise, the Rev. John Robertson offered up prayer. Thereafter
the Rev. Ebenezer Ritchie, A-isley, read a paper on practical religion,
taking for his subject the necessity on the part both of Ministers and
people of " Power from on High.** Members of Court were then
called on, in the order of the Roll, to report on the carrying on of the
I/jrd's work in their respective Congregations, or in the localities
irhere they reside. Several availed themselves of this opportunity
ttd gave in reports of a very gratifying and encouraging kind. It
was then moved by the Rev. Thomas Hobart, seconded by the Rev.
John M*Kay, and cordially agreed to, that Mr. Ritchie receive the
thanks of the Synod for preparing the paper he had read, and that
he be requested to send it to the Editor for publication in the
Magazine, On the motion of the Clerk it was agreed to appoint the
BeT. David Matthew, Toberdoney, to prepare a paper on practical
religion and submit it at next meeting of Synod.
X. PUBLIC QUESTIONS.— The Report by the Committee on
Pohlic Questiona was presented by the Rev. Thomas Matthew, Con-
vener. The report, being in print and in the hands of members, was
partly read. The report referred at the outset to Sabbath Observance
sad Popish Aggression, and then dwelt on Higher Criticism, the
Berifiion of the Confession, and the symptoms of a Down-grade
^yement in the Scottish Churches.
After hearing this report, it was moved by the Rev. Thomas
Hobart, seconded by the Rev. James Patrick, and unanimously
agreed to, that the report be adopted and printed in the Magazine ;
^ the beat thanks of the Synod be given to the Committee and
especially to the Convener, for their report ; and that the Committee
^re-appointed — ^Mr. Matthew, Convener, with instructions to bring
^ another report on Public Questions at next meeting.
224 MEETING OF THE
XL TEMPERANCE.— The Report of the Temperance Committee
was presented by the Rev. Alexander Smell ie, Convener. As the
report was printed and distributed among the members, only an outline
of it was given by the Convener. The report referred at the outset
to some of the things to be deplored in connection with prevailing
intemperance, and then to some indications of a hopeful kind in
connection with temperance work. The report closed with certain
recommendations and suggestions in the way of efforts being put
forth for suppressing the liquor traffic. After hearing this report, it
was moved by the Rev. Robert Morton that the report be adopted
and printed in the Magazine ; that the best thanks of the Synod be
given to the Committee, and especially to the Convener, for the
report submitted ; and that the Committee be re-appointed — Mr.
Smellic, Convener; and further, that the Conmiittee be authorised
to memorialise the Government against the traffic in strong drink
among native races, and transmit a Petition to the House of Commons
in favour of Mr. M'Lagan's Local Veto Bill; and that the Synod
commends the suggestions contained in the report to the earnest
attention of the office-bearers and members of the Church. This
motion was seconded by the Rev. George Anderson, late of Seoui^ and
agreed to unanimously.
XIL PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS.— On the recommendation
of the Committee on Bills and Overtures, the Synod agreed to petition
the House of Commons in favour of a Goyemment Inquiry into
Monastic and Conventual Institutions, and against the clause in the
Local Government Bill relating to the application of money arising
from the Probate Duty being devoted to free education in denomina-
tional schools. The Moderator and Clerk were appointed a Committee
to draw up, subscribe and transmit these petitions. The same Com-
mittee was appointed to transmit a Petition to the House of Commons
against the Deceased Wife's Sister's Bill, if they see cause ; and also
to memorialise the Board of Works against the opening of the Royal
Botanic Garden of Edinburgh on the Lord's Day.
XIII. MISCELLANEOUS.— The following items of business may
be grouped together.
1. Deputy frorn Irish Secemon Synod, — The Rev. John M*Kay re-
ported that the Rev. David Matthew and himself had received a most
cordial welcome when attending the Secession Synod at its meeting
in Belfast last July, and he introduced the Rev. Samuel Pettigrew,
Mullabrack, the only deputy who had been able to attend the present
meeting. Mr. Pettigrew, after conveying the fraternal greetings of
his brethren, proceeded to address the Synod on the important duty
of prayer. At the close of his instructive address, it was moved bv
the Rev. Thos. Hobart, seconded by the Rev. Ebenezer Ritchie,
Aberdeen, and unanimously agreed to, that the best thanks of the
Synod be given to Mr. Pettigrew for his presence and address. The
Moderator thanked him accordingly.
2. Appointment of Deputies to Irish Synod. — On the motion of
the Rev. William B. Gardiner, it was agi*eed to appoint the Rev.
George Anderson, late of Seoni, and the Rev. Edward White, Dro-
UNITED ORIGINAL SECESSION SYNOD, 225
more, to attend the meeting of the Irish Secession Synod in Belfast
on the first Monday of July.
3. Bitsiness Committee. — In view of the Reports of the various
Gommitteee being printed and distributed among the members before
next meeting of Synod, it was agreed to appoint a small Committee
to arrange the Business to come before the Synod, and to fix on the
moTsrs and seconders of the various Reports. This Committee to
consist of the Synod Clerk, Rev. Thomas Hobart, and Rev. Thomas
Matthew — ^the Clerk, Convener.^ All reports designed for Synod
must be transmitted to the Clerk at least two weeks prior to the
meeting of Synod.
4. Traffic in Opium. — A memorial from the China Liberation
Society was submitted by the Clerk, and asking the Synod to
memorialise the Chinese Government to adopt measures for prohibit-
mg absolutely the importation of foreign opium into China, and to
cheek as far as possible the home production of the drug. It was
mumimously agr-ed to petition in tenns of the memorial, and the
Moderator and Clerk were authorised to petition accordingly in the
name of the Synod.
5. GraiU by Reformed Presbyterian Synod. — There was laid on the
table and read a letter from the Rev. Robert Dunlop, Clerk of the
Reformed Presbyterian Synod, intimating that the Synod at its last
meeting had voted the sum of fifteen guineas to the Theological Hall
Fund of our Church as an acknowledgment of their obligations to uS
in the matter of the Theological Education of their students. The
Clerk intimated the receipt of the amount mentioned from John
M'Donald, Esq., the Treasurer of the R. P. Synod. It was a^rreed to
instmct the Clerk to acknowledge this expression of the gratitude
and goodwill of our brethren in that Church in suitable terms.
6. Appointment of Next Meeting. — It was agreed that the next
nieeting of Synod be held in Mains Street Church, Glasgow, on the
Honday after the 4th Sabbath of May, 1890, at seven o'clock evening.
The Moderator delivered a closing address, dwelling chiefly on
the essential elements in "Power for Service." Prayer was then
offered up, and the closing verses of Psalm cxxii. were sung, after
which the Moderator closed the Svnod bv pronouncing the Bene-
diction. WILLIAM B. GARDINER, Synod CUrk.
SYNODICAL COMMITTEES— 1 889-90.
I. Finance Committee.
The Synod Treasurer, Convener. Mr. Charles P. Leiper.
Mr. Hugh Howie. Mr. James P:iton.
Mr. Laurence Henderson. Mr. S. W. M'Cracken, L.D.S.
Mr. A. G. Anderson.
II. '* Magazine" Committee.
RcT. Thos. Hobart, M.A., Convener. Rev. Peter M*Vicar.
Rev. John Sturrock. ' Mr. George Jack.
Rev. Robert Morton. Mr. Robert Robertson.
II. Divinity Hall Committee.
Rev. Thos. Hobart, M.A., Convener. Rev. William B. Gardiner.
Rev. Professor Aitken, M.A. Rev. Alexander Stirling.
Rev. Professor Spence. Rev. Andrew Miller.
Rev. John Robertson. Rev. Alexander Smellie, M.A.
Rev. John Ritchie. Mr. Hugh Howie.
r
226 SYNODICAL COMMITTEES.
IV. Home Mission and Congregational Work Committee.
Rev. Peter M* Vicar, Convener. Rev. John Sturrock.
Rev. John Robertson. Rev. Andrew Miller
Rev. Professor Aitken, M. A. Rev. Thomas Matthew.
Rev. John Ritchie. Mr. Hugh Howie.
Rev. Thomas Hobart, M.A. Mr. Rol>ert Sproull.
Rev. William B. Gardiner. Mr. ^^ illiam Gibson.
Mr. Robert Howie, Pollokshaws.
V. Foreign Mission Committee. •
Rev. Wm. B. Gardiner, Convener. Rev. Robert Morton.
The Moderator of Synod. Rev. Andrew Miller.
Rev. John Robertson. Rev. 'Iliomas Matthew.
Rev. Professor Aitken, M.A. Rev. Alexander Smellie, M.A.
Rev. John Ritchie. Rev. Edward White.
Rev. Thomas Hobart, M.A. Mr. Hugh Howie.
Rev. John M*Kay. Mr. A. (i. Anderson.
Rev. John Sturrock. Mr. William Lyon.
Rev. Alexander J. Yuill. Mr. John Steel.
Rev. Alexander ii|irling. Mr. Robert Thomson.
VI. mK-ual Assistance Fund Committee.
Mr. A. G. Anderson, Convener, Mr. Laurence Henderson.
Mr. William Gibson. Mr. Charles P. Leiper.
• Mr. James Lindsay. Mr. James Paton.
Mr. Hugh Howie. Mr. S. W. M*Cracken, L.D.S.
The Synod Treasurer.
VIT. Temperance Committee.
Rev. Alex. Smellie, M.A., Convener. Rev. James Patrick.
Rev. Professor Aitken, M. A. Rev. Alexander J. Yuill.
Rev. Charles S. Findlay, Rev. Professor Spence.
Rev. John Sturrock. Rev. Robert Morton.
Mr. William Lyon.
VIII. Public Questions Committee.
Rev. Thos. Matthew, Convener. Rev. Thos. Hobart, M.A.
Rev. Professor Aitken, M.A. Rev. John Sturrock.
Rev. Professor Spence.
IX. Pulpit Supply Committee.
Rev. Andrew Miller, Convener, Rev. William B. Gardiner.
X. Ministers* Widows* and Orphans' Fund Committee.
The Moderator of Synod, Convener. Rev. Thomas Hobart, M.A.
Rev John Robertson. Rev. Chnrles S. Findlay.
Rev. Professor Aitken, M.A. The Synod Clerk.
XI. "Acts Rescissory" Repeal committee.
Rev. Thos. Hobart, M.A., Convener, Rev. William B. Gardiner.
Rev. Robert Morton.
XII. Bible-Class Manual Committee.
Rev. Wm. B. Gardiner, Convener. Rev. Andrew Miller.
Rev. John Sturrock. Rev. Alexander Smellie, M.A.
XIII. Union Committee.
Rev. Alex. Smellie, M.A., Convener. Rev. Andrew Miller.
Rev. Thomas Hobart, M.A. Mr. John Mair.
Rev. Robert Morton. Mr. Robert Leishman.
Mr. William Peterkin.
XIV. Psalmody Committee.
Mr. Robert Howie, j Joint Mr. Robert B. Parlane.
Rev. Ebenezer Ritchie, \ Conveners Mr. Thomas Robertson.
Rev. Wm. B. Gardiner. Mr. Robert J. Wood.
Rev. Peter M* Vicar. Mr. John L. Howie.
Rev. Alex. Smellie, M.A. Mr. James Lawrie.
Mr. James Lindsay.
XV. Business Committee.
The Synod Clerk, Convener. Rev. Thomas Hobart, M.A.
Rev. Thomas Matthew.
ORIGINAL SECESSION SYNOD
TREASURER'S ACCOUNTS.
1888-89.
SYNOD'S BUSINESS AND HALL FUND.
April 30, 1880.
To Collectioos from Congrega-
tions:—
Aberdeen £1 0 0
Arbraath 1 10 0
Audunleck .. ..070
I Ayr 2 8 7
Birssr ..... ..200
Cwloke 0 17 Ik
Carnoasde .. .. 0 13 0
i Coopv-Angus .. .. 1 10 0
"Darrel 10 0
Duodee 2 17 2
Ediflburgh ..24 1 8
Giugow, Mains St. .. 17 18 7
„ Laurieston 0 14 6
/ „ BridgetoQ ..102
' Kilwinning ..228^
■ Kirkcaldy 10 0
Kiridntilfocli .. ..300
Xirnejnair .. ..119
Midlem 1 17 0
Olrir 0 12 6
Jing
j Poilobshaws
'Shottsbttm
' Stranraer ..
' Tbnrso
I Toberdooey
1 10
2 0
« 1
1 16
3 0
1 11
0
0
2
0
0
9
1 14 10
To Donations : —
Friends, Carluke, per
I Rev. Thos. Hobart £7 10 0
MissYoang, Eilinburgh,
per Rev. John Scurrock 2 0 0
A Friend, Kirriemuir.
per Rer. £ I ward White 1 6 0
i Mrs. Stevenson Smith,
j Edinburgh .. ..100
£94 10 0
To
Ex-
11 15 0
0 0
Dooatioas for Legal
A Friend .. £5
' Jote MiUigan, £sq.|
Ayr 1 10 0
WULam Anld, Esq., Ayr 1 10 0
Janes Lorimer, Esq.,
Aberdeen ..100
. A Friend in Ireland, per
R«v. John Sturrock 10 0
' A Friend, per Mr. Robt.
Thomson ..100
To Legacy far Divinity Hall : —
Ldte Miss Catherine
Walker, Peterhead
To CoUectioa at Synod
Set moo £1 9 O3
To Sale of 27 Copies
Testitn^Mjr ..103
To Sale of 7 Copies
RnUs 9f Procedure ..024
11 0 0
10 0
April 80, 1888.
By Balance from Previous Year £190 0 6
April SO, 1889.
By Theological Hall :—
Salary of Professor
Spence .. .. £40 0 0
Salary of Prof. Aitken 16 0 0
Supply of Auchinleck
Pulpit .. .. 12 9 6
Travelling Charges —
Prof. Spence ..060
Hall Officer's Fee .. 1 10 0
Fire Insurance, Hall
Library .. ..076
60 12 0
By Official Expenses : —
Synod Clerk's Salary, £10 0 0
Synod Treasurer's
Salary .. 20 0 0
Synod Officer's Fee 1 10 0
Synod Treasurer's Out*
lay for Postage.^,
Cheques, and Sta>
tioner^ .. ..186
Synod Clerk's Outlay
for Postages and
Incidental Charges 13 2
Committee of Supplies
for Postages and
Telegrams .. 1 18 6
Refreshments at Pro
re nata Meeting of
Synod .. 1 10 0
Synod Officer's Fee at
Pro re nata Meet-
ing of Synod . . 0 10 0
2 11 7i
To Interest <m £100,
Jor behoof of Edin-
bsrgh Minister £3 12 11
To Interest 00 Amount
Invested .. 8 18 2
7 11
To Balance to next Year's Account 284 12
1
3i
£363 0 0
By Printing : —
Synod number of Mag-
azine £21 0 0
Synod Intimations on
Cover of "Magazine "6 0 0
Treasurer's Accounts
for Synod . . . . 2 17 6
Schedules of Congre-
fational Income and
Expenditure .. 0 12 0
Statement of Congre-
gational Income and
Expenditure for Sy-
nod 0 17 0
By Travelling Charges : —
Delegates to Presby-
terian Alliance .. £7 10 0
Delegates to Irish
S^nod ..176
Ministers attending
Committees 6 4 0
Ministers supplying
Midlem and Kirrie-
muir 10 6
By Supply to Editor's Pulpit-
Two Years
By Psalmody Alliance — Moiety of
Expenses at London Meeting . .
By Edmburgh Minister — Interest
on £100
By Interest on money operated on
belonging to other funds
87 15 2
30 6 6
15 2 0
4 12 0
1 12 6
8 12 11
0 17 6
£808 0 0 I
228
OBIGINAL SBCESSIOK SYNOD
HOME MISSION FUND.
April 80. 188&
To Balance of Account
April SO, 1889.
To Collections from Congregation! —
Aberdeen . . ..£100
ArtjToath .. .. i lo
Auchinleck .. ..0 7
Birsay 30
Carluke 17 4
Carnoustie .. 1 14
Cout>ar-Angua .. ..15
Darvel 10
Dundee . . . . 2 17
Edinburgh .. 26 S
Glasgow, Mains Street 18 0
„ Laurieston .. 0 19
„ Bridgeton ..11
Kilmarnock . . 2 10
Kilwinning ..2 8
Kirkcaldy .. 2 10 6
KirUntiUoch .. ..789
Kirriemuir .. 1 3 1^
BCidlom 40
Olrig 0 10
..£120 2 lOi
0
0
0
H
4
0
0
9
8
4
0
2
0
4
Paisley 5 0
Perth 1 19
PoUokshawi ..6 9
Shottsbum ..5 3
Stranraer 8 0
Thurso 0 14 9
Toberdoney .. .. 0 18 6
0
0
0
6
7
0
0
April 30, 1889.
By Salaries-
Rev. John M'Kay,
Bridgeton.. .. £60 0 6
Bev. A. J. YuiU,
Laurieston 50 0 0
Bev. James Patrick,
Carnoustie .. 50 0 0
Bev. Ed. White, Kirrie-
muir, till 27th Feb. SO 2 4
Bev. Ebeneser Blt-
chie, Paisley .. 20 0 0
Mr. John Laird, KU-
mamock .. .. 60 0 0
£276 2 4
By Grants for Tracts—
Bridgeton Congregation £1 0 0
Carnoustie „ ..100
Kilmarnock „ ..100
Kirkintilloch „ ..100
Laurieston ., ..100
By Rent of Mission Room,
Kirriemuir
By Balance to next year's Ao-
count
6 0 0
SIS 0
m 17 lOi
To Contributions —
Arbroath — Sabbath
School £16 4
Arbroath — Mr. John
Matthew's Bible Class 0 8 0
Edinburgh — Young
Men's Sabbath Mor-
ning Association . « 0 15 0
Glasgow. Mains street —
Sabbath Morning Fel-
lowship Meeting .. 0 10 0
Glasgow, Laariston— Bev.
I A.J.Yulir8BibleCia8s0 10 6
Thurso— Sabbath School 0 10 0
118 18 0
To Donations-
Friends, Carluke, per
Bev. T. Hobart . . £7 10
A Friend. Sydney, N.S.
W., per Mr. Jack .. 2 10
, Miss Young, Edinburgh,
p. Bev. John Sturrock 2 0
! A Friend interested in
work at Kilmarnock 2 0
A Friend, Kirriemuir,
per Bev. Edw. White 1 5
I A Friend, Dundee ..10
Jas. H. Galloway, Esq.,
Dundee 10
Anonymous, Barrhill 1 0
Mr. James T. Garland,
Kilwinning .. 0 6
Miss Smith, Lancaster,
per Mr. B. Bobertson 0 2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
6
To Legacy-
Late Miss Margt. Murray, Glaa., 46
To transferred from Investment
Account —
Legacy of MJsa Wood £90 0 0
Surplus 50 0 0
— 140
To Interest—
On amount Invested £7 3 3
On Bank Account 3*3 0
10
18 12
0
6
0
0 0
6 3
£456 16 2}
>:i5rt 16 2(
treasurer's accounts.
229
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230
ORIGINAL liECESSION SYNOD.
FOREIGN MISSION FUND.
April 80, 1889.
To CoUectioni from CoDgregaiions : —
Aberdeen ..£6 18 9
Arbroath .. 1 16 0
Attchinleck .. .. 0 7 0
Ayr 81 10 0|
Blnay 2 0 0
Carluke 26 4 6^
Camouitie .. 0 19 5
Coupar-Angos . . 1 13 8
Darvel 1 17 9
Dundee 7 4 4
Ediobnrgh .. 84 1 0
Glasgow —
Maine Street ..39 2 4
Laurieiton .. .. 0 17 0|
Brldgeton ..167
Kilwinning .. .. 2 6 4^
Kirkcaldy .. 1 13 6
KirkintUloeh .. .. 6 10 0
Kirriemuir .. 1 16 0
Midlem 17 1
Olrlg 0 10 0
Paislej 6 0 0
Perth 6 13 11
PoUokehawa .. ..624
Shotteborn .. 2 16 2
Stranraer ..700
Thnreo 2 0 0
Toberdoney .. .. 1 18 2
£198 9
To Contributiona per
Family Boxes, per
Bev. A. Stirling-
Arbroath .. £1 19 3
Ancbinleck .16 9
CSonpar- Angus . . . . 0 18 0
Dundee 18 6
Kirkcaldy .. 1 16 8
Kirkintilloch .. .. 3 16 0
Mains Street, Glasgow, 2 16 8
Midlem .. 7 1 0^
Do. 1887-88 ..056
Perth 4 3 3i
PollokshawB .. ..664
Thuno 0 12 0
32 6
To Collections from
Congregations of the
Iriah Synod -
Belfast £2 6 0
Boardmills .. .. 6 12 0
Clare 110
Cootehill ..170
Coronary ..620
Germany's Grove . . 2 11 6
Mollabrack and £my-
vale 2 4 6
Tullyrallen .. 0 11 84
Tyrone's Ditches ..886
28 18
To Contributions—
Arbroath—
Sabbath School . . £1 6 4
Bev. A. Stirling's
Bible Class . . 0 19 0
Mr. John Matthew's
Bible Class ..083
Dundee —
Sabbath School .. 2 18 9
^
Carry forward, £6 12 4 £269 18 2}
To Zenana Work-
Ladies in Pollokshaws
Congregation, — col-
lected by Mrs. Gar-
diner .. £10 8
Glasgow. Mains Street,
4>er Miss Smith ..16
0
0
To Donations —
Mrs. Buchanan, New
York, per Mr. Jack £10 0
Friends, Carluke, per
Kev. Thos. Hobart 10 0
A Friend, Glasgow . . 6 0
A Friend, Sydney,
N.S.W., perMr. Jack 6 0
Anonymous, Wishaw 2 0
A Friend in Dundee,
per Mr. Jack ..800
0
0
0
0
To Contributions— CoiUiniMd
Brought forward, £6 12
4 £260 13 ti
Edinburgh-
Young Men's Sabbath
Morning Fellowship
Association.. .. 0 16
0
Glasgow—
1
Laurieston—
1
Rev. A. J. Yulll's
Bible Class . . 0 10
6
Kirkintilloch—
Sabbath School ..18
0
Collections at Prayer
Meeting .. ..2 2
3
Midlem—
Sabbath Sehool ..17
8
Olrlg-
Bev. Robt Stewart's
Bible Class ..0 6
0
Perth
Sabbath School ..16
6
Young Women's Sab-
bath Fellowship
Association .. 0 10
0
Bev. Robt. Morton's
Bible Class .. 0 16
2
Pollokshaws—
Sabbath School ..2 4
H
Rev. W.B. Gardiner's
Bible Class ..10
0
Shottabum—
Rev. John Ritchie's
Bible Class . . 0 16
0
— Ifi 19 li
To Collections at Mis-
~~ JA AS Xf
sionary Meetings-
Dundee £117
6
Edinburgh .. 2 10
2
Glasgow, Brldgeton . . 0 12
Kirkintilloch—
6
Mr. Blakely's Instal-
lation ..6 0
0
Perth 2 4
7
19 A ft
To Special Donations
for support of Village
Teacher-
Jon. Scott, Esq. , Carluke,
p. Rev. T. Hobart £6 0
John Dick, Esq., Edin-
0
burgh 6 0
0
10 0 0
11 13 0
Carry forward, £35 0 0 £812 8 0
TREASUBBR8 AOOOUKTS.
231
FORErGN MISSION FVND— Continued.
Braa«ht forward, £36 0 0 £S12 3 0
Min Young. Ediobargh,
per. Ber. J. Storrock 2 0 0
AFriendinAjiahire.. 2 0 0
AaooTinoiu, Barrhlll 10 0
Mr. iu. M. HsniaoD,
Auld 10 0
Mo. Brttie. Aberdeen 10 0
ICn. Stevenaon Soaith,
Idinbazfli .. ..100
A Friend, Kirriemuir,
per Ber. B. Wbite 15 0
J. D. Motherwell, . . 0 10 0
Mi. Donean Fnser,
Qurbridfe . . . . 0 10 0
In Hfemory of David
Dnnlop Serrice, j on. ,
Kilwinning .. .. 0 10 0
MiM Corbet, Beanly,
perHr. E. Boberteon 0 7 0
IL A., Anyleehire, per
Mr. R. £ob«rtM>n ..060
Mr. James T. Qarland,
KilwittBlag .. ..050
J.G. C, Ayr .. ..050
Brought forward £46 18 0 £312 8 0
Mrs. Dudgeon, Stir-
ling, per Mr. B. Bo-
berteon ..060
47 8 0
To LegacT—
Late MiM Mihrgaret Murray,
Glasgow 45 0 0
To Exchange on Bemittancee to
India 59 18 6
To Transferred from Investment
Account, Legacy of Miss Wood 90 0 0
To Girls School at ^eoni—
Government Grant,
lOi months ..£600
Municipal Grant .. 23 2 0
Do. for Bepairs . . 8 12 0
Subscriptions for
School .. 10 2 0
Bealised from Sale of
OldSchoolhouse.. 4 0 0
BesulU Grant .. 2 16 11
40 17 11
To Interest on Amount Invested 5 6 11
To Balance to next Year's Account 462 2 8i
Guiy forward £46 18 0 £812 8 0
£1061 12 0^
April SO. 1888.
By Balance of Account . .
April SO, 1880.
By Salaries —
Bev. O.Anderson, till
SlstMay, 1889 £200 0 0
Mr. Bobert Blakely.
3d Nov., 1888, till
3d May 1889 .. 60 0 0
Gratuity to Kev. G.
Aadcraon to assist
in educating his
ehildreo .. . 50 0 0
Bxtni Gratuity for
above for 1887 .. 15 0 0
JohBMoses,OatechUt86 0 0
Gratuity to Bev. G.
Anderson towards
defraying expenses
to Bombay .. 16 16 0
£292 0 7i
Brought forward £7 10 11 £802 10 5^
tending Missionary
Meetings . . . . 2 17 0
Travelling Charges,
Bev. D. Whitton,
Missionary .. 0 10 0
Bev. A. Stirling, Tra-
velling Charges and
Outlay for Boxes.. 1 16 0
Copy Magazine for
Seoul in 1888 ..036
By Zenana Work—
Zenana Agent ..
CHris' School ..
10
44
0
2
0
9
By Geneial Expenditure —
Bepain on Property £37 16 4^
Conveyance .. .. 31 14 9
Bandole School ..789
Medicine .. 4 5 10
Postages, kc . . 1 17 9
GroandBent ..120
Sundries .. 6 6 7^
866 16 0
64 2 9
By OfBdal Expenses—
Proportion of Synod
Clerk's Salary ..£5
Convener of Com-
mittee's Outlay for
Postages, Ac. . . 1
Travelling Charges at-
teadingCOmmittee
Meetings .. .. 1 10 0
Travelling Charges,
I>epotiMA others at-
80 12 1
0 0
9 11
Carry forward £7 19 11 £802 10 5^
By Printing Account —
List of Box-holders £1
Labels for Boxes . .
Notices of Meetings
on Post Cards
Advertising Mission-
ary Meetings at
Perth, Edinburgh,
and Bridgeton
13 6 11
0
0
8
0 13
0 6 6
0 17 1
By Life Assurance —
Bev. Geo. Anderson
Mr. Bobert Blakely
8
8
4
5
3
1
By Extraordinary Expenditure—
Mr. ft Mrs. Blakely,
Passage Money Li-
verpool to Bom bay £80 0 0
Do. Travelling
Charges In Scotland
and India . . ..648
Outfit for Bfr. and
Mrs. Blakely .. 80 0 0
Bev. G. Anderson
and family, Travel-
lingcharges return-
ing home . . .. 98 18 10
2 16 10
16 9 4
By Interest on Money operated
on belonging to other Funds
216
11
8
5
6
0
£1061 12 0^
232 ORIGINAL BE0ES8I0N 8TN0D.
MINISTERS' WIDOWS' AND ORPHANS' FUND.
April 80, 1888.
To Balance of Account
April 80, 1880.
To Kirriemuir Congregational
Collection Tor 1887-88 ..
To Annual Subscriptions
Rev. Prof. Aitken .. £1 0 0
.. George Anderson,
Coupar-Angus 10 0
George Anderson,
Seom
Chas. S. Findlay
W. B. Gardiner
Thomas Hobart
George Laverty
David Matthew
Thomas Matthew
Andrew Miller
John Moody . .
Kobert Morton
John M 'Kay, ..
Peter M 'Vicar
James Patrick
Ebenezer Ritchie,
Aberdeen
Ebenezer Ritchie,
Paisley
Ritchie . .
Robertson
Robertson
Professor Spence
Wm. W. Spiers
raisle
.. John Rii
.. John Ro
.. Thos. R(
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Alexander Stirling 1
John Sturrock 1
Edward White 1
Alex.J. Yuili .. 1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
To Interest on Amount
To
Invested
Interest
Account
on Bank
£310 12 2^
0 7 0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0 0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
£23 10 0
8 6 0
April SO, 1889.
By Balance to next
Account ..
Year's
£961 14 2}
26 0 0
26 16 0
£363 14 2i
£868 14 2i
THE SEONI mSSION SCHOOL FUND.
AprU 30th, 1880.
To Collecting Cards,
per Rev. A. Stirling-
Aberdeen .. £2 12 7i
Arbroath .. 3 14 ]0
Birsay 10 0 0
Carluke 7 6 0^
Caraouatie 14 0
Conpar- Angus . . ..150
Darvel 17 0
Ihindee 0 12 0
Edinburgh .. 15 0 6
Glasgow— Mains St. . . 1 15 0
Kirkcaldy .. .. 0 18 0
Kirkintilloch .. .. 10 7 0
Midlem 15 0
Perth 1 11 8
PoUokshawB .. 4 0 6(
Shottsbum ..600
Stranraer .. .. 10 0 0
Thurso 6 2 1
t
Brought forward, £84 10 4
To Realised in India :—
Government Grant £120 0 0
School Fees . . . . 19 16 0)
Subecriptlons .. 13 14 7i
m « , 158 10 8
To Balance to next Year's Account 242 6 11
£480 6 11
£84 10 4
Carry forward £84 10 4
TREASURER 8 ACCOUNTS.
233
THE SEONI MISSION SCHOOL FUKD^GonHnued,
i April 30, 1-8&
' Bv BaUace of Account
April 30, 1889.
By Salaries of Teachers ..
Repain <m SGhoolhoo8e£7 13 i
Scriptnrea .. 1 2 10*
i^utionarj .. 4 5 7i
Bepain on Famitiire,
Matting, Aic 2 11 7*
Sundries.. .. 1 10 ll{
Haps and Apparatus . . 3 19 0
£260 8 0
198 11 0
21 8 6
Carryforward, £470 2 5
Brought forward, £470 2 6
By General Expenditure-
Printing List of Col-
lectors ..£12 6
Printing Collecting
Cards 0 13 3
1 15 9
By Interest on moner oi^rated
on belonging to other Funds ..889
£480 6 11
FOREIGN MISSION ORPHANAGE FUND.
April 30« 1887.
To Balance of Account . .
April 30, 1889.
To DoDationi for support of
Orphans —
Krs. Rettle, Aberdeen £5 0 0
Hn. Sterenson Smith,
EdinlMugh .. ..500
Km norland, Stran-
raer 5 0 0
Mn. Jas. Scott, Glas-
fow, 5 0 0
Miss Anderson, Kirk-
Cildy ..500
Ladies In Ayr Cbngre-
g»tion 5 0 0
TUoinasCnrr, Esq.,
Kirkintilloch ..500
Bobt Tbonuoo, Esq.,
EdiDborgh, .. ..500
Tnutees of the late
liisnBMiller,Carluke 5 0 0
Cariske— Toong Men's
Christian Associaiion
sod Bible Class ..500
..£247 8 8
To Doaatl<ma—
A Friend, Fifeshire, for
npportofanOrphan £5 0 0
A niead, Sydney,
N.S.W.,per;Mr.Jack 2 10 0
Muy and John Cowie-
wn, Ayr, . . ..030
60 0 0
To CoBtribntion—
Poaokihawe— Rer. W. B. Gar-
(User's Middle Class ..
"^0 Irish Secession Congregations —
Colleeting Cards, Mul-
l*bnekandEnayTale£l 0 0
Tyrone's Dltcfaea .5 3 6
To Legacy of Miss Catherine
Walker. Peterhead ..
To CoUected by Mis. Gouinlock ,
£dinbargh
To Soipliu transferred from In-
vestment Account
To Eealised in India—
^bscripUons from Patrons of
Orphans
To Interest —
^>Q Amonnt Inrested £3 12 11
'"B Bank Account .. 4 15 0
7 13 0
0 17 0
6 3 6
10 0
6 0 0
100 0 0
20 8 0
8 7 11
£146 17 8
AprU 80, 1889.
By Orphanage Expenditure—
Food for Inmates £45 6 2
Clothing for Orphans 12 1 9 8
Books, Fees, Ac., . . 5 15 1
Matron's and Ser-
Tant's Wages . . 43 5 0
Fire and Light 6 8 10
Repairs ..627
Sundries .. 6 9 4
£124 6 8
By Balance to next
year's Account 822 11 0
£446 17 8
234
ORIGINAL SECESSION SYNOD
AGED AND INFIRM MINISTERS' FOND.
April 80, 1888.
To Balance from prayious year . . £208
April SO, 18»9.
To Kilwinning Congregational
Collection
To Interest— On
Amount Invested £35 1 8
Do. on Bank Accouut 2 17 8
To Transferred from Investment
Account
^208
5 4
1
6 I
37 18 11
90
0 0
£887 10 4
April 30, 1889.
BjrRev. H. Ritchie
By Grant to Sirs. A.
Ritchie, Carnoustie 6 8
By Balance to neit year's Acconnt 802 10
.. £28 12 0
0
4
£837 10 4
STUDENTS' AND BURSARY FUND.
April 80, 1888.
To Balance from previous year . . £34 10 6
April 30, 1889
1
To Confnregational CoUectioni
1 —
Aberdeen . .
£1 0
0
Auchinleck
0 7
0
Birsay
1 0
0
Carluke
2 15
7*
Carnoustie
0 11
6
Coupar- Angus ..
1 0
0
Darvel
1 0
0
Dundee
1 0
0-
Edin- urgh
10 16
6
Glasgow, Mains St.
8 8
8
Do. Laurieston
0 12
Si
Do. Bridgeton
0 15
Kirkcaldy..
Kirkintilloch ..
0 10
0
1 0
0
Midlem ..
0 10
0
Olrig
0 7
6
Pauley
1 10
0
Perth
1 11
0
PoUokvbaws
3 6
6
Shottsbum
1 5
eSQ 5
0
Carry forward.
8^ £34 10 6
Brought forward £89 5 8| £84 10 6
Stranraer .. 2 7 0
Thurso .. 1 11 11
Toberdoney 10 4
To Donation—
Friends, Carluke per Rev.
Thos. Hobart
To Interest on Amount In-
vested .. £7 16 0
Do. on Bank Account 0 7 0
44 4 lU
2 0 0
8 8 0
£88 18 bk
April 80, 1889.
By Mr. James Young, Perth,
"Dick"Bunary ..
By Mr. James Patrick, M.A.,
B.Sc., Carnoustie, (2nd Bnnary) 7 0
By Outlay at Bursary Competi-
tion and Books for Competitors 1 12
By Balance to next Year's Aoc. 72 O
£8 0 0
0
5i
£88 18 r'
STATE OF THE FUNDS AT THE CLOSE OF FINANCIAL YEAR,
30th APRIL, 1889.
1. Synod's Business
and Uall Fund-
Invested
2. Home Mission
Fund-
Invested . £50 0 0
Cash on band 171 17 10(
3. Mutual As&istance
Fund-
Invested . . £206 1 11
Cash on hand . 373 17 6^
4. Aeed and Infirm
Ministers' Fund —
Invested .. £863 18 1
Cash on hand 802 10 4
£210 0 0
221 17 10^
570 10 6
1166 8 6
6,6,7. Foreign Mission,
Orphanage, and
^eoni School
Funds-
Invested
50 0 0
Carryforward, £2218 6 9
Brought forward. £2218 6
8. Students' and Bur>
sary Fund —
Invested . . £200 0 v
Cash on hand 72 6 5^
O
9. Ministers' Widows'
and Orphans'
Fund-
Invested .. £(>70 0 0
Cash on hand 363 14 2^
272 6 5i
1033 14 S^
£3624 6 6
Investments £2240 0
O
Balance in Bank 680 18
6
Cash in advance to Seon:
Mission 137 18
1
Synod's Business and Hall Fund,
Debit Balance— 234 12
3^
Foreign Mission, Orphanage,
and Seoni School Funds, Debit
Balance- 87117
n
£3524 6
5
treasurer's accounts.
235
£210 0 0
50 0 0
806 1 11
INVESTMENTS.
UtuUr Debeniure Bauds of Clyde Navigation. Trustee* and City Imfrovtment Trust.
Interest at Sj, 3} or K per cent.
1. Synod Bosircss and Hall Fund —
Donation of Mi&s Dick £80 0 0
Legacy of Miss Dick 120 0 0
Sale of ColmoneU Propert)' 00 0 0
1 Home Mission Fund —
Donatioo of Mus Dick £80 0 0
L^acy of Miss Dick 20 0 0
1 Hotoa] Assistance Fund~
Legacy of Mr. John Gourlaj £156 111
Donation of MGs Dick SO 0 0
Legacy of Miss Dick SO 0 0
4. Aged and Infirm Ministers' Fund—
^rplus £686 18 1
Donation of Miss Dick 80 0 0
Legacy of Miss Dick 20 0 0
Legacy of Miss £liz. Ross 9700
Legacy of Mr. T. L. Craigle 20 0 0
3. Foreign Mission Fnnd —
Donation of Miss Dick £80 0 0
Legacy of Miss Dick 20 0 0
IX Stodents' and Bursaiy Fund- -
Donation of Miss Dick .. £100 0 0
Donation of John Dick, Esq 100 0 U
7. Ministers' Widows' and Orphans' Fund —
Sorpln* £470 0 0
Donation of Miss Dick 100 0 0
Donation of John Dick, Esq. 100 0 0
853 18 1
MOO
200 0 0
670 0 0
£2240 0 0
invested in Mission House Property^ India
£800.
COMPARATIVE ABSTRACT OF RECEIPTS,
FOR Years 1887-88 and 1888-89.
1887-88.
STBod'i BuioeM and HaU Fond . . £175 15 1
Boow Uiadou Fond 160 6 H
Hatnal Aaaistanoe Fnnd 266 16 7
^MifiiMenT Widows' * OrplwD*' Fnnd 106 0 0
'^tadcnu' and Bnrwiy Fitad 8 5 10
ForeifD MS-sion Fnnd 460 10 10^
fcmlfn Mission Orphanage Fond 00 10 8
•^«osi Miaaion School Fund 253 1 8^
Afed and Inflnn Ministers' Fnnd 40 7 8
£1582 8 Hi
t Xo ConeellOD made during current year.
* C3iuicfa.door Collection for this Fund.
1888-89.
£128 7 8i
196 12 4
802 6 lOi
58 2 0
54 7 11^
519 9 4
99 9 6
288 1 0
89 5 0
£1681 0 7i
Increase. Decrease.
— £47 7 4i
£27 5
85 10
46 2
58 9
54 18 9
£167 7
118 10
5
9
0 18
15 0 8^
12 8
£118 10 0
Net Increase, £48 16 8
AUDITORS' CERTIFICATE.— We have examined the various Accounts in the Books of the
DT^ad Treasurer, for the year ending 30th April, 1889, with their relative vouchers, and find them
<37ea, the Rcceipcs and Balances being as stated in the foreKotn^ Abstracts.
(Signed) HUGH HOWIE.
LAURENCE HENDERSON.
Gutscow, 10th Ma/, 1689. JOHN M. CAMPBLLL.
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REPORT OF FOREIGN MISSION COMMITTEE. 237
FOREIGN MISSION REPORT.
May, 1889.
Ill submitting another report of the work carried on in the foreign
field, your Committee have at the outset to refer with special grati-
fication to the appointment of Mr. Robert Blakely as one of our
agents at the Mission Station in Seoni, and they have also to mention
vith mingled feelings, the home-coming of the Rev. George Anderson,
along with Mrs. Anderson and their three children. The changes
which haye taken place in oar staff of workers cannot be liglitly
passed over ; and yet we can see the over-ruling hand of God in
inclining and qualifying one worker to take the place of the other when
necessity was laid upon our Senior Missionary to set his face home-
v&rds, and seek needed rest and renewed vigour in his native land.
Thos in several respects the year just closed will be an eventful one
in the history of our Mission. On the one hand, when a Missionary
who has attained wonderful facility in speaking the vernacular of the
district, who has spent his time and strength for well-nigh eighteen
rears in the midst of a dense heathen population, and has broui^ht
bis inflaence to bear in a variety of ways on the community for their
highest good, has been led to relinquish the position he has so ably
filled, his absence must be greatly felt; while on the other hand, when
a yoong and fresh worker has entered ou his labours, it must needs
take some time before he acquires the habit of speaking fluently to
the people, of becoming familiarised with their manners and customs,
and of obtaining that hold upon them which is so essential for carrying
on operations among them with comfort or success. Yet this is our
belief that through one Agent equally with another the Lord can
reach the hearts of the ignorant and idolatrous and lead them to
serious reflection and anxious thoughtfulness about themselves and
their position, about the false and the true. Indeed the change of
Agent may, under God, be followed with results of the most beneflcial
kind ; for what the one has preached the other may reiterate, and
thus the message which each has been commissioned to carry to the
people will be repeated and emphasised in such a way as to convince
the heathen that the Church at home longs to convey the best ot all
Bwssages to those whose salvation is so much desired. And then
when good results flow from the labours of both, the old and familiar
ttjing will be verified : " One soweth and another reapeth." Our
Wt's desire and constant prayer to God is that a rich harvest of
souls may soon be gathered to the blessed Saviour from among the
loanj thousands who have heard the glad tidings of salvation in that
^-offland, *Hhat both he that soweth and he that reapeth may
Kjoice together."
Acting on the instructions of Synod, your Committee along with
the Glasgow Presbytery took steps to have Mr. Blakely formally set
Apart as an Evangelist to labour in the foreign field. Having been
duly examined by the Presbytery on his knowledge of Divine truth,
238 REPORT OF FOREIGN MISSION COMMITTEE.
and the examiuation reported as very satisfactory, Mr. Blakelj was
formally installed into office at a meeting held in Kirkintilloch
Church, on the evening of the 24th September. Representatives of
the different Presbyteries took part in the proceedings, and the laz^
attendance at the services indicated the deep interest which the mem-
bers of Kirkintilloch congregation and the residents of the town took
in the setting apart of a son of the Manse to the work of an Evan-
gelist. It is to be regretted that the limited time at Mr. Blakely's
disposal prevented him from visiting any of our congregations, or of
letting his voice be heard by our people. But the members of Com-
mittee who have had an opportunity of hearing him can bear testimony
to his aptitude to teach, while others speak highly of him as a zealous
and indefatigable worker in the Sabbath School, and an earnest and
impressive speaker at meetings of young men. Information has
already been communicated to the Church, through the MagcaiM, of
the good work he accomplished in his native town, and in the village
of Waterside, adjoining his former residence, and no one can read what
was said by those competent to pronounce an opinion without con-
cluding that he is thoroughly qualified for the duties of the office
which he now fills. Moreover his business training, his tact and
decision of character, together with his piety, will fit him admirably
for taking the oversight of all the branches of our work. . May he
ever prove himself to be, a workman never needing to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth ! It is known to your Conunittee
that Mrs. Blakely has taken an active and prominent part in house-
hold visitation, and in promoting the highest welfare of both old and
young in the locality where she resided, and the experience thus
gained will help her materially in dealing with the women and girls
of all grades where her lot is now cast. We trust that many days of
active usefulness await them both in the land whither they have gone,
and that in the abundance of the work given them to do they will
realise much of the Divine presence and blessing, so that their labour
may not be in vain.
As the state of Mr. Anderson's health did not permit him pro-
longing his sojourn in India, he and his wife and family left Seoni on
the 20th March, amid ample evidence of deep regret on the part of
many, and with numerous expressions of good wishes for their welfare.
Previous to setting out for Scotland a public meeting was held, pre-
sided over by an influential native, and Mr. Anderson was presented
with an address in which he was warmly thanked for the good work
he had done in Seoni, and commended for the masterly way in which
he carried on the education of so many native boys and young lads.
On the last Sabbath of his residence at Seoni, the Sacrament of the
Lord's Supper was dispensed in our Mission Church, which was well
filled on the occasion ; and the fact of Mr. Anderson's immediate
departure from the district would render the services peculiarly
affecting and impressive. After a brief sojourn at Nagpur and
Bombay, our Missionary and his family set sail for home, and being
favoured with a pleasant passage they reached their destination in
safety. It is our earnest hope and desire that many years of useful-
REPORT OF FOREIGN MISSION COMMITTEE. 239
ness await Mr. Anderson m some congenial sphere of labour at home,
and that he may be long spared to work for Christ, and bear witness
for His tmth and cause.
Instead of following the usual custom of breakinpr up Mr. Anderson's
Report into fragments, and appending explanatory remarks thereon,
we will on this occasion produce it intact, and thereafter offer
some obserrations on the different departments of our work in India,
and on kindred subjects which require to be reported to the Synod.
Mr. Anderson's Report of the Seoni Mission for the past year, as
submitted to your Committee on the litk May, is as follows : —
Report of thk Seoni Mission for the Year 1888-9.
It is with no ordinary feelings that I submit my report of mission work for
the year 1888-9, on the eve of my withdrawal from the foreign field. It is now
Dearly 18 years since I first left for India — a period mnch shorter than that
ipent by some veteran missionaries in the mission field, but yet much longer
than that spent by a large proportion of my fellow-labourers in India. I
deeply regret that circumstances— especially those connected with the state of
ny health — seem to indicate that it is my duty to withdraw from the work
m which I have been engaged in Seoni. I have tried to sow the good seed in
a field which no one had previously attempted to cultivate, in the faith that
my labours in the cause of the Lord would not be in vain.
The question wiU occur to many. What is the result of so many years'
labour ? I would not feel called on to answer any one who would put such
a qaeation in a spirit of criticism or fault-finding ; but to those who put it in a
spirit of kindly interest I would reply, the results are by no means equal to
my deaires and prayers, and often have I been constrained to say, Who hath
believed our report ? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed ?
Yet to the praise of His grace I have to put on record certain facts which
&how that the Gospel of Christ has been in our mission field the power of God
onto salvation, as well as other facts that give hope of fruit in the future.
To begin with, there is now a native Christian community of 72 persons
conoected with the nussion, of whom no fewer than 60 would still have been
heathen but for the work carried on by the mission. This number includes
29 adults and 43 children — all who have been baptized into the name of Christ ;
bat it does not include any who have died or removed to other parts of India.
There are 12 native members in full communion, of whom 3 have been received
from other chtirches. To this community , as well as to the few Europeans and
Enraaians of Seoni, the mission has provided the privileges of the Gospel
ministry.
1 caonot indeed say that all these are true believers in Christ— and what
Buaister anywhere can say that all the members of his congregation are so ?
bot there are some in Seoni, both young and old, whose profession and con-
duct are such as to encourage the belief that they have passed from death un-
to life. There are others regarding whom we have not the same encourage-
BieDt to hope ; but much allowance needs to be made for the influence of early
baUta and training and for the effect of their surroundings upon them.
Moreover, the Gospel has been blessed to the conversion, to all human
Hipearance, of a number of Europeans and Eurasians, some of them from
pentire infidelity. This may not be the direct end of the mission ; but I look
240 REPORT OF FOREIGN MISSION COMMITTEE.
on it as a very important one, and one which tends very much to the realisa^
tion of its direct end— viz., the conversion of the heathen to Christ. The
edification of Christian peopler resident in Seoni has also been a part of the
result of our work ; and over and over have they borne testimony to this effects
Such facts as these have done much to encourage us at times when there was
much to discourage and disappoint us in other matters.
We ought not to overlook impressions produced on the minds of not a few
who still adhere in name at least to the religion of their fathers. From time
to time I have had to deal with people who seemed to be not far from the
kingdom of God, who nevertheless drew back when they saw that they would
have to take up the cross to follow Christ. Besides these, there are doubtless
many whose minds have been more or less affected by the truths of the Gospel,
who never made known their impressions to any one. Line is needed upon
line, and precept upon precept, before the truths of the Gospel can usually be
brought home to the darkened minds of the heathen. A work of preparation
has being going on in the Seoni district which will yet, I believe, be productive
of good and tangible results.
It is no small matter, I think, to have about 20 orphan children brought
completely under Christian influences ; and we have beeH cheered by seeing
evidences of the power of the grace of God among them. These children are
lodged in a house much superior to what they woold have had if their parents
had lieen alive, and they are better fed and better clad and otherwise better
cared for than would have been their lot if their natural guardians bad been
spared to them. At the same time, they are not brought up in habits
that would unfit them for the sphere of life that they are likely to occupy, as
sometimes happens in Indian orphanages. May the Father of the fatherless
be revealed in His grace to them all, to the salvation of their souls, and to the
lory of His name !
It is ground of thankfulness to Him in whose name we have been labouring
that the work of evangelisation among women has been carried on with greater
or less regularity for years past in the town and neighbourhood of Seoni. No
baptisms have as yet taken place in connection with this work ; but it should
not be forgotten that the conditions of family life in India are such as to render
it very difficult for any woman to take such a step apart from her husband and
family. The work so far has been one of preparation ; but it is not on that
account of little importance.
In connection with this work may be noticed the Girls* School, which is inti-
mately related to work among the women. We are now able, through the help
afforded by the Seoni Municipal Committee, to carry on this branch of work at
a very trifling expense. As yet, it has cost nothing to the friends of the
mission in Scotknd. Religious instruction is daily communicated to all the
girls attending ; and it becomes us to cast our bread upon the waters, in the
confidence that we shall yet find it, even if it be after many days.
In spite of all that has of late been said against the educational work of
missions— often most ignorantly and foolishly — I am persuaded that our Boys'
Schools in Seoni and Bandole are doing good work in the cause of Christ. I
do not find fault with those who prefer preaching to teaching ; indeed, per-
sonally, I think it more pleasant and easy. Still the daily religious instmc-
tion of lads and yount; men cannot fail to do much to prepare the way for the
reception of the GoepeL The work of preparation seems to some very tedious ;
but this is often true of village and bazaar preaching as well. It would be
easy to point to unsuccessful missions where little attention has been given to
REPORT OF FOREIGN MISSION COMMITTEE. 24 1
Vacation, as well as to successful missions where it has had great prominence,
and vice vemA. Those therefore who would advocate the abandonment of
edacation in order to secure the earlier conyersion of the heathen by the
preaching of the Gospel speak about things that they know not. What is
needed is not less teaching, but more preaching.
One thing is certain — that heathenism would have been much more power-
ful to-day than it is, but for the educational work of missions. Many of the
best native Christians are persons whose conversion was due to mission schools ;
and, apart from this, they are sapping and mining the foundations of the
powerfol and hoary system of Hinduism.
I frankly confess that my hopes in regard to any branch of mission work
have not been realised to the extent that I would have liked and had longed for.
There has been much to sadden and discourage ; but, all things considered,
there has been much to be thankful for. We have been much hampered by
the want of efficient workers. Only for a short time have I had the advan-
tage of the assistance of a European colleague ; and our native Christian
a^nts have never been so numerous as was necessary for the wellbelng of the
missioD. It would be positively unfair to compare the results of mission work
in Seoni with those in places where there is, comparatively speaking, no lack
(A efficient help, both European and native. Nor would it be fair to compare
the results of work in Seoni with those of work in Scotland, where the condi-
tions are to very different. Let facts speak for themselves. There would be
no ground of boasting if the results were a thousandfold greater than they are.
There is, however, reason to thank God and to take courage. May the years
that follow be years of far greater blessing than has ever yet been enjoyed in
connection with the mission 1
Having said so much on the subject of the mission in general, I shall state
^ery briefly what I have to say regarding the work of the year that has just
oome to a close. I have again to report that, owing to general weakness and
repeated attacks of illness, both Mrs. Anderson and I have been unable to
fogage actively in the work of ihc Lord as much as we wished to do.
No material change has taken place in the meetings held for worship, in-
•*tnictioD, and mutual edification. It deserves, however, to be noticed that a
Voang Men's Christian Association was organised soon after Mr. Blakely's
•urival, and on his suggestion. It consists of 12 members, including several
^ the orphans. As yet little can be said about its success ; but it is the be-
gionmg of what, under God's blessing, may yet be a means of much good to
the cause of Christ in Seoni.
Evangelistic work is carried on in the villages, especially by the Catechist.
I hare not been able to go out much ; but I have preached from time to time in
Ullages and markets, and also in the two annual fairs that are held in the
neighbourhood.
Ztnaaui Work has been carried on pretty much as was reported last year.
Sumatra, who used to help in this work, was married in January, and has
ct>ne to another part of India. We had arranged for a Christian head-mistress
^or the girls' school ; but, owing to illness, she has not yet been able to come
to Seoni. I hope she may soon be able to take the work in hand, and so give
rtUef to others, that they may be able to spend more time in house-to-house
n«itation. There are now 71 girls on the roll of the school, as compared with
^ last year, tho result of the amalgamation of the Grovemroent school with
^18. The names of some of these will have to be removed from the roll, on
^coooat of non-attendance. A considerable number of houses in the town are
Q
242 REPORT OP FOREIGN MISSION COMMITTEE.
visited regularly, and every Lord's day a meeting for women is held in the
bungalow. As above mentioned, Mrs. Anderson's work has been greatly hin-
dered by the state of her health.
The Orpharuige. — Two girls were admitted in June, towards the support ol
whom Mrs. Drysdale contributes. One of them was married to the orphaji
lad Heniy Firth, who is now a teacher in the school and doing welL There
are now in the orphanage, in addition to James Smellie, 9 boys and 1 1 girls.
We have been much pleased, on the whole, with their behaviour during the
past year.
Schools. — The town school did fairly during the year, and the present num-
ber on the roll is 253. None of our lads passed the last matriculation examin-
ation last year — I do not know why. Many pupils from other schools also
failed. James SmoUie entered Government service in the end of June ; and I
made temporary arrangements for carrying on his work till Mr. Blakely would
arrive. Since then a Christian teacher, A. Upundra jN'ath Pal, has been en-
gaged to help in the highest classes. He passed the matriculation examination
jui 1881 ; and I trust he may prove an efficient teacher. Four of our boys
' passed the Middle School examination last year.
A school was opened in the middle of October in the village of Bandole, of
which the convert Nathu Das is teacher. In addition to his work as teacher,
he tries to evangelise the people in the surrounding villages. The people of
Bandole have not as yet given the help that they promised ; but it seems a
very good centre tor evangelistic work, and a place where a good school may
yet be gathered. There are over 20 boys on the roll.
No adult baptism has taken place during the year, though several persons
expressed their desire to become Christians, and came repeatedly to me to
receive instruction with a view to baptism. Inquirers are usually exposed to
a good deal of opposition and temptation, and many of them go back, to avoid
the ridicule and persecution of their old friends and associates. I fondly trust
that impressions produced on their minds may not be wholly obliterated, and
that the truth which they have learned may yet be productive of much good.
In conclusion, I would direct attention to the duty which rests on us all, to
be instant in prayer for the copious outpouring of the Spirit of God on our
mission-field, so that the work of the Lord there carried on may prosper — that
those who have been baptized with water may receive the baptism of the
Holy Spirit, and that many of the heathen may be led to join themselves to
the Lord in an everlasting covenant, that shall never be forgotten.
Submitted by
G. ANDERSON,
Misaioncay.
Your Committee can readily understand with what feelings Mr.
Anderson has drawn up this closing report of work performed in a
locality where he has spent so many years. The statement he makes
regarding the results of his laborious exertions is, on the whole, most
cheering and satisfactory ; and if he cannot say, as some have done,
that when he went to Seoni he found no Christians, and when he
bade it farewell he left no heathens, he can at least point to a goodly
number who have assumed the Christian name,, have been baptised
as members of the Christian Church, and some of whom have given
evidence of the most satisfactory kind that their profession is genuine.
REPORT OF FOREIGN MISSION COMMITTEE. 243
It is gratifying for us to know that tbrougli the agency of our Mission
no fewer than 72 persons, young and old, have been received into the
Chaich by baptism, and that of these 29 have made a creditable pro-
fession of their faith in Christ. Then we should not forget that the
word of the Gospel has been preached in the hearing of thousands
who never before heard the name of Jesus, and, under the blessing
of the Lord, the word of truth spoken may yet bring forth fruit that
will redound to the praise and glory of God.
The part of Mr. Anderson's report bearing on the work of the past
Tear is somewhat meagre ; and we feel bound, in justice to himself
aud his fellow-labourers, to supplement it from information gleaned
from the numerous communications that have reached us from the
scene of operation. And we begin by adverting to
I. Evangelistic Work.
Owing to circumstances over which Mr. Anderson had no control,
he was prevented from visiting the villages, or preaching in public
places in or beyond the town of Seoni, with that frequency which he
desired. Still, the work of carrying the message of salvation to the
people has not been altogether neglected. When health permitted,
and when pressing duties at home allowed, our Missionary went out
to more or less distant places and sought an audience to whom he
oould tell the old story of the Cross, and point men to Him who died
thereon for the salvation of lost sinners. On such occasions he was
accompanied by our energetic and valuable catechist, John Moses, a
man who still gives evidence of being well qualified for the important
work to which he was appointed. Mr. Blakely has also been at
several places with the Missionary, and as soon as he was able to
understand the language of the people, he read to them portions of
the Word of God. It is believed that in a short time Mr. Blakely
^ill have acquired such a knowledge of the vernacular as to enable
him to speak to the natives on subjects of the highest and most im-
portant kind. Meanwhile, Mr. Blakely will conduct the regular
Kn^lish service on Sabbath morning, and embrace every favourable
opportunity of accompanying John Moses to the villages and bazaars,
while the latter will conduct the stated vernacular service on the
evening of the Lord's Day. With so much remaining to be done
among the people, and so many things calling for urgency in the
work, it is not surprising that Mr. BlEJi^ely should express the wish
that some easier and more rapid mode of acquiring the language
could be adopted than the tedious process which every learner feels
more or less irksome. But ere long the facility will be obtained for
freedom of speech among the people, and then we may rest assured
the golden opportunity aflforded for making known the Word of Life
^ill he quickly improved. Before another year passes we anticipate
nmch profitable labour being expended in spreading the Gospel iu
luany places.
244 REPORT OF FOREIGN MISSION COMMITIEE.
II. Zrkava Work.
•
This important branch of our work is still being carried on with
considerable vigour and success. Besides teaching in the Girls''
School, Radhabai, the Bibld woman, visits the homes of the people in
Seoni, and tries to get access to the women who are kept in such
seclusion and are denied the liberty and many of the privileges
enjoyed by the other sex. Mrs. Anderson has frequently accom-
panied Radhabai to the houses, and both received a hearty welcome
from most of the women, to whom visits of this kind have proved
quite an event in their monotonous and wearisome existence. The
kind words spoken to them, and the simple facts from Scripture set
before them, will, under the blessing of God, lead them to consider
seriously their true position, and awaken in them a desire to share in
the blessedness of those to whom the Holy Spirit brings saving health.
We cannot over-estimate the importance of work of this kind, aiu!
certainly it will be our aim to prosecute it more earnestly than ever,
as so much depends on having the wives and daughters in these
homes made acquainted with the way of salvation. It is pleasing to
know that a meeting exclusively for women is being held in the bunga-
low every Sabbath. May the Word then spoken to them produce
results that will appear in the consecrated lives of many, and in a
higher moral tone pervading their dwellings.
It was our mournful duty last year to advert to the removal bj
death of a true-hearted friend of our Mission in connection with
Edinburgh congregation, who nobly exerted her influence to secure
what was necessary for carrying on our Zenana work, so that no
additional burden might be thrown upon our funds. In that good
work she w^as ably assisted by another kind friend, whose interest in
our foreign missionary operations has deepened and increased as time
went on. And now it is with the deepest sorrow that we have to
refer to the decease of this friend of our Mission. In the mysterious
'orovidence of God, Mrs. Sturrock, the wife of the respected pastor of
Edinburgh congregation, has, at an unlooked-for time, been called
away to her rest and her reward. We believe thfit we only express
the mind of the whole Church when we assure Mr. Sturrock and all
the relatives of our heartfelt sympathy with them under this heavy
bereavement, and when we ask of God all needful grace and strength-
to be imparted to them under this great trial. She did what she
could for the Master whom she so faithfully served, and now she has
been removed to servo Him in a higher and holier sphere of existence,
where there is fulness of joy and pleasures for evermore. ** Precious
ia the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints."
The necessary amount required to carry on Zenana work during
another year has been obtained most freely and spontaneously from
the ladies connected with PoUokshaws congregation. Without mak-
ing any personal calls, or soliciting any one to contribute, a brieF
statement of the object in view was printed on a card and posted to
a select number of the .lady members, and in a few days the sum of"
£10 8s. was received from 32 subscribers. Mrs. Gardiner took chargo
REPORT OF FOREIGN MISSION COMMITTEE. 245
of the whole matter, and it has certainly been a pleasure to perform
this duty on behalf of our Mission.
III. Educational Work.
Our educational work is now arranged into three divisions. In
addition to the School for boys in Seoni, which has been in active
operation for some years, we have now a School for girls in good
vorking order, and a village School a few miles out of town which is
under the charge of a native Christian and is succeeding fairly. We
shall advert to these in their order : —
1. The Boys* School, — At the present time there are ten teachers
employed imparting instruction in the different departments of the
Khool, and 253 boys are enrolled as pupils. As noticed in Mr.
Anderson's report, a Christian teacher has been engaged to assist in
the higher branches of education at a salary of 50 rupees per month,
and he seems every way suited for the post he occupies. In the month
<:•'' January last Mr. Anderson reported to your Committee that a
proposal had been made by the Inspector of Schools for the Central
Provinces that we should open negotiations with a view of taking
over the Government School in the town of Seoni, and he assigned
various arguments for this being done. The Committee could not
we their way at once to give their consent to this proposal even
although it held out the prospect of having an additional 200 boys
tinder our supervision, and the management of the whole education
<'f the town, at a very small extra expenditure. The matter was
delayed till fuller information was obtained regarding the school and
the teaching staff, and also because Mr. Blakely, on whom the re-
sponsibility would devolve of superintending it, had quite enough on
huDd to occupy his time and attention. Up till the present date
n 'thing further has been done in the way of adding to our educa-
tional work, and it remains to be seen if the public school can yet be
tFcinsf erred to our care on advantageous terms, should it be found
that this can be undertaken without overburdening our present agent
or any subsequent missionary who may be sent our.
Mr. Blakely has recently furnished us with an account of the
vorkiDg of the school which will give a clear idea of what is being
done : " The Boys* School begins just now at 6 o'clock a.m. It is
rather hard to get them out at 6, but I thought it much better for
Voth teachers and boys to try to get school over early, before the
great heat begins. So far we have been very fortunate, as it has
hm very cool for this season of the year. In the High School where
there are two classes, the Entrance and the Preparatory, there were at
the end of March 23 boys, the subjects taught them being — English,
Bible, Euclid, Algebra, Arithmetic, History, (Indian and English),
Oleography, Physical Geography, Huxlay's Introductory Primer,
Vernacular, Persian and Hindi. In Middle School there were 36
hoys and the following subjects taught — English, Bible, Euclid,
Algebra, Arithmetic, Grammar, Geography, Drawing and Surveying,
Vernacular and Drill. The Middle School is divided up into three
246 REPORT OF FOREIGN MISSION COMMITTEE.
classes — the 4tb, 3rd and 2ad English. The remaining portion of
the school is called the Primary, and in it there are 194 boys»
arranged into four classes — ^the 1st English, 3rd Vernacular, 2nd
Vernacular, and Ist Vernacular. They are all taught the 6ibl&
except those in the 1st English class — the lessons given to the
scholars in this class being in Urdu or Hindi. I have arranged tho
time-table so that the 2nd and 1st English, and the 3rd and 2nd
Vernacular classes have three quartei-s of an hour for the Bible
lesson ; but it is impossible with the number of subjects to be taught
and the short time at our disposal — 6 to 10.30 a.m. — to give the four,
highest classes more than half-an-hour."
2. The GirU School, — It was intimated in our last Report that
arrangements had been made for taking over the Government school;
for girls -and having it amalgamated with our existing school. As.
reported in a recent 'number of the Magazine, this has been accoQi-
plished with the happiest results. The combined schools now meet
in one building, and the old schoolhouse has been disposed of. The
number of teachers is only two, but the wife of the new teacher for
the Boys' School has been engaged to act as head mistress in this •
school. Unhappily, she was prevented from leaving Nagpur up to
the date of last letter from Seoni, owing to personal illness, and then
to add to her affliction one of her children has died from small-pox.
We sympathise both with herself and her husband under this trial,
and pray that it may be sanctified to them. The number of pupils
enrolled in the Girls' School is not so large as might be expected, and
the attendance is not at all what it should be ; but we may antici-
pate a considerable addition to the roll when the new teacher arrives.
It is satisfactory for us to report that, from the grants and fees
obtained during the past year, this school has been carried on not
merely without drawing on our funds, but with a decided gain.
3. The Village School, — During the past year a school was opened
in the village of Bandole, which is situated about 10 miles from
Seoni, and has been placed under the care of an educated convert
named Nathu Das. The villagers gladly welcomed this appointment
and promised to assist in maintaining the school. Only 20 boys
have as yet been enrolled as pupils ; but it is believed that a con-
siderable number more will soon be added to the rolL Besides dis-
charging the duties of the school, the teacher spends some time daily
in visiting the people and conversing with them on religious subjects,
and the good seed sown in this way may yet yield the best results.
The amount received last year from three generous friends at home for
this man's support was more than sufficient to meet the outlay incurred*
in carrying on operations in the village named ; and it is believed
that whatever sum is required to meet the expenditure for another
year will be forthcoming without drawing on the ordinary funds.
IV. Benevolent Work.
The Orphanage at Seoni still continues to provide a comfortable
home for the children and young persons whom God in His providence
REPORT OF FOREIGN MISSION COMMITTEE. 247
has placed under oar care. In addition to the two who were ad-
mitted last June, and who are referred to in Mr. Anderson's report,
aQother orphan girl obtained admission in the beginning of April,
having been handed over to Mr. Blakely's care by the police. Thus
there are 22 residing in the Orphanage at the present time. A brief
account of the inmates appeared in the Magazine for November last,
aad in response to the appeal then made for parties interested iu
their welfare to act as patrons of those not yet adopted, we have
pleasme in reporting that the boy named Sakela, who is about tive
years of age, has been generously adopted by Mrs. James Scott,
(ilasgow, and will henceforth bear the name of James Scott. The
uther boy named Chimta has received the name of Thomas Curr, and
will be under the patronage of a liberal friend of that name connected
with Kirkintilloch congregation, who has for years supported a boy,
who^ on attaining early manhood, was induced to run away from
Seoni to reside with some relatives who had beard of his whereabouts,
and craftily managed to get him away to their distant home, where
lie resided only for a short time before he sickened and died. Who
can tell but what the Christian instruction he re^'sived from our
Missionary may have led him, under the teaching of the Spirit, to a
saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus, and his passage through the
dark valley made happy by the presence of the Saviour. The most
recent addition to the Orphanage, a puny girl who was rescued at
the point of starvation, is to be supported by a sister of Mrs. Blakely's,
aad to her we feel grateful for taking this interest in our work. An
unknown friend in Fifeshire recently sent five pounds in a registered
letter with this note : " Enclosed for behoof of an orphan in Seoni,
India, and may the Lord prosper your work in that benighted land.''
We cordially thank the donor for the gift sent and will be glad to
receive similar donations for the object specified.
We close this part of our report with one or two remarks concern-
ing three of the young lads who have been trained in our Orphanage
and educated in our school.
1. Janus Smellie, — This young man after teaching for a time in
the school applied for and obtained an appointment as a clerk in the
(iovemment office in Seoni. We certainly would have preferred him
to continue in the school ; but seeing that the teaching profession
was not congenial to his mind, it is well that he so readily procured
employment without being under the necessity of leaving the district.
2. Philip Gordon, — This lad possesses fair ability and has been
studying hard for the Matriculation Examination in connection with
Calcutta University. Mr. Blakely reports that this young man is very
anxious to study for the Medical profession, and for this end he
would require to be sent to Patna which will involve some expenditure
for his maintenance and training.
3. Henry Firth. — This youth was recently married to one of the
girls in .the Orphanage, and is now employed as a teacher in our
school at a salary of 10 rupees per month. From all accounts that
have reached us, he seems to be quite competent for this work, and
248 REPORT OF FOREIGN MISSION COMMITTEE.
we trust he will long enjoy good health to carry on the duties of his
honourable vocation.
V. Home Work.
Your Committee appointed two of their number to visit four con-
gregations in the cities of Dundee, Perth, Edinburgh and Glasgow
during the past winter, and they have reported that the meetings
convened were large and enthusiastic. In each case the minister of
the congregation presided, and several brethren most willingly took
part in the services, moving or seconding formal resolutions anent
our Mission, and pledging those assembled to take a deep personal
interest in our operations in the foreign field. It is believed that
these meetings are calculated either to awaken or deepen the interest
of our people in our work, and the excellent attendance of both young
and old in the different churches where they have been held, is a clear
indication that they are appreciated. '
Through the pages of the Magazine we have also endeavoured to
keep alive the interest of all connected with our Church in our opera-
tions in the foreign field. Sometimes the material on which we had
to draw for information about the work was scanty enough, and we
could often have wished for far more intelligence to convey to our
people concerning the good work that has been going on ; but such
as we had to give has been freely published, and we have no doubt
has been eagerly read by the many friends who have all along taken
a deep and practical interest in our Mission. We will continue to
keep our contributors fully informed of what is transpiring in and
around Seoni, believing that the more familiar they become with the
different branches of onr work, the more heartily will they pray for
its success and contribute for its efficiency.
VI. Ordained M[ssionary.
It has already been reported that Mr. David Finlayson, Arbroatli,
has been formally accepted as our future missionary for Seoni. Mr.
Finlayson was licensed by the Perth and Aberdeen Presbytery in the
month of February last. Early in March he received an appoint-
ment to labour in connection with the Kirriemuir congregation, and
is expected to conduct the stated services in the sanctuary on Sabbath,
and visit the people in a district to the south of the town where a
missionary meeting and Sabbath School were organised and carried
on with remarkable success by the Rev. Edward White. Mr.
Finlayson's engagement is for six months, dating from the 1st April.
He will then be free to go out to India, and it will devolve on the
Synod to determine when he will be ordained to the ministerial ofiBce
and set out for the distant sphere of his future labours. There can
be no doubt that he will meet with a cordial welcome from Mr. and
Mrs. Blakely who long to have one to share with them the duties
and responsibilities devolving on those who have to superintend so
many branches of work as are in active operation, and with whom
they may heartily co-operate in conducting evangelistic services, in
ll£PORT OF FOREIGN MISSION COMMITTEE. 249
visiting the Tillages, and in attending to the Schools and Orphanage.
The training which Mr. Finlajson is presently having will greatly
benefit him as a labourer in the locality where our Mission is situated,
and will give him a facility both in addressing meetings, conducting
<^Us8e8, and dealing with individuals, which cannot be learned other-
vkethan by personal eiperience. We feel assured that when he
leaves his native land for work among a people of a strange language
and singular habits, he will carry with him the good-will and hearty
sjmpathy of the Church at home, and will be often remembered by
earnest pleaders at the throne of grace.
VII. The Funds.
It is very gratifying to your Committee to be able to report that
the amount received during the past year for the three funds con-
nected with our foreign work has been £856 I9s. 9d. or fully X43 in
advance of the revenue for the preceding year. Surely the Lord has
l«en mindful of us, and has inclined the people to contribute so freely
of their substance for enabling us to carry on His work in a foreign
Innd. May all who have assisted in any way to raise this money, as
w<?ll as the contributors, be abundantly recompensed by Him who
db us to put forth active and untiring effort in spreading the
<^(Hpel hoth at home and in the regions beyond. We mark with
*|i€cial approbation the voluntary contributions sent in to our
Treasiuier from time to time by friends throughout the Church, and
^' others outside our denomination ; and we will always welcome
Miular donations as an evidence of the deep personal interest taken
'^ our Mission by those who give of their substance out of love to
tj> Master whom we serve. Our brethren connected with the Seces-
'• n Synod of Ireland have also helped us with their offerings which
t'e always gladly received. Nor can we overlook the children's
^^)rts to obtain assistance for carrying on the education of the boys
=ti SeonL How cheering to know that those who are so highly
'avoured with excellent schools and teachers at home, should think
i^mi these children in India who, but for the advantages we place
'*-thin their reach, would have no means of being instructed in Bible
knowledge, which can make wise unto salvation.
The Income and ordinary Expenditure for the year may be thus
stated.
iDcome. Expenditure.
^'^^gn Minion Fund, £519 9 4
v.ui iSchool Fund, 238 1 0
('rj.hanage Fund, 99 9 5
£856 19 9
Salaries & General Outlay, £523 13 3
Teachers & upkeep of School 229 18 11
Orphanage Expenses, 124 6 8
£877 18 10
Hm ordinary expenditure on the work has thus exceeded the in-
<^5iehyjC2l. But to this has to be added extraordinary expendi-
ture for the year amounting to no less than £245 ) Ss. 6d. This has been
^f^t in connection with the passage money and travelling charges
248 REPORT OF FOREIGN MISSION COMMITTEE.
we trust he will long enjoy good health to carry on the duties of his
honourable vocation.
V. Home Work.
Your Committee appointed two of their number to visit four con-
gregations in the cities of Dundee, Perth, Edinburgh and Glasgow
during the past winter, and they have reported that the meetings
convened were large and enthusiastic. In each case the minister of
the congregation presided, and several brethren most willingly took
part in the services, moving or seconding formal resolutions anent
our Mission, and pledging those assembled to take a deep personal
interest in our operations in the foreign field. It is believed that
these meetings are calculated either to awaken or deepen the interest
of our people in our work, and the excellent attendance of both young
and old in the different churches where they have been held, is a clear
indication that they are appreciated. *
Through the pages of the Magaziru we have also endeavoured to
keep alive the interest of all connected with our Church in our opera-
tions in the foreign field. Sometimes the material on which we bad
to draw for information about the work was scanty enough, and we
could often have wished for far more intelligence to convey to our
people concerning the good work that has been going on ; but such
as we had to give has been freely published, and we have no doubt
has been eagerly read by the many friends who have all along taken
a deep and practical interest in our Mission. We will continue to
keep our contributors fully informed of what is transpiring in and
around Seoni, believing that the more familiar they become with the
different branches of our work, the more heartily will they pray for
its success and contribute for its efficiency.
VI. Ordained Missionart.
It has already been reported that Mr. David Finlayson, Arbroath,
has been formally accepted as our future missionary for Seoni. Mr.
Finlayson was licensed by the Perth and Aberdeen Presbytery in the
month of February last. Early in March he received an appoint-
ment to labour in connection with the Kirriemuir congregation, and
is expected to conduct the stated services in the sanctuary on Sabbath,
and visit the people in a district to the south of the town where a
missionary meeting and Sabbath School were organised and carried
on with remarkable success by the Rev. Edward White. Mr.
Finlayson*8 engagement is for six months, dating from the 1st April.
He will then be free to go out to India, and it will devolve on the
Synod to determine when he will be ordained to the ministerial office
and set out for the distant sphere of his future labours. There can
be no doubt that he will meet with a cordial welcome from Mr. and
Mrs. Blakely who long to have one to share with them the duties
and responsibilities devolving on those who have to superintend so
many branches of work as are in active operation, and with whom
they may heartily co-operate in conducting evangelistic services, in
JlfiPORT OF FOREIGN MISSION COMMITTEE. 249
Tisitiug the Tillages, and in attending to the Schools and Orphanage.
The tiainiDg which Mr. Finlajson is presently having will greatly
heveiit him as a labourer in the locality where our Mission is situated,
and will give him a facility both in addressing meetings, conducting
classes, and dealing with individuals, which cannot be learned other-
vise than by personal experience. We feel assured that when he
leaves his native land for work among a people of a strange language
and singular habits, he wnU carry with him the good-will and hearty
sympathy of the Church at home, and will be often remembered by
earnest pleaders at the throne of grace.
VII. The Funds.
It is very gratifying to your Committee to be able to report that
the amount received during the past year for the three funds con-
nected with our foreign work has been £856 19s. 9d. or fully £43 in
Advance of the revenue for the preceding year. Surely the Lord has
been mindful of us, and has inclined the people to contribute so freely
-of their substance for enabling us to carry on His work in a foreign
land. May all who have assisted in any way to raise this money, as
well as the contributors, be abundantly recompensed by Him who
calls us to put forth active and untiring effort in spreading the
Goipel both at home and in the regions beyond. We mark with
si>ecial approbation the voluntary contributions sent in to our
Treasiu^r from time to time by friends throughout the Church, and
by others outside our denomination ; and we will always welcome
similar donations as an evidence of the deep personal interest taken
in our Mission by those w^ho give of their substance out of love to
thj blaster whom we serve. Our brethren connected with the Seces-
sion Synod of Ireland have also helped us with their otTerings which
•tre always gladly received. Nor can we overlook the children's
^^oTta to obtain assistance for carrying on the education of the boys
in SeonL How cheering to know that those who are so highly
favoured with excellent schools and teachers at home, should think
a^ioat these children in India who, but for the advantages we place
v:th)n their reach, would have no means of being instructed in Bible
knowledge, which can make wise unto salvation.
The Income and ordinary Expenditure for the year may be thus
stated.
looome. Expenditure.
Foreign Mission Fund, £519 9 4 Salaries & General Outlay, £523 13 3
•j^^ni School Fund, 238 1 0 Teachers &upkeepof School 229 18 II
Orphanage Fund, 99 9 5 Orphanage Expenses, 124 6 8
£877 18 10
The ordinary expenditure on the work has thus exceeded the in-
hume by £21. But to this has to be added extraordinary expendi-
ture for the year amounting to no less than £245 1 8s. 6d. This has been
<pent in connection with the passage money and travelling charges
£519 9
238 1
99 9
4
0
5
£856 19
9
250 REPORT OF FOREIGN MISSION COMMITTEE.
of our agents, together "with an extra gratuity of £15 voted by the*
Synod to Mr. Anderson, and another of fifteen guineas which the
Synod authorised the Committee to give if they saw cause for expenses
incurred by Mr. Anderson in going to Bombay last year for the
benefit of his health. These figures show that nearly £270 more wa&
required to meet the entire outlay than the amount received during
the year ending on the 30th April. Your Committee recognise the
fact that a united and great effort must at once be made to wipe ofiT
this debt, and they cannot doubt that when the matter is plainly put*
before the Church, those who desire to see prosperity attending our
Mission will readily assist in placing the group of funds specially
designed for foreign work on a sound financial footing.
Before closing we have to notice with deep sorrow the removal
from amongst us of one of the ruling-elders who has been a member
of Committee since 1871 — that is, since the formation of the Com-
mittee, and who was always deeply interested in the success of our
Mission, we refer to Mr. John Uarwood, Kilwinning. His employment
as a teacher in one of the Board Schools prevented him from attending
many of our meetings; but his knowledge of India and of the
manners and customs of the people, gathered while residing in early
life in that land, eminently qualified him for giving judicious advice
on many matters that came before us. We deeply sympathise with
his wife and daughter under their bereavement, and would commend
them unto Him who is the Husband of the widow and the Father of
the fatherless ; and we would learn from this event to be more active
and zealous in doing the Master's will while the opportunity for work-
ing still lasts.
We cannot better close this report than by quoting some weighty
words from an able article on '* The Mission and Commission of the
Church," which appears in the current number of *^ The Missionary
Review of the World." 'J he writer clearly shows the difference be-
tween teaching and converting the nations, and points out that the
Church has been commissioned to proclaim the Gospel far and wide,
but has no power to convert. Thus he writes : — *' Our authority is.
explicit : we are empowered to publish the good tidings throug^bout
the world ; there our authority begins and ends. So long as we con-
fine ourselves to that, behind us and backing up our message stands
the whole Godliead. But the moment we begin to think of it as our
work to " convert " men, we are tempted to tamper with the Gospel, to
abate its seeming severity, to make it more attractive ; or even to
invade the province of the Holy Spirit and seek to move directly uj>on
the unrenewed heart and will. ... It is our solemn conviction that we
must change our emphasis from converting men to evangelising them.
While we wait for long-tilled fields to bear fruit in converts, other
fields — vast and wholly uutilled — ^yield harvest after harvest of
death. After nineteen centuries, our labours are practically limited
to perhaps one tenth of the actual world-field. Meanwhile, genera-
tion after generation has come upon the stage of human history, and
passed into the darkness of the unknown world, in ignorance of the
Gospel. Since our Lord arose and ascended^ not less than fifty such.
REPORT OF FOREIGN MISSIOtf COMMITTEE. 25 1
generations, aggregating probably twenty times the present popula-
tion of the globe, have lived and died. And yet, there are nearly a.
thoaBand millions now living who have never heard the pure Gospel.
So long as the Church turned all her forces into the home field, the
dark ages were upon her ; and when she sent forth her heralds to light
Qp the death-shade in lands afar, her own morning began to dawn ;.
and BO the last centaury, which has been the Missionary century, has.
heea the century of greatest growth to Christendom itself. Should
ve multiply the force in foreign fields a hundred-fold, there would be
a thousand-fold increase at home. . . . Let no one tell us that it is a
matter of indifTerence whether we go forth expecting to convert the-
world, or only to evangelise the nations. Within the limits of our
commission we are to find also the limits of whatever else is most
vital Here we find the warrant of pur authority, the measure of our
responsibility, the standard of our success, the definition of our field
and work, the goal of our expectation, the assurance of the Spirit'a
blessing, and the broad basis of our abiding joy. For victory we are
not to be unduly solicitous : in our seeming defeat and disaster our
Lord may find His triumph and success. AH we may be able to do,,
and all He may give us to do, may be to seize certain strongholds,
and * hold the fort ' till He comes to turn the tide of battle. But in
the darkness and the smoke of the conflict, whichever way the issue,
seems to sway, we are to stand by our guns and hold fast our flag.
On that mountain in Galilee, Christ the Lord seems still to be stand-
ing, and with trumpet tones that echo down the ages, for evermore
to be saying : — * All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.*
Therefore, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every
creature. And lo ! I am with you alway, even unto the end of the
world."
Respectfully submitted in name of Committee, by
WILLIAM B. GARDINER, Convener.
REPORT OF HOME MISSION COMMITTEE. 253
REPORT OF HOME MISSION AND CONGREGATIONAL
WORK COMMITTEE, 1889.
At the Centenary Conference on the Protestant Missions of the Worlds
held in London last year, there was an interesting discussion on the
relations of Home and Foreign Missions. The idea was emphasised
that the work in both fields is one. Both branches of Christian
serrice deal with the masses outside, seek to win them to Christ, and
haTe them shepherded within the fold of the Church. If this be true
what is achioTed on the one field may help us to understand what we
may expect to see achieved on the other. In some fields abroad
there is little fruit ; but in others the triumphs of the Gospel have
been znarrellous. We need only refer to what has taken place withiik
the last fifty years in the South Seas. The inhabitants of the Fiji
Islands have been lifted in that period out of cannabalism and
idolatry into Christianity and civilisation. The same thing has
happened in the New Hebrides in connection with the labours of such
men as Dr. Inglis and the Rev. John Paton.
The question thus naturally arises, if the Gospel works such re-
markable results abroad, is it inadequate to Christianise and elevate
the most degraded at home 1 To affirm so is a position we should
suppose from which every Christian mind will shrink. In all our
mission work then, and indeed in all our home work, we ought to
learn the lesson of abounding in hope, giving ourselves to the work
of Christ with a faith unmoved in the power of the Gospel to reach
aDd elevate the most abandoned.
But if the fields are one, should not the consecration also be one ?
If less consecration is brought to the work of Christ at home than is
carried to the work of Christ abroad, will this not make a difference
Iq the ingathering 1 What consecration means each must work out
for himself and herself. But it seems to us the more perfect the
individual becomes as the organ of Christ's will, the more consecrated
and meet will that one bo for the Master's use. When John Paton
was driven by persecution from Tanna, with the loss of everything
save his Tannese translations of the Word of God, he had no other
idea than to stay at the neighbouring island of Aneityum, and await
the first opportunity of going back. That dauntless spirit, linked
vith faith in God as the Hearer of prayer, in the certain fulfilment
of His promise, and in the adaptation of the Gospel to the needs of
all, is the one God has ever blessed to win trophies for Him in the
fields which seemed most hopeless. May we carry this spirit into all
our efforts to win others for Christ.
Your Committee have received this year as in the two previous^
jeara reports from seven agents. The first we note is from Ayr. Mr.
Andrew S. Taylor in forwarding the report, says : "This is the Thirty-
fifth Annual Report of Home Mission work carried on in connection
^th the congregation." Mr. Cowieson has been labouring with
dihgenoe and success. The Friday evening meeting has had aa
254 REPORT OF HOME MISSION COMMITTEE.
average attendance of 13 ; the Sabbath evening meeting an average
•attendance of 48. Exclusive of the time spent in this way, 609 hours
have been given to visitation. Tract distribution has been prosecuted
vigorously by eight workers. Two additional meetings have been
conducted by Mr. Cowieson, one fortnightly on Monday evenings,
and the other every Sabbath afternoon, the latter having been con-
ducted previously by Mr. Cairns, an esteemed elder in the congregation,
who has passed away to his reward. The Sabbath afternoon meeting
in particular has been fruitful in spiritual results. Several interest-
ing cases of hopeful conversion are appended to the report. The
Penny Savings Bank, which has been in operation for 28 years, is
still conducted by Messrs. Wm. Taylor and Samuel Cairns, of which
great advantage is taken. In the Sabbath school there are upwards
of 100 scholars, with an average attendance of from 60 to 70, and
these are taught by 14 teachers.
Carnoijstib. — ^^£r. Patrick reports that the various branches of
congregational and mission work have been steadily prosecuted.
The attendance on public worship is the same as the previous year.
Besides the weekly prayer meeting and Bible class in the congregation,
a monthly cottage meeting has been held as formerly in the fishing
village of Westhaven, and has had an average attendance of fifteen.
The Sabbath school, which meets at the close of public worship, has
a roll of 50 scholars and 8 teachers. About four-fifths of the scholars
are unconnected with the congregation. Their parents are visited
from time to time. Many other visits have also been made as doors
opened to the sick, aged, and infirm. Gospel Trumpets have been
•distributed regularly from month to month. Eight names were
added to the roll of the congregation during the year, ^yq of these
being from other denominations.
Bridgeton, Glasgow. — Mr. M*Kay reports that the state of the
<;ongregation is substantially the same as last year. The number
attending public worship in the morning has been from 55 to 60 ; in
the afternoon from 100 to 120. The membership on the roll is 127.
There are 27 adherents above 14 years of age. Three persons have
professed to have undergone a saving change. Diiring the first six
^months of the year there were held with the aid of some of the young
men, in addition to the ordinary congregational prayer meeting,
six mission meetings, four of them being kitchen meetings. With
the advent of winter the young men had to devote themselves to
other parts of church* work. The meetings conducted then were one
kitchen meeting by the minister, the Sabbath evening meeting by the
young men, and an amalgamated meeting on Thursday evening by
the minister, embracing the congregational prayer meeting and the
mission meeting held during the week. The kitchen meetings had
an attendance of from 10 to 20 ; the other mission meetings had an
attendance varying from 15 to 45. The Sabbath school is reported
to be in a prosperous state. The existing accommodation permits of
no additional increase. There are nearly 200 children enrolled, with
an average attendance of 159. These children are taught by 21
teachers. The Home Circle and Band of Hope meetings have been
REPORT OF HOME MISSION COMMITTEE. 255
tarried on with vigour and success. During the year £170 have
been collected, partly by the personal efforts of the minister and
partly by monthly subscriptions of the members. Of that sum £57
hare been used in payment of church debt, leaving a balance of XI 13
TO form the nucleus of a fund designed to meet the annual feu-duty.
The activities of this congregation have been going forth as ener-
getically as in past years.
Laurieston, Glasgow. — Mr. Yuill reports that a regular course of
Tisitation has been carried on during the year from week to week.
The time spent in this way has varied from 12 to 19 hours a week.
The number of families visited has been as high as 56 and 75 weekly.
The Bible has been read from 14 to 26 times weekly. For a season
a^ many as three mission kitchen meetings were conducted. Two in
South Coburg Street were held each week, and one monthly at a
place called Hangingshaw. " One of the two weekly meetings had
to be discontinued, as the person in whose house it was held found it
did not suit family arrangements. The other two meetings are still
continaed." The houses are generally filled with people. The
highest attendance at the weekly meeting has been 22 ; the average
has been 15. The highest attendance at the monthly meeting has
been 27, and the average 17. In addition to these, a congregational
prayer meeting has been held, with an average attendance of 14.
Tvo Bible classes have been conducted during the year — a senior at
the close of public worship, and a junior at half-past five. The num-
ber on the roll of the former is 19, with an average attendance of 15;
on the roll of the latter 10, with an average attendance of 8. The
Sibbath-school has been well maintained. There are 80 scholars,
vith 7 teachers and a superintendent The attendance has sometimes
reached 100. Sixteen names were added to the roll during the year.
The report bears evidence of increased activity in mission work, and,
with sustained effort on the part of all, prosperity will no doubt
attend the congregation and spiritual results follow.
Kilmarnock. — ^Mr. Laird reports a marked improvement in nearly
&11 departmenttf of his mission work. At the Sabbath morning
senice the smallest number present has been 45, and this occurred
't>atonce; the largest attendance has been 71 ; the average attend-
ance has been 58. Last year the average given was 38. At the
Mbhath evening service the smallest number present has been 50,
and only on two occasions was the number so small ; the largest
attendance has been 121; the average has been 78. Last year the
arerage attendance was 70. The Monday evening prayer meeting
has had an average attendance of 16. The Tuesday evening kitchen
meeting in Park Street is described as encouraging, with an attend-
ance of 15. Three-fourths of the meeting are composed of old people
over 70 years of age unable to go elsewhere. The Morton Place kit-
chen meeting held on Friday evening has had an attendance of 40
throughout the year. Many-come from this district to the church
^rvices. As many as 23 have been present at one time. The
^bbath-school has been attended by 70 scholars, 20 more than last
jear, and there has been a great improvement in the conduct of the
256 REPORT OF HOME MISSION COMMITTEE.
children. Thirty-two hours weekly have been spent in visitation.
About 3000 tracts have been distributed. Sixteen members have
been added to the roll, making 38 in all since Mr. Laird began work
in this sphere. The congregation has agreed to make their allowance
to Mr. Laird's salary XIO more than the previous year, relieving the
Home Mission Fund to that amount. Mention is made of two casei>
of hopeful conversion, of others formerly reported on continuin^r
steadfast, and of much encouragement in the various branches of
work. Grateful acknowledgment is made of the kindness of friends
in Edinburgh through Mr. Sturrock, of Mrs. Dunlop, Annanhill, and
Colonel Tait, in placing sums of money at your missionary's disposaT
for distribution among the poor.
KiRRiKMUiR. — Mr. White says : " During the past year the different
branches of mission work have been carried on as usual. House-to-
house visitation has been regularly engaged in, and in almost every
case my visits have been well received. The mission meeting hair
been held on Sabbath evenings. The attendance has been fair.
Three have joined the church from the meeting during the past year,
tind several others have informed me that they received blessing
from it. The mission Sabbath-school has been well attended. I be-
lieve there are about 40 on the roll taught by a staff of five teachers,
whom I have to thank for their able assistance cheerfully given in
this good work. The attendance at the Church services, especially' in
the afternoons, has been decidedly better than last year." Soon aitur
Mr. White's translation to Dromore it was arranged through the
Presbytery of the bounds, at the request of the congregation, to locate
Mr. David Finlayson, preacher of the Gospel, among them for six
months, subject to the approval of Synod. On your Committee being
asked for a grant, to supplement the sum offered by the congregation
towards securing Mr. Finlayson's services, they agreed to give Ji 1 5.
Mr. Finlayson reports that, in addition to the oncarrying of the c.>u-
gregational w^ork, he has conducted the mission meeting on Sabbath
evenings, at which there has been for the month of April an attend-
ance of from 32 to 45, including old and young. A Sabbath-school
in connection with this meeting has also been conducted. Grateful
acknowledgment is made of the help rendered by Mr. A. Irvine and
others.
Paisley. — Mr. Ritchie reports the "Sabbath services are conducted
as formerly in the Hall of the Liberal Club. The forenoon attend-
ance is somewhat improved. Last year it varied from 80 to 100. This
year it has been varying from 95 to 115." The average is about 108.
''The afternoon attendance is also slightly improved and gives an-
average of about 160." The attendance is greater on the occa-
sion of the monthly service to the young. Though the congre-
gation has suffered the loss of 17 members during the year, through
death, removal, and other causes, the membership is now 127. Last
year it was 122. Twenty-two have thus been added to the roll for-
the year. Several of these have been baptised. The congregation 21I
prayer meeting has had an average attendance of 30. About ten of
the young men, members of Mr. Parlane's Bible class, have been meet-
REPORT OF HOME MISSION COMMITEEE. 257
ing for prajer and the study of the Scriptures every Saturday evening.
A mother's meeting has been carried on with vigour and success.
Mr. Ritchie has held a monthly prayer meeting in Johnstone, in the
hoase of an old member. The attendance ranged from 9 to 22. The work
of the young men's class conducted by Mr. Parlane has been marked
by great earnestness. The number on the roll is 70, and the average
45. A young women's Bible class, started last year by Mr. Parlane
and held on Thursday evenings, continues, and has so far prospered
that the number on the roll is now 36, and the average 20. In the
S:ibbath-school the number of scholars is 90, and of teachers 10.
The sewing class has also been held as formerly. From the recent
bazaar held by the congregation £883 were realised. It is said " the
sit« and all casualties have been paid, costing in all £670 or under,
and the congregation have a balance on hand for purely building pur-
poses of £670. It has been laudably resolved, to quote the language
of the report, "as their feathers have begun to grow and their
strength somewhat increased," to fly alone, asking no help from the
Synod. It must be gratifying to all to hear of this, and of the
activity and prosperity of the congregation.
Other Congregations. — Evangelistic meetings have been held
more or less in connection with other five of our congregations. One
has had two district meetings, held on alternate weeks, and con-
ducted by the elders ; a second has had a monthly and a weekly
meeting ; a third has had a weekly meeting ; and a fourth has had
two meetings weekly — one on Sabbath evenings and another on
Thursday evenings — a Bible class for young women on Monday even-
ings, and a Sabbath school, all in a very needy district, where there
are few things to brighten the dark and cheerless lives of the inhabit-
ants. The work in these instances, we are satisfied, is beneficial,
though we cannot gather up all the fruits. Mention is made in con-
uection with another congregation of an occasional sermon in a
^choolhouse. Six ministers speak of aiming at evangelistic work
through visitation. Tract distribution has been carried on in four-
teen of our congregations : last year the number given was thirteen.
We cannot give the number of tracts distributed owing to the incom-
pleteness of returns, but there have been many thousands. The
number of distributors has been 61. Then it must be borne in mind
erangelistic work is carried on in many of our Sabbath schools among
children otherwise uncared for, morally and spiritually.
Home Mission Fund. — The receipts for the year have been XI 96
12s. 4d, being an increase of £27 5s. 6Jd. over the previous year.
1 he expenditure has been <£284 17s. 4d., showing an excess of ex-
penditure over income of £88 5s. Od. It is most desirable that con-
tributions to this fund should be increased.
Congregational Work.
Twenty-eight out of twenty-nine congregations have sent in returnee
From these we gather the following information regarding
R
258 REPORT OF HOME MISSION COMMITTEE.
Meetings and Classes connected with Congregations.
(1.) All of the above, with four exceptions, have held a Wetkly
Prayer Meeting, Of the four exceptions, one has had a large monthly
meeting. Two congregations, in addition to a weekly prayer meeting,,
have had a monthly service. The highest attendance at any of these
meetings has been 50, and this has been in the congregation which
has only a monthly service. At the weekly meetings the average has
ranged from nine to thirty-six.
(2.) Fellowship Societies have been on the increase. Embracing
five Sabbath morning meetings — one of which is a Young Women's
gathering, two Young Men's Christian Associations, and a Bible Asso-
ciation— twenty-three have been held. Last year there were seven-
teen. Though these meetings are generally attended by only a few,
they are very profitable. It is most desirable they should be fostered
and multiplied wherever practicable. They must ever help to briu;<
members of congregations into more frequent contact with one an-
other to talk freely about sacred things.
(3.) Bible Classes show a decrease of two as compared with last
year. The number taught has been thirty-six. The attendance,
however, has been on the increase. The number enrolled has been
802 ; the previous year it was 717. The average attendance has^
been 675, as compared with 474 last year.
(4.) The Sabbath School department has been prosecuted with un-
abated vigour and success. Twenty three out of twenty-eight con-
gregations have conducted one or more of these schools. A slight
decrease appears in the number of teachers, but an increase in the
number of scholars. We regret we cannot give the average attend-
ance. The number of scholars enrolled has been 2,053, and these
have been taught by 261 teachers : last year the number enrolled
was 1,995 scholars, and these were taught by 263 teachers. Over
this large field the seed of God*s truth is being sown more or less, like
bread cast on the waters, to be found, it may be, after many days.
(5.) Of other Societies or Classes mention is made of seven Temper-
ance Societies or Band of Hope meetings, six Psalmody Classes, five
Literary Societies, one Boys* Brigade, one Sewing Class, one Dorcas
Society, and one Home Circle.
State op Religion.
So far as the public ordinances of religion are concerned, the young
are reported to attend them fairly well. In many instances their
absence is due to the absence of their parents, an evil in danger o!
increasing where half-day hearing is prevalent. In one instance lads
are reported to attend indifferently, whilst girls attend well. Some
are feeling there is an increasing difficulty with the youth of our day
just shooting into manhood. A spirit of insubordination to parental
authority is abroad, calling for wise dealing and prayer on their
behalf, that the strength and freshness of their manhood may be
given to the Saviour.
REPORT OF HOME MISSION COMMITTEE. 259
Special Services for the young are held in twelve of our congrega-
tions. Six are monthly, and six are occasional. Might not this fea-
ture in public worship receive more general attention? In the
presence of all the allurements and attractions to draw the young
away from the house of God, perhaps we ought to employ to a larger
extent this legitimate means of binding them to the Sanctuary.
The observance of the Sabbath save in two or three localities is
being very greatly disregarded. The prevailing experience is that
Sabbath desecration is on the increase. Particular forms are not
specified with the exception of walking ; but it is well known these
forms are numerous about large communities especially. The sanctity
of the Sabbath should be carefully guarded. Christian life in its
purest and most attractive forms is associated with the keeping of
this day sacre(? to God. Our well-being — ^physically, intellectually,
morally, and spiritually is safe-guarded and fostered by the Sabbath
law.
The RestUts from Ministerial and Mission Work so far as reported
are few. Only seven out of twenty-eight make mention of any.
Results in one sense are with God ; but is there one amongst us in-
difTerent about the issue of his toil and service for Christ ? Do our
souls never hunger to know if the Word is working in the hearts of
oiu* hearers like the leaven among the meal \ Two speak of a deeper
interest in some in Divine things ; several speak of instances of
hopeful conversion, and of some connecting themselves with the
Church from the Mission district. But we do not feel satisfied the
actual good that is being done is accurately represented by these
retums. How many hearers get spiritually benefited and never tell
their pastor. Perhaps like the Master we carry a blessing to ten in-
dividuals and only one comes and tells us anything about it.
Recommendations.
The first set bears on How to make Prayer Meetings successful. One
suggests, " that short pointed texts should be chosen : praise should
be more frequent : and elders should be asked to offer prayer." A
second suggests, "faithful preparation and prayer on the part of
ministers : ask elders and membera to take part in devotional services.'^
A third says, '* seek to make the addresses interesting and short, and
helpful for daily duty. Insist on short prayers, for people are often
very tired after a day's work." A fourth says, " make the meetings
krgelj devotional : have as many as possible to engage in them : and
liave the prayers bearing on some specific subject agreed upon at tho
previous meeting." A fifth says, '^ Bible readings and missionary
intelligence interspersed with remarks give additional interest."
The second set of recommendations bears on How to Interest
nnd Instruct the Young. One says, "Brief sermons on Scrip-
tare characters or on Bible lands, with short texts briefly ex-
plained on common and familiar things prove interesting." A second
says, " by showing in every possible way we are interested in them,
and by conscientious preparation." A third says, " use illustration
26o REPORT OF HOME MISSION COMMITTEE.
largely. Be simple and affectionate in style and manner." A fourth
says, ** Be earnest and full of the subject of instruction." A fifth
I says, ** Catechise the scholars on the lessons. Do not lecture them
1 nor read them stories out of books."
The third set of recommendations bears on How to retain our elder
Schclars. The suggestions of one are, " Get an experienced teacher,
and have a place of meeting separate from the Sabbath school.
Encourage the young people to take notes of the sermons and examine
them on these in Bible classes." The suggestions of another are,
"As far as pbssible make personal friends of them. As far as possible
and prudent attach the young to our congregations by some practical
employment suited to their age and capacity. Let them understand
they are of some use in the congregation."
Three General Recommendations have been made. The first is : —
** So strong is the opposition to our principles that I strongly feel the
importance of commending our principles to others by our Christian
activity, so as to show to the world and even to the Church that
there is nothing in our principles to prevent our being active workers
for Christ." Tlie second is : — " A series of meetings held nightly and
conducted where practicable by the same minister might be blessed
to the conversion and up-building of our people in our respective
congregations." The third is : — " More faith, more prayer, more
faitlifulness in discipline and improvement of private intercourse to
tspiritual purposes. ' Less of self and more of Christ.* " We make
no comment on these recommendations beyond saying that they are
. all worthy of our consideration, and will be availed of, we doubt not,
as the judgment of each approves. May the Holy Spirit seal the
varied labours we have thus reviewed with His enriching blessing.
In name of Committee, respectfully submitted by
PETER M'VICAR, Convener.
REPORT ON PUBLIC QUESTIONS. 26 1
REPORT ON PUBLIC QUESTIONS.
May, 1889.
" Watchman, what of the night ? " was a question put in Isaiah's
time, and it is often put in ours. To many earnest souls it
seems as if it were night-time with i^s ; and whether it is owing to
a temporary fog that obscures even the light of the stars, or to a
cloud of righteous anger that veils the whole face of the heavens, it
appears to them as if the darkness were dense and ever deepening.
But whatever be our views of the present state of things, we can
always give the prophet's reply — a reply as full of hopefulness as it is
urgent in its call to duty — " The morning cometh, and also the night ;
if ye will enquire, enquire ye, return, come."
The public servants of the Lord ought always to be public-spirited.
Patriotism is a branch of piety when properly developed, and those
who claim most fully to represent the Covenanters — the men who
won for lis our civil as well as our religious privileges — must never
grow lukewarm in the cause of truth and righteousness, or yield to
the narrowing influence of mere denominatjonalism, or, worse still,
of selfish individualism. They, above all others, ought to be, like
the men of Issachar, '* who had understanding of the times to know
what Israel ought to do."
One of the chief reasons for which the Church has been erected iu
the world is to be a witness for the truth and against abounding:
8in and error. This she can, and ought to be, in the peraon of every-
one of her members. The Christian is likened by our Lord to a lamp
tor giving light to all within the sphere of his influenxie. But,
besides that, she should, in her collective capacity, or tlirough her
r'hurch Courts, bear her testimony clearly and unmistakeably on
liehalf of truth when openly assailed or quietly ignored. In the case
of our Presbyterian Churches this has been done more or less fully
by their Subordinate Standards, which are an authoritative exhibition
of the sense in which they understand Holy Scripture — the Supreme
Standard — in regard to all those disputed points to which these
symbols refer.
But the truths contained in Scripture, and exhibited in these sym-
bols neetl to be applied to various forms of sin and duty and different
phases of thought as they emerge into prominence from time to time.
And it seems not unreasonable, but eminently desirable, that the
Church, through her supreme Court, which gives voice to her views
and decisions, should tell her people what she thinks of the prevailing
trend of thought and practice — whether it is in harmony w^ith, or op-
posed to, the teaching of God's Word and the Church's accepted creed.
For truth unapplied is little better than food unprepared, or medi-
cine unad ministered, or valuable legal maxims locked up in musty
law-hooks.
Accordingly, for the warning, instruction, or guidance of our own
members, as well as for the information of others outside our pale,
tliis Synod adheres to the custom of issuing from year to year its
Report on such Public Questions as are deemed worthy of special
262 REPORT ON PUBLIC QUESTIONS.
notice. And in the name of the Committee charged with this busi-
ness, I shall refer first of all to two subjects which haTe often been
reported on before, but which are of perennial interest, and persistr
ently press themselves on public attention. Afterwards I shsjl deal
with three other subjects more peculiar to the present time.
Sabbath Observance.
From all parts of the laud there come regretful allusions to the
amount of Sabbath desecration among all classes of society. The
fence that God has set round His own day has long been broken
down by Post Office authorities, Railway and Tramway Companies,
steamboat proprietors, and private shopkeepers; and year by year
the world is making fresh inroads on the sanctity of the Lord's day.
In the course of the present year the Government authorities have
wantonly thrown open the Royal Botanic Gardens in PZdinburgh, and
the religious public have been scandalised by reports in London news-
papers of smoking concerts, jugglery entertainments, parades of drags
and four-in-hands, dinner parties, dances, trips up the river — all on
the Sabbath-day. Such forms of amusement are indulged in by
many who have little else to do than amuse themselves all the week,
and even by some belonging to the very highest rank. And our
naval authorities, some months ago, set at defiance the law of God,
and the convictions of the better part of the Scottish people, as well
as disturbed, in some instances, the worship of the Sanctuary, by con-
ducting a series of needless manoeuvres in the sacred hours of God's
holy day. Numerous political meetings are also held on the Sab-
bath ; and for the first time in the history of the British press a
newspaper has been started in London which is issued seven days
every week, and it is feared that other unprincipled newspaper pro-
prietors may, in course of time, follow the bad example.
And thus, while the enemies of God and of all true religion are be-
coming bolder in their assaults on our Day of Rest, professedly religi-
ous people are holding and venting looser views on the subject of Sab-
bath observance. Many are very irregular in their attendance at the
house of God. Half-day hearing is on the increase. Secular, or
semi-secular, subjects are treated in the pulpits of many ministers
instead of the Gospel of God^s grace. Sacred concerts are often held
on Sabbath evenings ; and among those who wait with becoming
regularity upon the public means of grace the old Romish idea of
canonical hours appears again to have begun to prevail, for many of
them spend the remainder of the day in visiting their friends or
pleasure-walks, or some form of worldly recreation.
Your Committee cannot view without alarm such indications of the
waning power of religion upon the conscience of the people at large ;
for, what the Sabbath was in Ezekiel's time, it is in ours, "a sign"
of God's favour to us and of our reverence for Him. There can be no
surer sign of the decay of piety on the part of a community or a
family, or an individual, than a growing disregard of the Sabbath
law. And if this, which is one of the strongest bulwarks of a nation's
REPORT ON PUBLIC QUESTIONS. 263
religion, falls before the onset of the enemy, what hosts of other evils
may be expected to invade the land 1 Voltaire said he could never
expect to destroy Christianity unless he destroyed the Sabbath ; but
if this strong and cheap defence of our religion and liberties is torn
down by the ruthless hands of selfish and misguided men, can we
wonder though infidelity spreads apace and all the other precepts of
the decalogue are trampled under foot 1
Your Committee would urge upon all the members of the Church,
and especially upon all parents, the duty of strictly observing the
Sabbath themselves, and putting a wise restraint upon the wayward
impulses of their children. Parents should take their children with
them regularly to the house of God, and the earlier they begin to do
80 the better ; for, habits early acquired become a second nature, and
going to church is counted a privilege by the little ones and not a
liardship. In their own homes no pains should be spared to make
the day bright and cheerful, while all endeavour to " remember it to
keep it holy." Some time should always be devoted to the instinic-
tion of the younger children as well as the more advanced, and for
this purpose the stories of the Bible never lose their interest and
chamtL For those able to read, good, solid, interesting literature
ought to be provided ; and it would be well if, in every household,
the good old Scottish custom were revived of spending a part of every
Sabbath evening in the revisal and repetition of our incomparable
Shorter Catechism. In so doing, parents will be doing their part to
perpetuate the distinction we have long possessed of being a Bible-
loving, Sabbath-keeping people. And sad, indeed, will be the day for
our beloved land should present tendencies be allowed to go on un-
checked. The solemn words of Dr. Chalmers should be deeply pon-
dered in this connexion. He says, " It should be recollected that
there is not a peasantry in Europe who have been so trained by the
good old habits and observances of other days to look on the Sabbath
as forming an integral part of Christianity, or in whose minds the
Sabbath law is so bound up and associated with the obligations of
deepest sacredness. You cannot, therefore, bring down tliis law from
its wonted authority without an utter dislocation or rather dissolution
of the religious character of the people of Scotland ; and th<)
inevitable result on every principle of human nature must be a more
rapid and ruinous degeneracy than perhaps has ever taken place in
the melancholy decline of communities and nations from the virtues
of their older and better times." May the God of our fathers avert
such a dire calamity, and lead us to take a firm stand on the perpetual
obligation of the Fourth Commandment, while we find in our happy
experience the fulfilment of the animating promise, " If thou turn
away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy
day ; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable ;
and shalt honour Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine
own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words. Then shalt thou
delight thyself in the Lord ; and I will cause thee to ride upon the
high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy
father; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it."
264 report on public questions.
Popish Aggression.
The system of Popery which those that were best acquainted with
it had no difficulty in recognising as the ^* Man of sin and Son of
perdition " predicted in Scripture — the " Mystery of Iniquity "
" whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs,
and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteoubnehs
on them that perish " — that system against whose power and
treachery the sagacious Reformers of this and other lauds bound
themselves by mutual oath and Covenant, and which has been truly
described by Dr. Adam Smitli, as the greatest enemy to material and
moral progress and political liberty that the world has ever seen —
that system which is the '^ Masterpiece of Satan " is alive and active
and aggressive amongst us. During the last fifty years in conse-
quence of what is known in history as the Oxford or Tractarian
movement headed by Dr. Newman, this system has made many
converts among the higher and better educated classes of this
country ; the number of priests and chapels and religious houses
under the fostering care of a restored hierarchy, has greatly increased ;.
and the claims of Papists have grown increasingly arrogant as their
political disabilities have been removed, and their so-called rights
acknowledged by ill-instructed Protestants.
All this can be only matter of regret to the wise and true friends
of civil and religious freedom. But the danger does not lie there ko
much as in the wide-spread apathy and indifference that prevail witli
regard to Popish pretensions and Protestant concessions. Many
ministers remain in utter ignorance of the real nature of Romanism,
or delude themselves with the idea that it has changed its character,
while the great mass of the people refuse to be interested in the
subject, or to receive instruction with regard to its soul-destroying
tenets. Any subject almost will command popular attention more
readily than this. And the consequence is that the advocates and
abettors of this heaven-accursed system, find it easy to trade upon
the popular ignorance and get their glosses and misrepresentations
of fact, as well as of theory, too readily believed. People pei-suade
themselves that Popery is not so black as it has been painted ; and
when the warning voice is raised against it and the possibility of it^s
regaining supremacy pointed out, they say " No Danger," and go to
sleep again in false security. Ood grant that they may not get a
rude awaking some day ere long !
But along with this sinful indifference on the part of Protestants,
there is another and perhaps even greater danger to our national
Christianity and popular liberties, in the growth in numbers and
power and influence of the Ritualistic party in the Church of England.
There are no doubt degrees of apostasy among the members of this
party, but the advanced wing of the invading host is Popish in
everything but the name. It is the '*Mass in masquerade" and
** Popery without the Pope." Many are continually finding their
way from Ritualism to the Romish Communion ; and multitudes are
being gradually and stealthily prepared for embracing the entire
REPORT ON PUBLIC QUESTIONS. 265
svstem of soul-ruining doctrine and practice which underlies the-
altars and incense, and postures and man-roiliinerj which seem so
•^illj and senseless, but which really express the dogmas of " another
1,'ospel " than that which Paul preached and which, under God, won
lor us the countless blessings of the Reformation. The trial of Bishop
King of Lincoln for illegal Ritualistic practices is still pending ; but
if it is decided that these shall be tolerated in the once Reformed
I'iiurch of England the issue may be most disastrous, and unless de-
iiverance comes to us from an unseen quarter, we may have to fight
over again the battles of the Reformation era. It is related of one
'.'f the martjrs that as he ascended to heaven in his chariot of flame^
lie uttered the fervent prayer : — ** 0 Lord, open the eyes of the King
f England." May the Lord open the eyes both of the people and
their leadeifi in the Church as well as in the State, and so avert the
danger which threatens us from different sides !
These were weighty words with which Dr. Bruce, the Chairman of
the English Congregational Union for 1888, addressed his colleagues
m the ministry : — " We must keep our eyes open to the growing
•ianger of being cheated out of our hard- won freedom and independ-
ecce by any smoothness of manner or fairness of speech on the part
ifEome. The Roman Chiurch has not abated any of her ancient
pretensions, abandoned any of her arrogant claims, or repented of
anj of her historical crimes. She has not budged an inch from her
aclusive claim to be the sole authorised channel of saving grace, the
oulj infallible Interpreter of Revelation, Whatever religious liberty
^be claims for herself and her members, she has most decided ob-
.ections to extend the same to Protestants and others where she is
:iie dominant Church in the land."
This testimony is true, and besides its hostility to all true freedom
■ f conscience, wherever Romanism flourishes it is a Upas-tree whose
prisonous exhalations carry death to myriads of souls. The evidence
J' men like Father Chiniquy and of women like Miss Cusack, the
"Xun of Kenmare," shews that irreligion and immorality are just as
•iiimon and as rampant among clergy and laity in our day as in the
i'ark Ages. And what they tell us of one part of the world there are
witnesses to corroborate in other parts. An Italian Almanac, ** Amico
'•' '•iM," published quite recently a Statistical Table which throws a
•^d light upon the character and working of this wicked system.
^t U8 extract one or two of the items. In Loudon there are upwards
•> -4 legitimate births for every illegitimate one. In Rome for every
• -itimate birth there are more than two illegitimate. Again in
ta^land there is one murder or assassination for every 178,000
.arsons. In Popish Spain there is one for every 4,113, and in the
Ijjinan States one for every 750 persons. So that wherever the
^'»oaiish tree has fullest scope to bear its natural fruit sin and crime
'ucvii largely abound. And in the face of facts like these what living
' liristian is there that does not feel himself summoned as by the
• "Jnd of a trumpet to resist to the very utmost the encroachments of
'bis pernicious system, and to pray that the Lord would speed the
Micted time when it shall be destroyed with the breath of His
266 REPORT ON PUBLIC QUESTIONS.
mouth and the brightness of His coming ? While we feel nothing
but kindness and compassion for its votaries and dupes and seek with
all earnestness to lead them into the light, our motto as Presbyterians
«nd Covenanters must ever be, " No peace with Rome."
Higher Criticisk.
One of the outstanding features of our time is the severe attack made
iipon the integrity fef the Word of God, by men who have given
themselves the name of higher critics. The immediate object o\
their onslaught is the Old Testament Scriptures, but as we shall sec
the whole Bible is involved in the issue of the conflict. In all ages
there have been sceptics who doubted or denied the Divine authority
•of the Bible. For several generations there have been Rationalistic
critics — especial Iv in Germanv and Holland — who tried to eliminate
the supernatural from the history of the Old Testament Church and
who accepted or rejected portions of the sacred record just as it suited
their pre-conceived theories.
But the peculiarity of our day is the acceptance to a less or
greater extent -of the results of this Rationalistic criticism — by minis-
ters and professors of Evangelical churches — men even who have
signed the Westminster Confession of Faith and who profess to beliere
in the Inspiration and infallibility of the whole Word of God.
In the hands of these men the Pentateuch is a composite work—
the joint product of an unknown number of authors, who wrote at
different times and under the influence of different surroundings,
while Moses had little or nothing to do with it. David wrote few, il
any, of the Psalms, although our Lord expressly ascribes the author
«hip of some of them to him. Solomon knew nothing about th<
Book of Ecclesiastcs; while the exquisite allegory that bears his nam(
and in which many of the saintliest spirits have felt the heart-throh
of their Friend and Lord, is nothing else than a rather gross descrip
tion of the triumph of pure over impure affection. The remarkabl
•experience of Job and the typical history of Jonah are mere novelette?
written with a moral purpose, but with no basis in fact. Not oul
so, in the opinion of these men the Bible gives its authority t
scientific errors, to historical inaccuracies, and to defective morality
so that we must discover what is reliable in the sacred writings, nc
from themselves or the testimony of the Holy Spirit speaking in then
but from the knowledge and researches of Biblical scholars and tl
inward light which they usually claim to possess.
Now it is no part of our present purpose to follow these men inl
the trackless forest of irreverent theorising in which many of thei
•seem to have lost both themselves and their faith. We shall wa
until they reach some definite conclusions with regard to which th(
•are generally agreed ; for while they are quite imanimous as to the
own peculiar fitness for dealing with such questions, and in thf
opposition to what they call the traditional view of Israelitish histor
few of them — at least among the leaders — are agreed as to detaih
results. Besides there are scholars as able, as leai*ned, and fai* mo
REPORT ON PUBLIC QUESTIONS. 267
reverent than tbey — in Germany, in America, and in our own land —
vho continue to hold and triumphantly defend the generally accepted
view of the contents of the Sacred Books and the mode in which the
DiTine Keyelation was given, so that in so far as it is a question of
scholarskip we can pit the one class against the other, and as humble
believers in the infallibility of the Bible continue *' to possess our souls
in patience."
This much, however, we may say. All admit that the Old Testa-
ment Scriptures had assumed their present form before the time of
oiir Lord ; and beyond all question He has put His imprimatur upon
them. He received them in the sense in which they were received
hj His countrymen and as being what they claimed to be. He read
them, meditated on them, was helped in His conflict with evil and in
the tremendous task of working out a perfect Righteousness for His
jieople by means of a simple and unshaken faith in them. Their pro-
uiises sustained, their precepts guided, and the prospects they unfold
luimated and strengthened Him until for the joy that was set before
Him " He endured the Cross, despising the shame." And how does
He speak of the Old Testament Scriptures? Reasoning on a certain
c-ccasion with the unbelieving Jews, He quoted a passage from the
Book of Psalms, on which the whole stress rested on a single word,
and He asserts as a reason for the argument He was founding upon
tliat word, "And the Scripture cannot be broken" Could words
njore explicitly assert the infallible certainty of the Sacred Writings 1
And whenever He quotes the Bible, which He frequently does, or
refers to its historical statements, He does so with the utmost rever-
fuce and treats it as a Divine repository of truths which are worthy
*'i all acceptation. To Him as to His hearers it was the ultimate
Jndge of truth and duty, from whose decisions there was no appeal,
&iid to which intellect and conscience and will were equally bound to
€'ibmit. The Old Testament was the Saviour's Bible and the spirit
in which He treated it was very different from that of most of the
iiigber critics. Surely here as elsewhere it is safer to follow the
Master than the scholai's 1
But further, there is perhaps no man that has ever lived that
pjssessed more of the mind of Christ than His apostle Paul ; and
^hat are the terms in which he speaks of the Old Testament
•Scriptures] Standing on his defence before Felix and his Jewish
accusers he says of himself, "Believing all things which are written in
the law and in the prophets," while with reference to every part of
the Sacred Writings he makes this exalted claim, "All Scripture is
;riven by inspiration of God," for whatever way this verse is trans-
lated the sense is practically the same.
The Apostle Peter is no less definite in his views of the infallible
ctrtaintj of Holy Scripture as the Church then possessed it. Having
referred in his Second Epistle to the Voice of God that spoke to the
tnree disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration, he proceeds to con-
tract that utterance with the Voice of God speaking in the Bible,
**id he says, " We have also a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto
;e do urell that ye take heed as unto a light that shiueth in a dark
268 REPORT ON PUBLIC QUESTIONS.
place, until the day dawn and the day-star arise in your hearts."
And he adds, " The prophecy came not in old time by the will of
man ; but holy men of God ^fKike as they were 7noved by the Holy
Ghost:'
Such, then, is the Bible's account of itself, and if we are to accept
that account we shall doubtless continue to adhere to what some
have contemptuously styled the mechanical theory of inspiration,
which, however, is really nothing more than this — that God has, iu
some way mysterious to us, but in infinite grace and wisdom, secured
that the Bible shall be free from error and shall therefore be a trust-
worthy guide in regard to every matter with which it deals.
And does not this view most fully accord with the known character
of God and the needs of man ? Is it conceivable that the God of love
and truth would have given a Revelation which claims to be " a lamp
to the feet and a light to the path," and that the written record of
this revelation should be unreliable 1 The effect of such a view is io
leave us in doubt as to what is true and what is false, and therefore
practically to rob us of the Bible altogether — to leave us to navigate
the sea of life without chart or compass. It makes man the judge
of what is really the word of God, instead of allowing Him to settle
the matter for us, and as men are likely to reach different conclusion?,
it is possible that between one and another the whole of the Scripturea
may bo spirited away, and nothing left but a weary cry for light out
of a darkened world that has lost its way and has no means of findin^^
it again. A view like this appears to us to be self-condemned.
And then who are the men that have done the world's best work
and been its " saviours " in times of greatest need 1 Were they no^
all of them men who believed implicitly in the infallibility of thd
Bible, and who were nerved for their task by their unwavering faith 1
VVould Luther or Calvin or Knox or the heroes and martyrs of iU
Covenanting times have accomplished what they did accomplisli
without their firm faith in the truth of the Bible ] And where do \si
find the fairest types of Christian character in our own day — tht
most zealous, the most faithful — the most loving, the most self
denying — the most devout towards God, and the most philanthropic
towards men? Are they not found, with but rare exceptions, amon.^
the men and women that cling most tenaciously to the divine autho
rity of the whole Word of God 1
And what has this higher criticism done as yet to justify its claiii
to the acceptance of reasonable men 1 It has wrought no deliveranci
anywhere. It has unsettled the minds of many. It has tumd
students into sceptics, and confirmed others in their unbelief. It ha
busied itself with what in the very nature of things can never b
proved, and which, though it were, would benefit nobody. And con
centrating itself chiefly on the letter, it has lost the spirit of the Sacrei
Writings. For we cannot forget that the cause of the Old Testamen
is the cause also of the New. The two must stand or fall togethci
Like the Siamese twins, they are linked together by a living bond
and what proves fatal to the one proves fatal to the other. The Nei
Testament grows out of the Old. It is built upon it as a house upoi
REPORT ON PUBLIC QUESTIONS. 269
its foundation. And if the New recognises and proclaims the autho-
rity of the Old, while all the time the Old is unreliable, that very fact
tlestroys its own authority. With a criticism so useless in itself, and
so destructive in its results, we can have no sympathy.
Revision of the Confession.
The Westminster Confession of Faith has hitherto' been one of the
doctrinal standards of all branches of the Presbyterian Church in the
three kingdoms, and indeed throughout the whole of the English-
srieaking world. For some time past, however, murmurs of dissatis-
faction with it have been heard in church courts and elsewhere. A
few years ago the United Presbyterian Synod issued a Declaratory
Statement in which they modified what they considered the harsher
fcitures of the Confession in the interests of a moderate Calvinism.
The Synod of the English Presbyterian Church is presently engaged
in the construction of a shorter creed for popular use, and which is
aIso avowedly a modification as well as explanation of the older
Htandard. The General Assembly of the Established Church have
agreed to a relaxation of the Formula which regulates the Church's
relation to the Confession. And throughout the entire Free Church
an agitation has been carried on during the past year in which much
dissatisfaction has been expressed with the structure and contents of
the Confession, and with the strictness of the Formula which binds
all office-bearers to the faith and practice of Confessional doctrine,
vorship, discipline, and government.
It is obviously impossible for us to enter tipon a full consideration
^f the various questions that have been raised by this discussion, but
«^e may glance at a few of the leading arguments that have been urged
in favour of change or revision.
It has been argued by some that the Confession is too long and
too detailed in its doctrinal statements. To this it may be replied
that the length of the Confession is entirely owing to the number and
variety of the errors that had arisen in the Christian Church up till
the time when it was compiled ; and that as these errors still exist,
'^r are likely to arise again, it is the Church's duty to safe guard her-
self against their re-entrance among her members so far as it is
within ber power to do so. " Whereto we have already attained, let
IS walk by the same rule, let us mind the same things." Besides, long as
•he Confession is it is very much shorter than the Bible which is
the chief of all church standards, and those who heartily receive the
Bible in toto ought to have no difficulty in receiving the Confession.
Bat is there really so much force in this objection of too great length
^ is usually thought ) The Confession proper is a mere pamphlet
f4 a few pages which any one may read in a single evening or during
the time that many devote to their newspaper, and surely no serious
4nd intelligent person can fail to find time, if he choose, to ponder its
weighty and beautiful sentiments and the solid basis of Scripture truth
oQ which it rests.
Again it is argued in favour of Revision that the Confession is
270 REPORT ON PUBLIC QUESTIONS.
too old. And if the men who use this argument gave evidence of
being in hearty sympathy with the truths of the Confession, and were
calling on their respective churches to bring it up to date, if they were
pointing out errors and heresies that have arisen since the Confession
was completed and against which it was the Church's duty to lift a
faithful testimony, then there would be real force in the argument
But as their avowed object is the very reverse of all this, and as tbey
wish to secure Confessional sanction for certain modern views that are
inconsistent with the present standards, and have not yet been proved
to be consistent with the Bible, the age of the Confession is an argu-
ment in its favour rather than otherwise. It will be a long time ere
the Confession is as old as the symbols that bear the name of the
" Apostles' Creed " and the " Nicene Creed," not to speak of Peters
Confession and the Bible itself, but what orthodox Christian is there
that disparages them on that account, or would refuse to subscribe
them were he required to do so? And surely a creed that has^
expressed the faith of all the Presbyterian Churches in the world for
nearly 250 years, and has moulded the thought and life of successive
generations of many of the noblest men and women, ought not to be
cast aside, or t>ampered with at the bidding of a few modems who
have never given any evidence of being peculiarly endowed with either
wisdom or grace.
Another argument used in favour of its revision is that the Con-
fession is defective in its statement of evangelical truth. It is afirnied
that it gives undue prominence to the doctrine of Divine Sovereignty
and keeps in the shade the Fatherly love of God. We readily admit
that the Confession finds no place for the doctrine so popular at
present that God loves all men and loves all alike — that He is the
Universal Father and has an equal interest in all His creatures.
The Confession finds no place for that because the Bible finds none,
and the facts of experience contradict the dogma in a thousand
instances. But that the love of God is the fountain from which
Redemption and all other Covenant blessings take their rise, is plainly
indicated in the Confession. And though it were more fully stated
than it is, it is difficult to see what better practical effect would be
produced thereby. All along it is those that have received the Con-
fession with the greatest heartiness and intelligence who have been
most distinguished for their attachment to evangalical truth and
their burning zeal in promoting the welfare of souls. Who adhered
more closely to the Confession than Samuel Rutherford and the
Covenanters generally, and where in all the history of the world will
you find men of greater evangelical fervour than they % The same
may be said of the Fathers of the Secession last century and the
leaders of the Free Church in this ; and at the present hour it is
not the men who are most eminent for their burning love to Christ
and to perishing souls who are loudest in their demand for Con-
fessional Revision. One of the most distinguished of this class — the
Rev. Dr. Andrew Bonar — recently declared, " I believe the whole of
the Confession of Faith. I am utterly amazed at the hollow dis-
honesty of men in our day who put their names to the Confession 1
REPORT ON PUBLIC QUESTIONS. 271
their ordination day and then tell their friends and people, * Oh, we
l)elieve part of it, and just believe what we like.' I believe every-
thing that is in that Confession, but I believe more than is in it." A
document that produces the evangelical spirit in those that most
cordially embrace it can hardly be very deficient in its statement of
eraDgelical truth.
Once more it is argued that the Formula of subscription to the Con-
fession is too strict. The formula is the instrument that fixes the Church's
relation to her standards just as a ship's cable fixes the vessel to her
moorings ; and if that is relaxed it is plain that she is allowed to drift
to the extent of the relaxation. Now it is difficult to see how any one
who really believes the doctrines of the Confession should wish to have
the terms of subscription relaxed. If he believes the Confessional state-
ments to be true the strictness of the formula does no violence to bis
conscience. All he does by subscribing it is to affirm in the most solemn
manner that such are his beliefs. Relaxation therefore must be pleaded
for in the interests of those that do not believe the Confession heartily.
It must be designed to afford room in the Church for office-bearers
who are more or less out of sympathy with the Church's Creed and
whose presence therefore is a source of weakness both in her courta
and congregations, as well as an injury to the truths in behalf of which
the Church has raised her testimony. On that account such relax^
ation ought to be strenuously resisted. For our part we see no
immediate call for Revision of the Confession, but if the time should
come when that is expedient by all means let it be revised. Let
it express the real beliefs of the ecclesiastical body that adopts it and
not be a mere empty figure-head that means anything or nothing
little or much, according to the interpretation that each subscriber is
pleased to put upon it. Better have no creed at all than a formula
that allows such latitude.
^\Tiile therefore we hold that the Church has the right to revise her
subordinate standards from time to time, and ought to do so when-
ever there is a sufficient call in providence, we cannot express our
sympathy with the present movement, because we fear that under-
neath this church-court agitation there lurks a real hostility to the
system of truth embodied in our Confession, and a desire for liberty
to hold views at utter variance with the truths that have hitherto
been " most surely believed amongst us." And if such is the case
the present is a time to which the remarks of the elder Dr M'Crie
Imve a special ^PP^^^^^i^^^^^^ chaise of standards and
public formularies ought never to be made but up^ an evident call and
with the greatest care, as there are situations in which particular
f.^^"Ia Ship's rite-'SY ¥'^\
f such an atteir more to be attended to than the abstn^ct
lawfulness or No w,se general would think of X^Vmz
down the ra fortress with tho ,,• ? \. ^y^
them after modem iZ ^it^ ""^ '"^"' "
Bight, or t^ ispect the 7d.^^, ^^ T"^^ '"'''"
"* ' i^ V [Qe mieiity and coujjtAiicv ■
2 72 REPORT ON PUBLIC QUESTIONS.
those that were within. In a time when people are given to changes,
when novelties and pretended improvements are eagerly followed,
when, instead of steadiness and attachment to sound principles, there
«re strong symptoms of instability and a disposition to throw off bondn
and renounce former attainments, there is reason to suspect that
such changes either proceed from such a spirit, or tend to foster it,
and to make way for subsequent and more extensive alterations . . .
In such cases one innovation prepares for another, and is approved
by many, chiefly as it renders subsequent ones more practicable and
€asy. Obsta principiis is, at such a time, a salutary maxim ; and
those who do not resist at the beginning may find their opposition at
subsequent stages fruitless, and may be silenced by their own
principles and examples, as soldiers who have weakly and rashly
abandoned an entrenchment or outwork to the enemy have their own
4irtillery turned against them." (M*Crie's " Statement," pp. 35—36.)
Ark the Scottish Churches on the Down-gradb ?
Some time ago Mr. Spurgeon in his Magazine, The Sword and ih
Trowel^ published a series of articles in which he expressed his
mournful conviction that the Nonconformist bodies in England — The
•Congregational and The Baptist — were, as he expressed it, " on the
down-grade." He charged numbers of the ministers in both
communions — especially the Congregational — with having left the
doctrinal ground occupied by their fathers, and with having adopted
practices at variance with living Christianity. He adduced evidence
to show that in many instances the doctrines of our Lord's Atonement,
the Personality of the Holy Spirit, the Inspiration of Scripture, and
the Eternal Punishment of the wicked, had been given up, and that,
along with doctrinal aberrations, practical declension had set in to a
lamentable degree. The hydra-headed spirit of worldliness had
invaded the Church, prayer-meetings had dwindled away to the
vanishing point or beyond it, and church office-bearers were setting
themselves the task of providing amusement for the masses, instead
•of restricting themselves to their own purely spiritual work. Since
these articles were written, evidence has been accumulating that the
charges brought against these bodies by the faithful preacher were
too well founded ; and as a protest against existing evils and an act
of loyalty to injured truth, Mr. Spurgeon felt constrained to secede
from the Baptist IMion, and to assume a position of comparative
isolation. We woula fondly hope that there are many — perhaps the
majority — of both pastors and people in these two Churches that arc
still faithful to the sacred deposit of evangelical truth for which their
forefathers suffered and died. But there cannot be the slightest
doubt that a large number h^ve become infected with the contagion
of " modem thought," while neither Church possesses an authorised
•creed as an instrument of discipline whereby to rid itself of the fatal
infection.
Now it is a question that this discussion must have raised in many
minds, '* Are the churches of our own land remaining * steadfast and
REPORT ON PUBLIC QUESTIONS, 273
immovable,' or have they also entered ' On the down-grade * in faith
and practice f '
Your Committee in searching for an answer to this question do not
shut their eyes to what maybe regarded as the more favourable symp-
toms of the moral and spiritual health of the present generation of
Christians — the deepened and more extended interest in the Foreign
Missionary enterprise — the numerous and persistent efforts made to
reach and raise the lapsed masses, and to ameliorate their social and
religious condition — the various agencies set in operation to quicken
languid Christians and to deepen spiritual life — the gradual adoption
of Temperance principles by ministers and members of all branches
of the Christian Church and the effect given to these principles by
recent legislation. To all which may perhaps be added the preval-
ence of a more kindly and tolerant spirit among different classes of
society and the various sections of the Church.
But alongside of these we deeply regret to see other symptoms
which are decidedly unfavourable. The Sabbath desecration of an
open and flagrant character that is manifestly growiug amongst us ;
and the fact that in some localities half-day hearing is rapidly becom-
ing the rule rather than the exception. The general abolition of
Sacramental Fast-days by the three larger Presbyterian bodies has
usually been defended by the single plea that the mass of the people
have ceased to attend the church services, and instead of devoting a
small portion of their time to humiliation and prayer have turned the
day into a time for work or pleasure-seeking. Church-discipline not
only for error in doctrine but also for irregularity of life has to a large
extent become a dead letter. Numerous complaints are made by
well-informed persons that the distinguishing doctrines of grace are
rigorously excluded from the preaching of many of the younger
ministers of our time ; and that prelections — dignified by the name
of sermons — are delivered from Christian pulpits which might have
been composed by heathen moralists like Cato or Seneca or Epictetus ;
and that even when the gospel is earnestly preached it is often a slim
and shallow evangelism which savours strongly of the Arminian
heresy and tends to Antinomian license rather than solid Bible teach-
ing and searching appeals to the conscience. Along with this on the
part of both ministers and people there prevails a restless, innovating
spirit which refuses to be satisfied with God's appointments in the
worship of the sanctuary, and is constantly craving for novelty and
sensuous enjoyment instead of food for the ^gpl or the delights of
holy fellowship. In many places too there is a growing tendency, to
turn our churches and mission-halls into places of public amusement;
and every now and then one is shocked to read of Social meetings
connected with some piece of church organisation, attended with
amateur theatricals or followed with dancing-balls. The religious
training of the young is also largely neglected by parents, and this
often painfully manifests itself in a want of respect for themselves
and of reverence for sacred things ; while Family Worship, there is
reason to fear, is less and less practised.
Neither can your Committee regard with a feeling of satisfaction
S
2 74 REPORT ON PUBLIC QUESTIONS.
the evidence that abounds of a growing indifference to distinguishing
truth, believing as they do that whatever God has revealed is precious,
and that all scriptural attainments reached by the Church ought to
be faithfully maintained. They regard " faithfulness in that which
is least " as a test of sincerity and a proof of love while the want of it
suggests disloyalty to the Spirit of Inspiration and to Him who hath
said " Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least Command-
ments and shall teach men so, he shall be called least in the Kingdom
of heaven ; but whosoever shall do and Uach them, the same shall be
called great in the Kingdom of heaven."
Now in the opinion of the multitude all churches are very much
alike and all creeds equally scriptural or unscriptural ; and they will
not take the trouble to examine into the grounds of difference between
them. They join one church rather than another because it is con-
venient or fashionable or they happen to have a family connexion
with it, and they can change on the slightest provocation or with no
provocation but from merely personal or social considerations, and
with as much, or more ease than they would change the house in
which they live or the merchants with whom thoy deal. " Contend-
ing for the faith once for all delivered to the Saints '' is an antiquated
art — good enough for the half barbaric ages of the Puritans and the
Covenanters, but too rude and unrefined for this enlightened century.
" Holding fa^t the form of sound words which thou hast received "
was a duty incumbent on every preacher and professor of Paul's time,
but now-a-days a man earns a reputation for liberality and charity the
more loosely he holds every sacred truth. " Keeping the word of
Christ's patience" won for the Christians of Philadelphia a high
commendation and a precious promise, but now the highest wisdom
seems concentrated in believing as little as possible and working as
ostentatiously as possible and burying all denominational differences
in a common and nnhonoured grave.
A spirit like this we believe to be decidedly unchristian howcYer
much it may glory in the name of Charity. It wants the Hall-mark
of heaven for the love of which Paul writes so beautifully " Rejoiceth
not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth," Love to Christ proves its
heavenly origin by leading its possessor to bow with absolute sub-
mission to the will of Christ in everything and to believe what He has
revealed and to do what He has commanded purely from respect to
His authority. It was this spirit which planted Christianity in the
land of Judah and tlu:oughout the ancient Eoman Empire. It was
this spirit that animated the heroes and martyrs of the Reformation
era. And in the want of that spirit in our day we see a symptom of
our spiritual decline.
Your Committee feel in these circumstances that what we need as
a people above everything else is a speedy and abundant outpouring
of the Holy Spirit, and would earnestly urge upon all " God's remem-
brancers " the duty of incessant, persevering prayer. ,
Let this be the cry of each believer in his own behalf, " Awake, 0
north wind, and come, thou south ; blow upon my garden that the
REPORT OF MAGAZINE COMMITTEE. 275
5pices thereof may flow out ;" and in behalf of a perishing world still
lying in the Evil one let us unite in the prayer " Come from the four
winds O Breath, and breathe upon the slain that they may live."
Submitted in name of Committee by
THOMAS MATTHEW, ConveMT.
REPORT OF MAGAZINE COMMITTEE.
YoiTR committee have much pleasure in reporting that for the year ending
3l8t Dec., 1888, the Mas^azine has maintained its circulation ; and from
the Treasurer's clear and comprehensive statement, it will be seen that it
has done more than meet all its own expenses.
Number of Copiefl, indading the general'printing, during the year, 8000
Number dlflpoeed of, 7572
Leaving on hand the small stock of 428
Tnoome from all sources during the year, i£l94 5 11
Expenditure, including Editor's salary for 21 months, . . 180 17 10
Balance in favour of Magazine, £13 8 1
Though we can only give a nominal salary to our able and hard-working
Editor, and though we cannot, as yet, see our way to offer anything to our
willing contributors, we are glad to have to report a balance on the right
side; and trust that through the Divine blessing on the indefatigable
exertions of our general Treasurer, local distributors and other friends,
to have our circulation so largely increased, as to enable us, in accordance
with the Divine rule, to give cHX our labourers something for their hire.
At the request of the Committee, the Convener prepared a short circular,
a copy of which was sent, at the besi^inning of the year, to each of the
bretnren, with the request that he either read it from the pulpit, or, in
some other way, bring it under the notice of his people. Its object was
to try, if possible, to secure, on an average, three additional subscribers in
each coi^regntion. The results can only be known at the close of the year,
but the reports, up till this time, are, on the whole, favourable.
For various reasons, we believe, we ought, at the present time, to seek
hy all legitimate means to have the circulation of our periodical largely
increased. Among these we may mention the rapid increase of Popery
in the land — the ignoring of the doctrines of grace — of man's ruin by the
Fall, of redemption through the blood of Christ, of regeneration by the
Spirit— in so much of our so-called religious literature, the desire on the
j)art of the Church, to provide recreation for the people, under the plea
of reaching the masses, and getting their ear — the latitudinarian principles
and practices which abound even in Presbyterian churches, and the flood
of innovations and desire for change which have so generally affected the
public mind, and made such serious inroads into the observance of the
Sabbath as a day of sweet communion with God on earth, and a foretaste
of the rest and joy remaining for His people in the sanctuary above.
As the prevalence of such views, supported and encouraged by much of
the current literature of the day, threatens to sweep away not only all
that renukins of Reformation attainments, but to open the sluices of im-
morality, and to deaden in the minds of men all sense of the necessity of
personal religion, we are brought under an obligation to do our utmost to
have this evU influence as far as possible counteracted. Kow, we think ,
that through the blessing of the Spirit, we may have this end in a good
measure gained, by aiming at having a large increase in the circulation of
the sound, profitable, and interesting reading supplied by our Magazine.
When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall
lift up a standard against him. — By order of the Committee.
THOS. HOBART, Qowwmt.
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REPORT OF HALL COMMITTEE. 277
REPORT OF HALL COMMITTEE.
May, 1889.
The Hall was opened on the Tuesday after the first Sabbath of
June, and closed on the 31st of July last. According to the instruc-
tions of Synod, the Committee met with the Professors and students,
both at the beginning and at the close of the session. Seven students
were in attendance — five in connection with our own Synod and two
in connection with the R. P. Synod in Scotland. Those in connection
with our own Synod were Messrs. Samuel Walker and David Finlay-
son of the fourth year, Mr. James Young of the third year, Mr. James
Patrick of the second year, and Mr. James Littlejohn, a hearer. The
PwCT. Professor Spence opened the session with an able and instructive
lecture on the Covenant of Grace. As Professor Aitken, though present
at the opening services, and occasionally during the session, was, we
deeply regret to ^ay, unable to conduct his classes, Professor Spence
at once agreed to undertake for the session the work of both Pro-
fessors, which, we are happy to state, he performed to the satisfaction
of the Committee. Though the health of Professor Aitken has,
through the Divine blessing, been greatly restored, and he has begun
again as usual to preach to his congregation, yet, as we have little pro-
spect of him being able to do much in the Hall this summer. Professor
3pence has kindly agreed, with the approval of the Synod, to conduct
aU the classes in the ensuing session, in the same way and on the same
terms as he did the last one. Whilst praying that the health of Pro-
fessor Aitken may be completely restored, we are grateful that the
health of Professor Spence has, amidst his abundant labours, been so
well preserved. It was agreed to recommend the Synod to appoint
each session of the Hall to be closed with an address, and that the
Convener of this Committee be appointed to deliver such an address
at the close of the ensuing session.
The Reformed Presbyterian Synod at its meeting lately in
Glasgow unanimously and cordially gave a grant of fifteen guineas
to our Hall Fund, in acknowledgment of their indebtedness
to us for the theological training of their students. The grant
has been given spontaneously. Some of their students gave
donations to our funds ; but we never thought of asking either
them or the Synod for a grant. We have had much pleasiure
in receiving their students into the Hall; and our Professors
have had much pleasure in training them along with our own. In-
deed, it was delightful to enter the Hall and see the students of the
two Covenanting Synods receiving the same training, and sitting side
by side, as brethren in the same pews. We have no doubt the Synod
will gratefully acknowledge the gift, and intimate to them that we are
as willing to receive their students at the present time as we have
been in the past.
The following is the Professor's report :-^
278 REPORT OF HALL COMMITTEE.
Report of Pbofessor Spbnce.
Th£R£ have been in attendance at the Hall during the present session four
regular students, Messrs Walker and Finlayson of the fourth year, Mr. Young
of the third year, and Mr. Patrick of the second year. Mr. Littlejohn
attended as a bearer. Messrs. Martin and Kirkwood of the Reformed Presby-
terian Church were also in attendance.
In the class of Systematic Theology the subjects of study were those em-
braced under the head of Soteriology. Under this head we took up, first of
all, the subject of the Covenant of Grace ; then, the Person of Christ, embrac-
ing such subjects as, the Supreme Divinity of Christ, the true and perfect
Humanity of Christ, the Sinlessness of Christ, the Union of the two Natures in
the Person of Christ, closing with a sketch of the history of the doctrine and
of the various controversies to which it has given riae at different perioiif.
We next look up the Mediatorial Office and Work of Christ. Lectures were
delivered on each of the three OfHces of Christ as Mediator, the Prophetical
the Priestly, the Kingly. Under the Kingly Office we discussed several sub-
jects connected Mrith our distinctive position and principles as a Church, viz.,
the Sole Headship of Christ over the Church, the Headship of Christ over all
things. His Headship over nations and the obligation resting on nations as such
to acknowledge and obey him, the Warrantableness and continued Obligation
of Ecclesiastical and National Covenants, and, lastly, the Divine Right of the
Pt^sbyterian Form of Church Government. Under the Priestly Office we dis-
cussed as fully as our time would permit the great central doctrine of the
Atonement. In addition to the lectures on the above subjects, the students
were examined orally on the chapters in Hodge's outlines on the Application
of Redemption, e.g., the chapters on Effectual Calling and Regeneration, on
Justification and Adoption, on Faith and Repentance, on Union with Christ,,
and on Sanctification and the Perseverance of the Saints.
In the Class of New Testament Exegesis we read in the Greek and examined
critically, granmiatically, and exegetically, four chapters of the Epistle to the
Galatians-~-Chaps. III. -VI. inclusive. In connection with our reading of
these chapters several theological subjects were more or less fully considered,,
such as. Justification by Faith, Adoption, the Relation of the Law to the
Gospel and of the Old Testament Dispensation to the New.
In the Hebrew Class the students had to be divided into two sections, the
senior division embracing four students, Messrs. Walker, Finlayson,
Young, and Kirkwood, and the junior two, Messrs. Martin and Patrick. In
the senior division we read in the Hebrew ten chapters of Zechariah, (Chaps.
I.-VL, IX., and XII. -XIV.) and two chapters of Isaiah (Chaps. LII. and
LIIL ) The students were examined on the grammatical forms and construc-
tions, and then a short exposition was given of each passage. We also went
over during the session a considerable portion of MUller's Hebrew Syntax. In
the junior division we went over about twenty sections of Davidson's Intro-
ductory Hebrew Grammar.
As in former years the students read every Friday, as an exercise in practi-
cal Homiletics, a skeleton or outline on a text which had been previously pre-
scribed. On three of these days we had the great satisfaction of having
Professor Aitken present with us, and the students had the benefit of his criti-
cisms and counsels. I consider this one of the most valuable and likely to be
profitable parts of our Hall work. Six discourses were delivered in the course
of the session, all of which were cordially sustained.
REPORT OF HALL COMMITTEE. 279
I have had much pleasure in meeting with the students during the present
session, and have to bear testimony to the uniform regularity of their atten-
danoe, to their diligence in study, and to the evident interest they manifested
in the important subjects to which their attention was directed. The one
painful circumstance in connection with the session has been the absence from
the greater number of our meetings of the senior Professor. His absence
created a blank which was felt by all. It will, I am sure, be the earnest prayer
of all who take an interest in the students and their work, that through the
blessing of God on the means used he may be soon restored to his wonted
health, and be permitted again to resume his work in connection with the HaU.
JAMES SPENCE.
The following are the reports of Presbyteries which have bad
students under their inspection during the past year : —
Report of Edin^buroh Presbytery, anent Supervision of Students
1888-9.
M&. Samuel Walker, B.A., Toberdoney, having at several meetings of
Presbytery given in all his trials for license, and these having been cordially
sustained, separately, and in cumulo, he was duly licensed as a preacher of
the gospel, on the 18th of March.
By Order of Presbytery.
J. STURROCK, Presbytery Clerk.
Report of the Perth asd Aberdeen Presbytery, anent the
Training of Students during 1888-9.
The Presbytery have had three students under their inspection during the
past year, viz.
L Mr. David Finlayson, Arbroath, Student of Theology of the 4th year.
He has been examined in all the subjects of Intersessional Work that had
fallen into arrears ai reported at last meeting of Synod, and in all the subjects
for the past year, all of which have been sustained. He had also given in all
his trials for license, all of which were sustained separately and in cumulo, and
he has accordingly been licensed as a Probationer for the office of the holy
ministry in connection with the Synod.
n. Mr. James Young, Perth, Student of Theology of the 3rd year. He has
been examined on all the subjects of Intersessional Work, for students between
second and third sessions at the Hall, all of which have been sustained. He
has also given in all his public trials for license, all of which have been sus-
tained. He will thus be ready for being licensed at the close of next session of
the Hall.
m. Mr. James Patrick, M.A. B. Sc, Carnoustie. He is a Student of
Theology of the 2nd year and has been examined in all the subjects of Inter-
sessional Study, for students of Theology between first and second sessions at
the Hall, and in addition, M 'Cries Life of Knox, Doctrinal Part of the Testi-
mony and in Hebrew, Psalms I-V. inclusive, all of which have been sus-
tained.
By Order of the Presbytery.
ALEXANDER STIRLING, Presbytery Clerk.
28o REPORT OF HALL COMMITTEE.
Bursaries. — Two Bursaries, the Dick, £8, and one Synod Bursary,
£7, were competed for last year. Conybeare and Howson's Life of
Paul was the book on which the students were examined. On the
10th October last two students only took their seats in Mains Street
Session-House, and had the following questions dictated to them : —
Questions on Conybeare and Howsoy.
f. Give a brief sketch of the Apostle's Life from the period of his birth np
to the time of his conversion to the Christian faith. State all you know in
regard to the city and province in which he was bom.
II. Narrate the leading incidents in Paul's first missionary journey, and
give some account of the principal places visited by him in the bourse of it.
III. (1) Narrate the leading incidents in Paul's second missionary journey,
and give some account of the cities in which Christian Churches were estab-
lished by him in the courfc of it ; (2), construct from the Acts and Epistles a
short account of his third missionary journey.
rV. Trace briefly the history of the Apostle from his apprehension in the
temple at Jerusalem, till his Martyrdom at Rome. On what grounds is it
maintained that he underwent two separate imprisonments in Rome ?
V. Trace the career (so far as it can be ascertained from the New Testament)
of the following companions of Paul — (1) Barnabas, (2) Silas, (3) Timothy, (4)
Luke, (5), Apolos.
VI. Give a short resume of the history of Jndea during the lifetime of Paul,
and mention also the Roman Emperors contemporary with him.
VII. (1), Enumerate and briefly describe the nature oV Charismata, or
Supernatural gifts of the Spirit possessed by the Apostolic Church ; (2)
Mention the leading tenets of the following sects and parties : — (1) The
Epicureans, (2) The Stoics, (3) The Pharisees, (4) The Pharisaic or Judaizing
party within the church ; (5) The Gnostics of the ApostoUc Age.
VIII. (I), Explain the meaning of the terms Hellenist, Asiarch, Politarcb,
Proconsul ; (2) Give the probable order, date, and place of writing of the
thirteen Pauline Epistles.
The papers given in, in answer to these questions, are creditable to
their authors, and show that they had thoroughly mastered the book.
They are nearly equal in value. The first (Dick) bursary, £8, was
gained by Mr. James Young, Perth, and the second, £7, by Mr. James
Patrick, Carnoustie. We are grateful to the Synod, and, of course, to
the congregations also, for the handsome collection they have given us
for the Bursary Fund. We trust that along with their contributions
the people will also give us their prayers. We need them. '* The
harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few ; pray ye, therefore,
the Lord of the harvest that he would send forth labourers into His
harvest."
By order of Committee,
THOS. HOBART, Convener.
REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON TEMPERANCE. 281
REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON TEMPERANCE.
May 1889.
It is but a slow progress, your Committee regret to think, which the
<;ause of Total Abstinence makes in our land. Its advance reminds
oue of those quiet and deliberate modes of locomotion with which our
aDcestors were acquainted, the stage-coach and the sailing vessel,
rather than of the railway train and the steamship, which hurry us
in our time from place to place. There was a pleasantness about
th^e gentle and gradual movements which the new methods with
their haste and noise may not possess. But when it is a question of
social and moral and spiritual reform, one would fain see the pace
accelerated. Hearts that yearn for the redemption of the world from
sin grow discouraged, because so little ground is being gained from
the enemy, and because the wheels of the Master's chariot tarry so
long. The persistence with which men cliug to evil customs almost
kills hope within them ; and they are tempted to wonder whether it
ever will be the perfect day. But perhaps they ought rather to
accuse themselves. If the progress is slow, have they done every-
thing they could to quicken it 1 If the world is very evil, have they
prayed and laboured as they might have done for its regeneration '?
There is a better thing than idle sorrow over prevalent wickedness ;
and that better thing is active effort for the salvation and renewal of
society. Christian men and women should do as King Arthur did,
who *' cleared the dark places, and let in the law, and broke the
bandits' holds, and cleansed the land.'' If they had been more dili-
gent, the outlook would be hopefuller than it is.
The Committee would look, first, at the darker side of the picture.
It is of the greatest importance, they believe, that the tremendous
evils of the drink traffic should be clearly seen. If we only compre-
hended better the mischief and the misery, our endeavours to change
the sad condition of things would be multiplied a hundredfold.
The National Drink Bill — the amount of money spent throughout
iWeat Britain and Ireland on spirituous liquors — reached last year
the sum of £124,611,439. That is not less, but more, than the ex-
penditure of 1887 — more by about £264,000. If the immense total
he divided equally among the inhabitants of the country, it means
that every man and woman and child in the United Kingdom spent,
during the twelve months which ended in December, not less than
£-3 6s. 8d. on intoxicating drinks. It cannot be good for the
commonwealth that such an enormous sum of money should be de-
voted to purchasing \ihat is the most fruitful cause of the immorality
and crime and disease of the land. " Drunkenness," as Arthur Dent
said two hundred and fifty years ago in that little book of his, ** The
Plain Man's Pathway to Heaven," which was almost the entire dowry
that John Bunyan's wife brought to her husband, ** Drunkenness is
282 REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON TEMPERANCE.
the metropolitan city of all the Province of Vices." It is a true-
witness ; and it is not well for our people that they should waste-
their resources in an expenditure which is always useless, and which
to tens of thousands among them is the source of poverty at id
degradation, if not the fiery incentive to sin. The Earl of Derby did
not exaggerate — he is not in the habit of doing so — when he declared
that, if this expenditure could only be diminished one half, the
country would be in so flourishing a condition that it would hardly
be recognised as the same. Apart from those who profit pecuniarily
by the liquor traffic, every other interest suffers. Other trades and
industries lose the encouragement which they should derive from
even a small portion of the immense outlay upon drink ; and the re-
compense which we do get hack invariably and inevitably is a load of
misery and pauperism and crime and lunacy and sickness and
death — ^a load under which, splendid as our energies are, the
land groans, being burdened, and ^' weeps and breaks forth in
a lamentable cry." Parliament has been busy of late with
schemes of naval defence — the planning of ironclads and tre-
mendous pieces of artillery. Would it« members not be even
better employed if they paid a more earnest^attention than they do
to the enemies that threaten the country from within — enemies
which are already ruining countless numbers of the peopled
A nation sober and righteous and godly is the stri^ngest of nil
nations and the best prepared to meet outward danger when it
comes ; a nation, just like an individual, ihat is the victim of
besetting sin, is weak and worthless when the blast of the terrible
ones is as a storm against the wall. Governments used to protect
themselves against the scourge of the cholera by instituting a
rigorous system of quarantine ; by a severe surveillance of ships and
strangers they hoped to hold the infection at a distance. But they
came to be convinced by-and-by that the best system of quarantine
is seriously inefficient — that it is simply impossible, in modern life
and trade, to isolate a city or nation and to keep the plague outside.
So they have turned themselves to the sanitary condition of their
own towns. By draining and cleansing them they seek to leave the
pestilence no allies within their borders. And this defence, we know,
is infinitely more satisfactory. Purity within, rather than circum-
spection without, has proved the best policy. But why should not
Government act upon the same policy to a much greater extent 1 If
it would but do its part in liberating our dear and honoured country
from those evils which are eating into its vitality like a canker, such
evils as gambling and uncleannesa and drunkenness, we might almost
face the world iu arms.
There are other discouraging incidents in the recent history of the
drink question on which the Committee might dwell. There was
the attempt, for example, made a month or two ago by Lord Aberdare,
himself the promoter of the beneficent Act, to disparage the results
of Sabbath closing in Wales. It cannot be surely that his Lordship
regrets the part he played in furthering so wise and salutary a
measure; one would be soiTy to utter over him that terrible
REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON TEMPERANCE. 283
" Ichabod " Tvhich Mr. Whittier wrote ahoxtt Daniel Webster. But
the Act, he declares, has not accomplished all that he had hoped it
would ; and therefore he bans now what he blessed not so long ago.
It maj be permissible to believe that he has been led to take too
gloomy a view of the real state of affairs ; or that in some districts
special causes have been at work to neutralise the operation of the
law. As for the law itself it is right and good. Both the cause of
Temperance and the cause of Sabbath Observance demand that it
should continue in operation. We in Scotland know the inestimable
benefit which has come to us from the closing of public houses on
the Lord's Day ; and we cannot but desire that an enactment which
has brought us such manifold advantages should be enforced every-
where.
But there is one very sad and shameful aspect of the drink curse
to which the Committee would specially refer — the traffic carried on
by civilised countries among races which are heathen or but half
Christianised. It is quite impossible to speak too strongly on this
matter; words fail all right-thinking men when they try to character-
ise the sin and the crime of it. The old Latin satirist said that the
greatest reverence was due to children ; and our Lord and Master has
bidden us take heed that we despise not one of His little ones. But
these nations, into which Europe and America have carried this
destroying scourge, are still in their infancy and boyhood ; they are
only little children when compared with us, '^ the ancients of the
earth." We ought to have taken them by the hand ; we ought to
have sheltered them from evil that it might not grieve them ; we
ought to have cared for them tenderly and anxiously, as mothers
and fathers do for the dear young lives that God entrusts to
their care. Instead of this, what have we done? It is a pitiful
and disgraceful story. The merchants of Britain and Germany
and the United States are forcing on the weak and ignorant races of
Africa and the South Seas, of Madagascar and Australia, of India and
Burmah, the rum and gin and brandy which are a source of infinite
sorrow and shame at home, but which are nothing less than a deadly
poison to those untutored peoples. They do this for the sake of the
enormous profits arising from the sale of cheap and bad liquors — pro-
fits amounting in some cases to 700 per cent. They are doing it
every year more and more largely; in 1885 above ten million gallons
of the vilest spirits ever manufactured were sent from six Christian
countries to Africa alone. And the result is that the fatal fire-water
is freely consumed, and is destroying month after month its tens of
thousands. That is the mission-work —Satan's mission-work — which
is being prosecuted side by side with Christ's, and by men who no
doubt regard themselves followers of Him who came to seek and save
that which was lost. It is no wonder that the progress of the Gospel
is so hampered and hindered, when these are the gifts which are sent
to heathen lands along with the message of truth and life — no wonder
that the missionaries of the cross mourn that they spend their
strength for naught and in vain. When Mr. Stanley met with King
Mtesa in Uganda, he had been only a little while in the chiefs society
284 REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON TEMPERANCE.
when he put the questioa : '' What tidings can you bring me from
above 1 " And the great explorer left the king a New Testament,
and told him that he would find in it the one authoritative and satis-
fying answer to his enquiry. Then he pushed on, and by-and-bye he
came to the peoples of the western coast ; and, when they met him,
their first question was : ** Have you any gin 1 " There is the difFer-
-ence between heathenism pure and simple and heathenism that has
been touched and debased by contact with our civilisation. We have
reason to be ashamed and angry at ourselves. '' Barasa," wrote a
native prince on the Niger to Bishop Crowther, " Barasa " — ^rum or gin
— " has ruined our country : it has ruined our people very much ; it
has made our people become mad. We beg the great Christian
minister to beg the English Queen to prevent men bringing barasa
«into this land. For God's sake he must help us in this matter."
And it is only the other day that the newspapers contained the pro-
test of Khama, the chief of the Bamangwato : " I dread the white
man's drink more than all the assegais of the Matabele. They kill
men's bodies, and it is quickly over. But drink puts devils into men,
and destroys their bodies and souls for ever ; its wounds never heal."
It is a shameful business all through. If the black man be, as quaint
Thomas Fuller declared that he was, ** the image of God carved iu
ebouy," we may say of every white man engaged in the iniquitous
trade, what another great Englishman said of the slave-dealer, that
he is ** the image of the devil carved in ivory." We need to rouse
ourselves to prayer and eftbrt for the removal from our Christianity
of the hideous stain. It is high time that the churches were seeking
to wipe away the stigma.
There are indeed many things to discourage all who have the cause
of Temperance at heart. But yet the outlook is not entirely dark ;
there are tokens of progress too.
IL
The Committee pass therefore to direct attention to the brighter
side of the picture — to some signs and indications that, after all, the
world moves.
The Chaucellor of the Exchequer may be cited as a witness. In
his Budget speech, Mr. Goschen said that he had good news for the
friends of Temperance. ** This great revenue," he announced — the
revenue from drink — " does not grow in proportion to the population."
And he went on to show that throughout the country there had been
a material and striking fall in the consumption of intoxicating liquors
during the last twenty -five years, and that the decrease had been
chiefly if not altogether in the heavier and more hurtful kinds of
wine. There is a lesson for us in his words. If you compare one
year with that which has gone immediately before it, you may not
find much ground for encouragement; perhaps you will find only
what disheartens and vexes you, and makes you cry, " We are tra-
velling backward and downward, not forward and upward." But if
you take in a larger period, the advance will become very evident
then. Mr. Goschen spoke of a quarter of a century and of what had
REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON TEMPERANCE. 285
been achieved daring that time ; if one were to journey back further
still — saj for a century and a half — the change would be even more
conspicuous and remarkable. In the year 1724, we read in one of
Mr. Lecky's books, " Gin-drinking infected the mass of the population
with the violence of an epidemic." It is said that every sixth house
in London was a gin-palace. The public-houses were open not all day
ouly but all night General opinion did not hold the character of
any man to suffer through drunkenness. ** I remember, sir," Dr.
Johnson said once to Boswell, " I remember, sir, when every decent
person in Lichfield got drunk every night, and nobody thought the
worse of them." There has been wonderful progress since the era of
those Nodes AmbrosiancB in Lichfield.
It is cheering, too, to notice the manifest growth of Temperance
sentiment in Parliament. Here are two illustrations of that growth.
On March 27th of this year, Mr. Stevenson's Bill for closing public-
houses on Sabbaths in England was discussed in the House of Com-
mons ; and its second reading was carried by a majority of twenty-
two. On April 30th, Mr. Samuel Smith moved a resolution condem-
ning the establishment of spirit distilleries in India, in places where
until recently they had never existed, and in defiance of native
opinion ; and, despite the fact that it had to face the opposition of
the Government, the resolution was adopted by a majority of ten.
Parliament is certainly becoming more and more alive to the infinite
importance of the question. Not long ago, in one of his speeches,
Sir George Trevelyan drew an instructive and refreshing contrast
between the present state of opinion in the Commons and the con-
dition of affairs when he entered the House in 1865. "Then," he
said, " everybody who wanted to make a cheap joke had his fling at
the fifty or sixty Temperance members ; now all that is changed —
changed absolutely, utterly, and entirely." For this let us be thank-
ful to God.
And throughout the country the tide seems to be rising, slowly
as has been said, but yet unmistakably. One evidence that it is so
we have in the widespread agitation of last year which led to the ex-
punging of the Licensing Clauses from the Local Government Bill for
England. These clauses proposed to compensate the holders of un-
renewed licenses — to give the money of the ratepayers to those who
had already gained incalculable wealth out of their unhappy fellow-
countrymen. But the outcry of the citizens of the land against the
suggestion was so loud and so persistent and so unanimous that it
had to be cancelled and withdrawn. That is surely a healthy sign
and a prophecy of better things yet in store. If only this " noble
and puissant nation " would " rouse herself like a strong man after
sleep and shake her invincible locks," what victories might be gained
in the near future — what glorious harvests might be reaped !
Iniquity, being ashamed, would hide its head.
These are things which should make us hopeful ; and it is ab-
solutely necessary that in the battle against intemperance, as in the
hattle against sin of every kind, we should bate not a jot of heart or
hope. Nothing paralyzes our energies more than a secret dread or a
286 REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON TEMPERANCE.
half-conscious fear that, after all, we may be beaten, and that dark-
ness may triumph over light. Let us banish the thought ; it is
false ; it ought not to have a resting-place within our souls. " Good
is an hundred, evil is one ; Round about goeth the golden sun."
Have we ever considered the unparalleled, hopefulness of our Lord
Jesus Christ 1 When He was, to all outward appearance, poor and
weak and helpless, He talked of the bright and happy day that was
coming when He and His disciples would rule the whole world. He
said, '* I beheld Satan fallen as lightning from heaven." '^ He was
the most extreme optimist," a living preacher recently declared, "the
world has ever seen." It would be an incalculable advantage for our
country and for the entire earth, if He could inspire His followers
amongst us with a little of His optimism. . We should struggle more
manfully and more stedfastly then against the forces of darkness,
because always in front of us there would shine the glory of the
coming day ; we should trust and not be afi'aid.
III.
The Committee pass to a few recommendations and suggestions
which they desire to make.
They ask the Synod's permission to memorialise Parliament for the
prohibition of that terrible drink-traffic among native races, to which
reference has been made already. They would like also, if they have
opportunity, to petition the House of Commons in favour of the
Local Veto Bill. They may not be able to agree with every detail of
the Bill ; but in so far as it embodies the principles of popular con-
trol, they believe it to be a just and righteous measure. It is
assuredly wrong for the rulers of the land to place unnecessary
temptations to drunkenness in the midst of the people. Those poor
men and women who yield themselves up to the baleful tyranny of
strong drink from whatever motive — whether because they wish to
drown their misery, or because their appetite has become vitiated, or
because they are led away by the curious customs which have still
too much power among us, or because they have been influenced by
evil companionship — certainly commit grievous sin; they are charge-
able with wrong-doing. But, in the High Court of morals, the trader
who enriches himself by what impoverishes and degrades his neigh-
bour must be held as criminal as they. And, if the trader be to
blame, the magistrate who has licensed him to sell is blameworthy to
a still greater degree ; and the legislature, which has endowed the
magistrate with the prerogative and power of license, is the worst
offender of all. Mr. Goldwin Smith refurbished lately an old and
rusty weapon against Parliamentary efforts on behalf of Ab^inence,
when he said, " Prohibition is impracticable because men cannot be
dragooned into virtue." But this at least is certain that men
can be tempted to immorality and vice — lured and enticed, if
not quite dragooned, into hateful sin — by Acts of Parliament. And
they have been so by all that our law- makers have done to create and
to stimulate and to protect the trade in intoxicating liquor. Govern-
ment ought to comprehend that " the number of victims who fall is
always proportionate to the number of devils who tempt ; " that " the
REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON TEMPERANCE. 287
sight of means to do ill deeds makes ill deeds done ; '' and that it is
its bounden duty to keep its subjects, so far as it can, from evil, and
to make them sober and pure. It ought, at the very least, to give
the citizens the fullest liberty to curb and fetter the sin of drunken-
ness— to destroy and end it if they can. " There are many changes
in the law of this country," as Mr. Hugh Price Hughes has said in his
remarkable volume of sermons on Social Christianity, " which will
have to be enforced when our rulers have faith in God, and when
their hearts are full of sympathy for the poor and the weak and the
suffering." This power of Local Veto is one of these changes.
The Committee think that more might be done by the office-bearers
and members of the Christian Church — of our own section of the
Church — than has yet been done. They take leave to point out two
fields within which more vigorous effort might be carried on. In the
ordinary ministrations of the pulpit, and in the intercourse of Chris-
tian men and women with one another, there should be greater atten-
tion paid to the crime and misery of intemperance, and to the methods
by which the enemy may be grappled with and overcome. Perhaps
Christian ministers and Christian people have something still to learn
about the many-sidedness of that salvation which Christy their Lord,
is able and willing to give them and to give the world. It is a salva-
tion not only from future death, but from present sin ; a salvs^tion
for the body as well as for the soul ; a salvation that is intended to
touch and remedy all the desperate troubles of tempted men and
women. Would it not be a good thing if clamant evils of our own
time — the social distress, the breach between capital aud labour, the
war-like spirit, the secularism, the foul blot of our opium traffic, the
drunkenness of the land — were discussed occasionally in our congre-
gations, and prayed over, and brought face to face with the saving
aud renewing Gospel, and committed to the Almighty Christ 1 There
would be no departure from the proper work of the ministry, aud no
forgetfulness by believing men of their high vocation, if more thought-
ful and earnest consideration were given to such themes ; the religion
of Jesus is intended to be applied to every kind of sin, and has virtue
to work out every kind of deliverance. We must never forget that
**all authority '* is given to our Captain, Christ, "on earth" as well
as " in heaven." The other sphere of labour in which the Committee
would fain see our Church more actively engaged is a different one.
It is that of direct evangelistic effort among the neglected and out-
cast home-heathen. Might we not do much more than we are doing
to carry the Gospel — **the old, old story- of Jesus and His love," old,
yet perennially living aud new — to those who are dying about our
very doors 1 It is the Gospel which must be placed in the fore-
front there. Let us get our poor and blind and down-trodden
brothers and sisters to understand that Christ has help and healing
for their deepest needs, pardon for their sin, a clean heart to give
them, and a new Spirit to put within them, and the Temperance
})ledge may safely be consigned to a subordinate place. It is im-
portant, but there is something more important still ; and its value is
not likely to be overlooked if the living and life-creating Saviour be
welcomed first into the soul.
288 REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON TEMPERANCE.
Something was said last year by the Committee about the formation
of an Original Secession Church Total Abstinence Society. They
believe that such a Society would identify our Church plainly and
decisively with the good cause. It might help, too, in encouraging
those congregational associations which already exist, and in formin*;
associations where they have not yet found a fooling. The matter i*
still under the consideration of the Committee, and they hope before
long to conduct it to a happy issue. Meanwhile, as a preparatory
step, they propose during this year to gather as much information as
they can al30ut the state of Abstinence feeling and sentiment in our
various congregations ; about the agencies which are actually in
operation ; about the methods in which work is carried on at present
within our borders. No particular and detailed account has ever been
laid before the Synod of how the Church really stands related to bo
vital a question, and until such an account can be given it might be
premature to take any additional step. But once the enquiries of the
Committee have been answered, they trust that the way will lie clear
and open for further advance.
They close this Report by insisting, first of all, on the necessity
among Christian men and women of a profounder and keener sense of
the sin and shame which flow from this traffia Strong and ardent
passion, whether it be of love or of hatred, is not fashionable now-a-
days. It almost seems as though, with the increase of culture and
civilisation, there was a corresponding decrease of enthusiasm. We
take fire with difficulty, and even where there is some heat it is
generally of the latent sort. We are rather ashamed of any display
of strong feeling ; it transgresses the proprieties ; it makes us eccentric.
Our emotions are so sluggish that we do not wonder at that which is
good and holy, and we are not deeply displeased by that which is evil.
** One of the great things to be desired for ourselves as a nation," Dr.
Dale of Birmingham tells us, and he is among the manliest religious
teachers of the age, *'one of the great things to be desired just now
for all the nations of Christendom, is that we should love more
fervently all that is loveable, hate with an intenser hatred all that
deserves to be hated, admire with a franker and less critical
admiration whatever is admirable, and despise and scorn more heartily
what is mean, despicable, and base." Undoubtedly Dr. Dale is right.
And, yet again, the Committee would insist on the necessity of fervent
prayer for the outpouring on the Church of Christ of the Holy Ghost.
That is what she needs. With the divine Spirit dwelling richly
within her, she would thrive and prosper.
** The wind may alter twenty ways,
A tempest cannot blow ;
It may blow North, it still is warm :
Or South, it still is clear ;
Or East, it smells like a clover farm ;
Or West, no thunder fear."
With His grace and purity and power animating her, she would not
be able to brook the prevalence of sin ; she would be a swift witness
against the evil-doers ; she would labour far more strenuously and
far more successfully for the regeneration of the world. Vent, Creator
Spiritus, let us cry.
Respectfully submitted in tho name of the Committee by
ALEXANDER SMELLIE, Cimvener,
PAGES FOR THE YOUNG. 289
f^SZB for the Souttg.
BIBLE QUESTIONS.
As I listen, through the written pages, to the answers of my three
Bible Claaaes to the questions addressed to them, I feel constrained to say.
Well done. The junior one formed last month has already goodly propor-
tions, and promises to be full of interest and life. The members of it have all
mastered the Bible account of the flood, and I think I see in their faces a
determination to persevere. The handwriting gives evidence in many cases of
no little labour, but is a good deal more legible than that of some older corres-
pondents. As a sample of the answers we give those of '* Excelsior," Stranraer.
1. Qea, vi. 5. — " And Ood saw that the wickedness of man was great in the
earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil
continually.
2. Noah and his wife, his three sons and their wives, also a great many
animals.
3w They were saved in an ark made by Noah, which floated on the top of
the waters.
4. That he would not destroy the earth any more by a flood.
5. The rain-bow in the cloud.
Good answers have been received from A. D., Primrose, Aberdeen ; On-
ward, Mayflower, Sunrise, Truth, Obedience, Ayr ; Hope, Birsay ; Daisy,
Ben, Maggie, Cupar- AngDS ; Snow-drop, J)uudee : Youth, Olive Leaf, Edin-
burgh ; Try, Kirkcaldy ; Mountain Ash, Lily, Kirkintilloch ; Ada, Paisley ;
I am the way. Peace, Violet, Perth ; Boyd, Gentleness, Hope, Strauraer ;
Pearl, Primrose, Thurso.
May I ask my little friends not to put their motto on the outside of the enve-
lope, but either at the beginning or end of their answers. A motto beneath
my name on the envelope. In one of the returns, seems to have given some
stupid postman a good deal of trouble.
The middle class is still of a good size, notwithstanding the division that
has taken place. Careful study has been given to the portion of the Life of
Moaes prescribed, and all the answers are very creditable. The ones wc give
on this occasion are those of '* Upward," Ayr, who, by a mistake in the last
number, was designated " Upward," Glasgow.
1. In the third month, after the Israelites had left Egypt, when they came
to the wilderness of Sinai and Moses went up into the mountain. Ex. xix. 1-3.
2. With their loins girded, their shoes on their feet, and their staffs in their
hands, eating the paschal lamb.
3. The waters were divided and the Israelites went into the midst of the
sea, and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand and on their
left.
4. He prayed to God when the officers of the children of Israel complained
to him of Pharaoh's ill-treatment. Ex. v. 22. Again at the Red Sea. Ex.
xvi. 15. Again when the people murmured against him because the waters of
Marah were bitter. Ex. xv. 25. Again at Ruphidim, when the people found
no water. Ex. xvii. 4. Again when the people sinned in worshipping the
golden calf. Ex. xxzii. 11-31. Again when God refused to accompany the
Israelites after the sin of the calf. Ex xxxiii. 12. Again when the people
complained of the manna. Num. xi. 11. Again when Miriam became leprous.
Num. xii. 13. Again when the spies brought an evil report of the land and
T
2g0 PAGES FOR THE YOUNG
the people murmui^ed. Num. xiv. 13. Again when Korah, Dathan, and
Abiram, rebelled. Num. xvi. 15-22. Again when the danghten of Zelophebad
asked for their father's land. Nam. xxvii. 5. Moees sueth for a snocesaor.
Num. xxvii. 16.
6. They saw the cloudy pillar by day, and the pillar of fire by night. The
manna falling every day but Sabbath. Their clothes never grew old nor their
shoes worn. And their feet did not sweU.
Very full and correct answers have been received from Mabel, Aberdeen ;
Love one another, Arbroath ; Ecoiier, Rose, Ayr ; Fidelity, Birsay ; Annie,
Cupar-Angus ; Violet, Carluke ; Hopeful, Dundee ; Sincerity, Edinburgh ;
Snowdrop, Kirkintilloch ; A Little One, Perth ; Fides, Maggie, Moiia,
Stranraer.
The senior class has turned out this time in large numbers, and most excel-
lent papers have been given in. I could have wished to give more than one,
as some things wanting in one are found in others, but the want of space for-
bids it. I have taken those of "Consider the Lilies,'* Birsay, as among the
best.
1. Because he loves and protects his flock. Because he feeds and nourishes
them. Because not one of his sheep shall ever perish or be lost ; and especially
because he gave his life for them.
2. Isaiah liii. 6. Ezek. xxxiv. 11. Zech. xiii. .7* Matt. xxv. 33. John
xxi. 16. Heb. xiiL 20.
3. They are like sheep because they are very prone to go astray. Because they
would never return were they not sought after and brought back by the Good
Shepherd. Because they are exposed to many dangers ; and because they are
weak, timid, and defenceless in themselves.
4. In Ekistem countries the shepherds went before their flocks and called
them, and the sheep knew their own shepherd's voice and followed him, bat
in our country the shepherds put their sheep before them and drive them
forward.
5. In His Word and Gospel ordinances. We also hear it inwardly through
the Spirit knocking at the doors of our heart. '* Behold I stand at the door
and knock." Rev. iii. 20.
6. By obeying His calls, by accepting salvation on His own terms. By lean-
ing on Him as our strength. By copying Him as our pattern, and by making
a complete surrender of ourselves to Him and His service.
Capital answers have been received from Fidelity, Aberdeen ; Walk in Love,
Arbroath; Excelsior, Daily Improving, My Helpar, Ayr; VY. J., Carluke;
Labor vincit omnia, Qui vivra verra, Loxe, Dundee ; Recinus Communis,
Toberdoney ; Faith, Dromore; Teach Me, Above, Edinburgh; Hodie non eras,
Matthew vi. 33, Veritas, Glasgow ; For Christ's Cr<iwn and Covenant, Hamil-
ton ; Squire, Kirriemuir ; Domine da lucem, Kirkcaldy ; Spes, Thought Em-
ployed, Olrig ; Zurushaddai, Delphin, Perth ; Deus est Amor, Hope, Love,
God is Love, Stranraer ; Daisy, Thurso.
Some faces are awanting this time, but we hope to see them again. Wonld
yon rememher to put beside your motto the congregation to which you belong,
as there is some uncertainty in taking this from the post-mark on the envelope.
One thing that has interested me a little is the local colouring of some of the
answers. A young friend from Olrig mentions as among the things in which
Christ utters His voice to us — that of the storm ; and the need of dogs to assist
our shepherds, and the absence of them in Eastern shepherd life, is a point
i that has received notice from some well acquainted with country life.
PAGES FOR THE YOUNG. 29I
The following are the Questions, answers to which you are requested to send
in before the beginning of August.
Undxr 10.
1. Where was Abraham to offer up his son Isaac ?
2. What did Isaac ask his father on the way to the place of offering ?
3. What was Abraham's reply ?
4. Why did God not allow Abraham to slay Isaac after He had commanded
him to do 80?
5. What name did Abraham give the place where ho raised his hand to slay
Ijuc ? What is the meaning of the name?
Ukdeb 13.
1. Which part of the law given to Moses at Sinai is to be observed by us ?
2. Give Moses' morning and evening prayers for the Israelites.
3. Name some of Moses' relatives who accompanied him through the wilder-
new, and tell how they sometimes helped, and sometimes hindered his work.
4. What was the virtue for which Moses was chiefly distinguished?
5. Where did this virtue fail him? And what wm the punishment he
saffered?
OVKB 13.
Luke zviii. 9-14.
1. Describe the Pharisees who lived in the time of our Lord.
2. Describe the Publicans also.
3. Read carefully the Pharisee's prayer and show chat it hardly deserves
the name of a prayer.
4. What feeling was uppermost in the Publican's heart when he prayed ?
5. Read the lesson in verse 14, and name some other passages where the
Baise lesson is taught.
A SHORT SERMON TO THE CHILDREN.
Psalm Ixziv. 17 " Thou hast made summer.'
»
The Hebrew Psalmists knew nature, and knew how to make it subservient to
the noblest of all purposes, the spiritual quickening of our nature. They
niay, I think, teach us lessons in this respect which will prove helpful to us.
Let ns try now and fiud out some things lying behind this tracing of summer,
with its weadth of beauty and sunshine, to the hand of God.
I. There is an acknowledgment of God as Creator. The arrangement by
which the seasons follow each other in uniform order was imprinted upon
natare by God's creating hand. The won<lrous mechanism by which it is
brought about was constructed by Omnipotence. The earth on which we
dwell revolves round its axis once every twenty-four hours, and this causes
the alternation of day and night. It revolves round the sun once a year, and
this causes the change of the seasons. God placed the earth th\is when He
fashioned it. When we see the daylight chasing away the darkness, and the
rammer dispersing the gloom of winter and quickening the lifeless earth, our
minds may well go back to the time when God impressed upon the work of His
haadti ihe order which they still manifest. Could all this be the result of mere
chance, or of the evolution of blind unintelligent forces, as some would teach
08? Oar reason, as well as our faith, answers— No. What Addison wrote
long ago about the circling stars expresses a great truth.
292 ECCLESIASTICAL INTELLIGENCE.
" In KftAon'B ear thej all rejoloe,
And utter forth a gloriuoa voice,
For ever eingfng a» they abine
' The hand that made ne ia divine.' "
2. There is an acknowledgment of God'e Providence. The maintenance of
the arrangement by which the eeasonfi come and go, is viewed as dependent
upon the constant forth- putting of God's power. It is He who makes the
summer ever anew to come. To the Psalmist God was not hid behind a
multitude of laws and forces by which such changes were brought about, but
was seen and felt everywhere. Nature, as it appears in the Psalms, is in
touch with God at every point, animated by His life, and pervaded by His
power. The thunder rolling along the sky is His voice. The storm dashing
along, spreiiding desolation on every hand, is His chariot, in which He rides
to the fulfilment of His purposes. In the showers that gently water the
earth and quicken its fertility, we see Him acting like the gardener watering
his tender plants. In the chill of winter, and in the warm breath of summer
His presence and power are felt. Everything is under His inunediate manage-
ment and control, and so all that the revolving seasons bring to us are Hit
gifts.
3. There is an acknowledgment of God's goodness. The Person the Psalmist
sees behind Creation and Providence is not malevolent — does not seek man's
misery nnd happiness. He opens out to him, in the changing seasons, many
sources of enjoyment. Each season has some wealth to pour at our feet, and
proclaims that God is good. With a grateful heart, many, enjoying the loveli-
ness of a summer clay in the country and feeling invigorated by it, have said
looking God- ward, **Thou hast made summer." Does not nature even thus
preach the Gospel to us? It is true that we may be miserable amid tie
lovel est scenes of earth. .A guilty conscience will project its dark shade v
wherever we may go, and turn an earthly paradise into a hell. But does i.ot
the balm which lovely nature bi ings to us physically and mentally whispei to
us that there must be a balm somewhere for the hurt, weary heart, the
wounded conscience. The assurance comes that He who fills our summer t.ays
with the external sunshine, has a brighter sunshine for our weary, sin-laden
hearts, that to be found in His redeeming love and grace.
ffictltfiiaBtical Itttclligcncc.
Opening of the Hall. — The current session of the Hall was
opened in Glasgow on Tuesday, the 2th of June last. After the
Rev. Thomas Hobart had engngt^d in prayer, the Rev. Professor
Aitken opened the session with an able, interesting, and instructive
lecture on the Life and Work of the Rev. Dr. M'Crie, author of .the
Lives of Knox, and Melville. Such lectures are much required at
the present day. Two students — Mr. James Young of the 4th year,
and Mr. James Patrick of the 3rd year — are in attendance. Besides
the members of the Hall Committee, a number of other ministers
were present at the opening services. After Mr. Robertson, Ayr,
had briefly addressed the students, the Rev. George Anderson, late
of Seoni, closed the public meeting with prayer.
THE
ORIGINAL SECISSION MAGAZINE
SEPTEMBER, 1889.
EVANGELISM.
Ak Addbebs Delitbred at the Opening of the Synod,
Mat 27th, 1889.
Fathebs and BrethreNi — AUov me, after the courteous custom of
my predecessors, to thank you for this election. In entering upon
^he occupancy of this chair one is inclined to envy his predecessor
\7ho has just left it. However, with your sympathy and guiding
lelp, all may go smoothly and well.
In this age of quickened intellectual activity there are many topics
which might profitably engage our attention, for beliefs are being
looki^d at iu new aspects and relations, and stated with remarkable
freshu^«8 and attractiveness; while doctrines hitherto most surely
believed among us are being doubted, or modified, or denied. It is
unwise to refuse consideration to currents of religious thought which
Quiy go against established beliefs. Christianity has nothing to lose
by submitting to the severest tests, and the most searching inves.
tigation on the part of the ripest scholarship. We have chosen,
however, to look at another activity, that which finds expression in
evangelism.
What is Evangelism )
It is not feeding the Church of Qod. It is not shepherding and
tending the flock. That is pastoral work. Its labours are among
the unsaved. Two things especially are aimed at in evangelism — the
conviction of sin in the sinner, and his conversion to Christ. Our
Lord, the world's great Evangelist, put the matter in a nutshell,
when he said, '' The Son of Man came to seek and to save that which
was lost." Evangelism lays its kindly hand on the wanderer from
NO. v. VOI^ XIX, U NEW SERIES.
394 EVANGELISM.
God, saying : " thou art the man," and then, in the name of Him
who is the Prince of Peace and Captain of Salvation, gives him the
Gospel message, " Come unto me . . . and I will give you rest. He
that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." Can any suhject
be more important ) To a ship's crew in danger the first question is
not enjoyment but safety ; enjoyment will appropriately come after.
It ought to be the same everywhere with mankind in relation to
eternity. Saved should be their first thought ; enjoyment may then
be their second. Evangelism deals with this question of safety, and
thus becomes a topic of the first importauce to the Church of God
planted among masses of unsaved men and women.
The Sphere of Evangelism.
In one sense we have pointed this out already. It lies among the
unsaved. But, where are the unsaved ? Are they all outside the
visible Church of God ) Is there no room for evangelism within ? It
would be a unique denomination, indeed, which had not in all its
congregations both classes, saved and unsaved. If unsaved ones are
within as well as without the visible Church, then the obligation rests
upon us here as well as there to do the work of an evangelist, seek to
reach their consciences and win them to the Master's feet. It is need-
ful, and in every way commendable, to minister to the needs of God's
people ; but is it not as urgent and important to keep in mind that
there are unsaved souls always under our ministry, and perhaps some
of them anxious souls groping in darkness, and looking to us for light
and guidance ? Should there not be, therefore, running through the
ministry of the whole Christian Church, a distinctly evangelistic train
of thought, dealing with soul difficulties, and aiming at bringing the
Wavering to a definite acceptance of Christ as their own personal
Saviour? Like Evangelist in Bunyan's Pilgrim we must point the
way to the cross, lighting up the dark path of the sinner with the
light God Himself has given us.
Might there not be, too, with the view of meeting the needs of this
class, more services inside,as well as outside the Church of a distinctly
evangelistic character, with addresses pointed, searching, and pressing
the unsaved to immediate decision ) In most of our congregations
there is a weekly prayer-meeting, which is as much a preaching as a
praying meeting, and its tone so far as we can gather is one of special
adaptation to the people of God. Is there any reason why this meet-
ing might not be alternately or periodically distinctly evangelistic
and announced as such 9 If we provide a meeting weekly for the
benefit specially of the children of Ck>d, surely the unsaved have
some claim periodically for special services in their interests.
EVANGELISM. 295
There are many agencies of an evangelistic kind which are outside
the Church altogether. When we say outside the Church, we mean not
linked with the Church, not guided by the Church, not responsible to
any branch of the Church. Is this as it ought to be 1 Our idea is
that all such work should be in some way or other associated with
the Church of God, the institution of the Master Himself for the on-
carrying of His work on earth. But is there no explanation of this
state of things 1 Have the churches throughout the land been doing
their duty in this matter 1 Why should independent organisations,
some of them embracing earnest men of various churches, have to
be formed, so to speak, to supply what the Church should furnish 1
We fear the churches of the land are not free of responsibility for the
existence of independent agencies : they have neglected '* to foster
and to utilise the evangelistic spirit." The Gospel in some quarters
is a vexy scarce commodity ; and we suspect as long as that is the
case evangelistic work will fall largely into the hands of independent
associationa Churches, however, which preach tlie truth as it is in
Jesus, should do their best to reach unsaved ones within their borders,
as well as unsaved ones without.
Different Types of Evangelists.
A speaker once remarked, " It is impossible to divide all men into
the two classes of sheep and goats. Most men belong to neither class,
but to a mixed breed, half sheep, half goat" This, at least, is the
type of certain evangelists. They are half Arminian, half Calvinistio,
and can be equally accommodating to either party. They resemble
a preacher, mentioned in the life of Augustus Toplady, who, having
to officiate one day in a country town in which were two churches>
the one Calvinistic and the other Arminian, in both of which he was
to appear, took two sermons as opposite in their tone as the congre-
gations to which he was to preach. When he got under weigh with
the sermon in the Calvinistic pulpit he found he had the wrong
discourse, but he could not go back, and the result was great dissatis-
faction among his audience. In the afternoon, he was compelled to
preach the Calvinistic sermon in the Arminian pulpit, and produced
equal discontent there. We conclude the result must always be
similar with this type of evangelist Nothing is clearer to our mind
than that evangelistic work can be best carried on along the lines
of the doctrines of grace as these aie laid down in our standards.
Still, we ought not to treat Arminians as if there were no Christianity
among them.
The two great evangelists of the eighteenth century, George White-
field and John Wesley, were both men of remarkable power, pious,
296 EVANGELISM.
vehemently earnest, and unwearied in seeking to win souls to Christ
For a time they co-operated ; but their doctrinal differences soon led
to a separation. Still they regarded one another as pious men, and
their friendship was so far renewed at last that^ at Whitefield's re-
quest, Wesley preached Whitefi eld's funeral sermon. It is not easy
to see how Calvinists and Arminians can work long and well together.
They will best work separately. But we may be none the worse to
cherish toward Arminians Whitefield's spirit towards Wesley, in the
recognition of piety among them.
In the recently published memoir of Dr. Kirk, Edinburgh, we
have the portrait of an Evangelical Unionist of apparently great con-
secration to the work of the GospeL In that memoir, it is said, he
was careful to lead sinners to Christ. Accepting this statement as
correct, this surely must be the saving clause in their teaching. We
are satisfied all evangelists are not equally careful to do this. Too
often all they ask of enquirers is to believe certain statements about
Christ, who, on assenting, are declared to be converted. This is not
leading to a personal trust in the living Saviour, but to trust in an
adherence to certain statements about Him. The issue, we believe,
is a great deal of unreality in religious work.
Perhaps thte most popular and best known evangelist of our time
has been Mr. Moody of America. He has certainly not been a fault-
less worker. But he has made no pretensions to be so. Some of bis
methods and sayings we may strongly disapprove of ; still, overtop-
ping all his deficiencies, real worth and power appear. Any one who
has read his life knows that, long before he appeared in public as an
evangelist, he was a devoted worker for Christ, doing what few men
would or could do— evangelise among the slums of Chicago. The
training-schools he has since established at his native place, North-
field, of an educational and missionaiy character, in the working of
which Dr. Pierson, of Philadelphia, Dr. Pentecost, of Brooklyn, and
other ministers of America have been associated with him, reveal the
same man of worth and power. If asked, what are the characteristics
of his personality and character which may be regarded as lying at
the root of his popularity and success ? we would say, his decided
piety, from the midst of which there stands out the clear conscious-
ness of his personal acceptance of Christ : his life of faith, prayer,
and surrender to the will of God : his teaching, which, so far as we
have been able to look into his published addresses, exhibits faith in
the doctrines of the fall, the atonement of Christ, the work of the
Spirit, and the perseverance of the saints : his great enthusiasm and
energy, the latter being, as it were, his safety valve, for he must tell
others the message of mercy: and, in addition, his constant endeavour
EVANGELISM. 297
to get into close contact with the people. Two results have followed.
One isy he has had a large experience in personal dealing with souls,
which makes him quite at home in that sphere of labour. The other
is, God has blessed him apparently with not a little success. To
aome extent similar remarks may be made of Major Whittle, who has
been cloaelj associated with Mr. Moody in Christian work in America,
but who is a more educated and accomplished evangelist^ and richer
in his teaching. This subject of evangelistic work within as well as
without the Church is receiving considerable attention from the two
large denominations outside the Establishment in our own land.
Might it not receive a larger share of attention from ourselves ?
Personal Dealing With Othbbs.
Spencer's pastoral sketches reveal a man of special aptitude for
dealing with others on the great question of their soul's salvation.
The Rev. James Robertson, of Newington, Edinburgh, had consider-
able power in the same direction. Even when a youth this faculty
began to develope, to which an old servant in his father's employ,
when driving a ministerial friend of the family to the station one
day, quaintly referred in these words: "Do ye ken oor Maister Jeems,
sir 1 " " Oh, yes." '^ Aweel, ye canna be lang wi' him in a gig till
he staps up your hraith,"
A writer in our Magazine for 1874, speaking of the awakening in
Edinbiugh about that time, in connection with the labours of Messrs
Moody and Saukey, says : " If there is one thing in the procedure of
these men more than another which explains their apparent success,
it is their personal dealing with sinners with the view of shutting
them up to immediate decision in closing with Christ." That is a
significant statement. Perhaps it is here where some of us most fail.
Should we not hold out to our people opportunities for conversing
with lis on this all important matter ? The Rev. James Robertson,
to whom we have already referred, gave such opportunities for con-
venation with him in the vestry, at the close of each service. He
also reserved the Sabbath evenings for the same purpose. A gentle-
man who had in this way been led to the Saviour " urged Mr.
Robertson to continue his practice of reserving the Sabbath evenings
for conversation with enquirers or others, avd never to omit the
announcing of it^* as he added, " you don't know how many may be
SB I was, anxious to have the advantage of individual dealing with
them about their hope for eternity." We need scarcely add, this is
a distinct feature in the ministry of Mr. Spurgeon, who is as distin-
guished an evangelist as he is a defender of the doctrines of grace.
298 the bibucal idea of the state.
Evangelism and our Principles.
Some think we exist as a Churcb^simply to testify for principles, and
that practical Christian work, especially in the direction of evangel-
ising, received very scant sympathy among us. We do not pretend
to say whether there has been occasion given or not for this belief in
the past history of our Church. But we should be very sorry if any
thought we were cold to evangelism, and only got warm when we
took to talk about our principles. We see nothing to hinder the
most ardently attached to our public position in this land from being
the most enthusiastic of evangelists. Dr. Blaikie admits as much,
we think, in his work, " The Preachers of Scotland from the sixth to
the nineteenth century." What may have helped to produce the
impression referred to may be our standing so much aloof from the
revival movements of the day. But when we cannot commend in
some respects the methods of others, might we not show them our
own method — a more excellent way, and give our people the
opportunity of coming into contact with this service in a way our
judgment approves) Practical Christian work amongst us has been
decidedly on the increase. We trust it shall not lessen, but grow.
We may be permitted to quote in this connection one of the recom-
mendations in tlie Congregational Work Report, bearing on this
subject. It runs thus : " So strong is the opposition to our principles
that I feel the importance of commending our principles to others by
our Christian activity, so as to show to the world and even to the
Church that there is nothing in our principles to prevent our being
active workers for Christ." These words bear out the importance of
active Christian work in our midst. The age in which we live is an
intensely practical age, and the value of churches is being judged by
their practical character and usefulness. What we and others need
is more power from on high, then will we be truly loyal to Christ and
the souls of men.
THE BIBLICAL IDEA OF THE STATE.
VII. individualism.
The term " Individualism " has been aptly applied to a system of
thought which wields great and increasing power among us, and
which lays down some very distinct and definite propositions about
the relation of the State to the whole religious sphere. A more
THE BIBLICAL IDEA OF THE STATE, 299
common designation given to it is that of Voluntaryism, but it is
one that is entirely misleading, and not only utterly fails to give a
correct idea of its teaching, but actually conveys a wrong idea. This
was very clearly pointed out by Dr. William Cunningham in his
ftble work on "Historical Theology," and perhaps we cannot do
better than quote his words : ** The ' Voluntary Principle ' is, indeed,
a most inaccurate and unsuitable designation of the doctrine to
which it is now commonly applied, and is fitted to insinuate a radi-
cally erroneous view of the status qtuBstionis in the controversy, ».«.,
about national establishments of religion. The Voluntary principle
properly means the principle that an obligation lies upon men to
labour, in the willing application of their talents, influence and
worldly substance, for the advancement of the cause of Grod and the
kingdom of Christ. Of coiurse no defender of the principle of
national establishments of religion ever questioned the truth of the
Voluntary principle in this its only proper sense. The true ground
of difiference is just this — that we who hold the principle of national
establishments of religion extend this general obligation to nations
and their rulers, while those who are opposed to it limit it to in-
dividuals : so that the Voluntary principle in the only sense in which
we reject and oppose it — and in the only sense, consequently, in
which it forms the subject of fair and honourable controversy — is a
mere limitation of the sphere of this obligation to promote the cause
of God and the Kingdom of Christ — ^a mere negation that the obliga-
tion in this respect which attaches to individuals, extends also to
nations and their rulers" (Vol. II., p. 560). The phrase Individual-
ism thus far more fitly represents the teaching of this system, and it
is a pity that the word Voluntaryism has come to be associated with
it at all. It has unquestionably led to much confusion of thought
on the whole matter, by obscuring the real point that needs to be
discussed. This point is, if the obligation to further the interests of
Christ's Kingdom in the world rests only on the individual units of
a nation, and not in anywise upon the nation as such in its corporate
oiganised unity. If this be clearly understood at the outset it will
tend very much indeed to guide us rightly in our investigations.
That this is really the distinctive feature of the system will, I
presume, be granted by all the intelligent supporters of it. If it
were needful to adduce their words in proof of this, it were easily
done. Their policy persistently pursued might also be pointed to,
for it has had for its aim to get the State to stand aloof from all
religious questions, and thus maintain towards them the strictest
neutrality. The principle on which their language and their public
Conduct alike are based is that the whole sphere of religion is- one
300 THE BIBLICAL IDEA OF THE STATS.
that should be let alone by the Stale — ^tbat the State passes out of
its proper province when it meddles with it in any way. Grasping
this, we at once may see the wide distinction between the system of
the secularists and this one. The secularist would shut out the
sphere of religion from the individual life, and put science in its
place. According to his creed we ought to order our lives not in the
light of a supposed supernatural divine revelation, but rather in the
light of ascertained scientific principles. The lamp be puts into our
hand for our guidance is not an unerring divine word, but the un-
certain results of human scientific investigation. But the Individu-
alists are far from thus narrowing man's individual life. They
maintain, as stoutly as wq do, that the Bible is our only sure guide
in our individual life, and that we who enjoy Grospel privileges are
bound to walk in its light. But passing from man in his individual
life, to man in the organised community or State, they assert that
this obligation ceases. It follows us so long as we act in our in-
dividual capacity, but whenever our individuality is merged in any
State organism then it is left behind. The light of nature, and' no
longer the light of divine revelation must be our guide. The system
thus secularises the State, but not the individual units of which it is
composed. We have no desire to misrepresent it in any way, but as
far as we have been able to gather this is exactly the position it
occupies.
It will be seen that it cuts deeper than the question of the State
recognising or supporting in any way the Church as Christ's institu-
tion for regenerating the world. It was in opposition to civil estab-
lishments of the Church that it took its rise, but its principles went
beyond condemning these as evil. It has indeed confused the issues,
that discussions on it have to a large extent circled around the ad-
vantages or Scripturalness of churches being established by the
State. These simply touch the way in which the State may take to
do with religion — the particular measures that may be adopted
with the view of advancing its interests. The first thing to deter-
mine is, Is the State under any obligation to take to do with religion
at all ? When this is settled then we may enquire about the best
and most Scriptural methods which its action in this direction may
take. We find among the opponents of Established Churches many
who do not adopt the fundamental principle of Individualism, and
strenuously advocate the bounden duty of the State both in its
legislative and administrative functions to act in harmony with Bible
principles. We have been much interested in reading the manly,
bracing discussion of social questions contained in the lectures of the
Kev. Hugh Price Hughes, recently published under the title of
THR BIBLICAL IDEA OF THE STATE. 30Z
"Social Cbristiaiiity." The truths stated so directly and forcibly in
these lectures need to be seriously pondered in these days. In one
of them he pleads earnestly for national religion, but dismisses the
idea that this can be secured by an Established Church. ''All
wise Christians desire national religion, desire that the nation, as
well as the individual, should be Christian : but how will you secure
national religion 1 I suppose nobody in the present day believes
that you can secure national religion by laying hold of some par-
ticular sect, or of all sects, and establishing and endowing them with
money. We have only to look at France at this moment. Would
anyone in his senses say that France was a Christian country,
though, as a matter of fact^ every religion in France is endowed by
the State f But how is it that the men at the head of affairs, many
of whom, for reasons into which I need not enter now, hate Chris-
tianity with a bitter hatred, are amongst the warmest supporters
of the measure by which all the sects are endowed ? Because they
helieve that is the way to lay their hands on the different sects to
keep them down, and to prevent them from exercising influence
ohjectionable to the people in authority. France proves that you
never can have a national religion by that means. St John says,
* He that doeth righteousness is righteous,' and the only Christian
nation is the nation with a Christian statute-book, a Christian foreign
policy, and a Christian home policy. Neither this nor any other
country has ever been a really Christian country. There have been
nK)ments when we have risen to the level of Christ's teaching, and
no doubt public life is being more and more leavened with the
leaven of Christ, but let us never admit that this is yet a Christian
country.
*' The world has yet to see what a Christian country is. We have
scarcely attained even to the Jewish level. I have read to-day the
Ten Commandments given to the Jews at a time when they were
lower in the moral scale than we are. But our policy as a. nation
has never attained even to the Ten Commandments. We have been
gnilty of stealing the property of other nations, of murdering inno-
cent men in unnecessary wars, and even of enforcing Acts by which
we made provision for the lusts of the flesh. Oh ! how fearfully
possible it is for the nation, as well as for the individual, to draw
near to God with the lips while the heart is far from Him. The
fe&l character of every nation is determined by the character of its
l&ws. In that scale we must weigh all."
There are sides to this question of the connection between Church
ftnd State which it is evident Mr. Hughes has not looked into, but
there is truth in his statement that the mere State recognition of a
302 THE BIBLICAL IDEA OF THE STATE.
church or of all churches will not of itself secure national religion in
the highest sense. It may haye its place notwithstanding, as a
necessary fruit of national religion where it does ^xist in the way so
earnestly desired by him. Still the position occupied by him shows
that along with opposition to Established Churches there is a keen
sense of the importance of national religion, and a deep intelligent
conviction that nations in their corporate capacity are bound to act
in a Christian and righteous way. The movement in the United
States of America for securing a recognition of God and the Bible in
the constitution of the country is worthy of mention in this connec-
tion. It has not for its aim the erection of any civil establishment
of a church, but it is animated by the most intense desire for national
religion, and an overwhelming conviction of its importance. Dr.
Charles Hodge in his able paper, " A Nation's Right to Worship
God," puts in this lucid way all that is desired. " All that for which
we contend requires but the least possible change in the words of
our constitution ; which, moreover, would express nothing but an
obvious truth : ' We avowing ourselves to be a Christian and Pro-
testant nation, do ordain and establish this constitution.' That
change would leave all denominations calling themselves Protestant
Christians, whatever liberty they now enjoy, to follow their natural
developments, and to exert all the influence of which they are
capable ; it would complicate no question between them severally ;
and it would give them all a great advantage in prosecuting that
glorious work in which they are all co-labourers with the Fathers of
the Reformation and of civil and religious liberty. That constitu-
tional change would open its true channel to the current of oar
national life and history, and allow it to flow with perfect freedom in
its natural course. And it would give us the constitutional right to
worship the God of our fathers in our legislative bodies, army and
navy; to require an oath in the name of God in our courts of justice,
and of our officers elect ; to observe as a nation, and to protect by
law, our Christian Sabbath ; to punish blasphemy, adultery and
polygamy, and to protect the unity of marriage ; to inflict the death
penalty for murder ; and to make the Word of God the matter of
instruction, and the principle of education, in our all-moulding public
school system." While seeking all this, there was, and is, no thought
of asking the civil recognition and endowment of any religious body,
but openly avowed opposition to it. And many among ourselves
who might rank themselves among the Individualists, as far as
State-recognition of any church is concerned, never think of any other
application of their principles. They would agree cordially with the
sentiments expressed by Mr. Hughes, and the movement in America
THE BIBLICAL IDEA OF THE STATE. 303
to which we haye just referred would receive their heartiest sym-
pathy. They wish the State to he Christianized, and all its actions
to he conformed to the eternal principles of righteousness revealed in
God's Word. Since this is so we gladly recognize it; for they who are
not against us on the deeper point of the State's character and duty,
will, we are convinced, hy and hy be with us as to the most Scrip-
tural methods in which States may advance the cause and kingdom
of Christ.
The idea of the State underlying this system of Individualism
is, that it is an entirely secular institution, and should take to do
only with secular things. The material prosperity of the people is
the great end that ought to be sought by it, and its policy ought
to be shaped with a view to the attainment of this. Its functions
all lie within the sphere of nature, where it finds its origin, and natural
principles furnish its officials with sufficient guidance in the discharge
of them. When the civil magistrate in the discharge of official duty
takes God's Word for His guide, we are plainly told that he is put-
ting it to a use that it never was intended to serve. When he
founds any legislation for the observance of the Sabbath, or the pre-
servation of the unity of marriage, on divine commands, we are
informed that he is stepping out of his own province. If he bases it
upon its bearing on the welfare of the people, there is nothing
strong in his procedure, but if he seeks the sanction of divine law,
and aims at the advancement of Messiah's kingdom, he must be
warned away from the forbidden ground.
Now we venture to say, without any hesitation, that wherever this
idea has been obtained, it has not come from the Bible. The teach-
ing of the Bible on the subject, which in previous papers we sought to
exhibit, gives no manner of countenance to it. The Biblical idea of
the State and this idea possess no affinity with each other, but are in
antagonism. A very few remarks will, we think, be sufficient to make
this plain.
In the Biblical conception, the State is not regarded as a merely secu-
lar organization, but as a divine institution. It is not, like the Church,
a divine institution within the sphere of grace, but it is a divine institu-
tion within the sphere of nature. It is not the fruit of man's wisdom,
hut the result of divine appointment and ordination. It is impossible
to examine Paul's references to it in his writings without being con-
vinced, that in his view it had its root in the will of God, although
the particular embodiment of it in different countries might take its
shape from local history and circumstances. " There is no power
hut of God ; and the powers that be are ordained of God. Therefore
he that resisteth the power withstandeth the ordinance of God ; and
304 THE BIBLICAL IDEA OF THE STATE.
they that withstand shall receive to themselves jadgment." Would
this language have been warranted, if the institution to which H
refers had only been of the earth earthy? The question answers
itself. The divine element in the State organism must be left out of
view^ ere you can, as in this conception of Individualism, separate it
altogether from religion, and regard it as entirely and only secular.
The end for which the State exists, under God's appointment and
ordering, is not simply the maintenance of outward order, and the
securing of outward prosperity. The maintenance of outward order
is certainly one end, but a subordinate one. It is more a means to
an end, and that end is the development of man's nature in all its
parts, and according to the divine plan. Culture, takfng the much
misused word in its truest and widest sense, is the ultimate end of all
State organisation in God's design. But if religion is not to be cared
for and fostered, then the mightiest instrument for the advancement
of this culture is taken out of its hand. It is granted that the State
may take to do with Science — giving encouragement to investigation,
while leaving the workers free to pursue it in their own way — that
by its teachings the people may be elevated, and their condition of
life improved. It is granted, too, that it may take to do with Art —
making external arrangements of various kinds for the development
of it, and for increasing the acquaintance of the people with its pro-
ductions— ^and this that it may influence the people for good, and en-
rich their lives. It is allowed, without question, to concern itself with
these and other spheres of human activity, because they tend to ele-
vate man's lot. And why is this sphere of religion — ^the activities of
which bear most directly and most powerfully on man's welfare — to
be excluded from its fostering care ? We do not plead for State in-
terference in religious matters; for that has ever been associated with
intolerance and persecution. But it is our conviction that the State,
recognising the high end for which it has been ordained by God, is
under solemn obligation to guard this sphere as well as others from
what would hinder its free development, and, as far as external
arrangements can, to foster its activities. Even for the attaining of the
subordinate end of maintaining order and securing outward pros-
perity this is indispensable. ''No nation," as has been well said,
" coheres without a religion. There never, in fact, was a nation
without a recognised religion or creed. Without some connection
with religion tending ta foster moral sentiments, and develop social
relations, no nation was ever found to hold together." And, as Dr.
M'Crie has pointed out in his too much neglected "Statement," "there
are many vices hurtful to civil society, which yet do not come under
penal laws, or cannot be suppressed by the direct exercise of civil
THB BIBLICAL IDEA OF THE STATE. 30$
anthority: as well as various duties and virtues, the practice of
which is of high utility, although they caunot be directly com-
maDded or enforced by laws. The former are prevented or corrected,
and the latter produced and cherished by religion. It is by publicly
countenancing and supporting religion, and the institution of a
church state, where this is enjoyed, that government gains these
important ends." It must then be suicidal policy on the part of
ciril rulers to ignore religion and give it the cold shoulder of
neutrality.
To deny the State the right or the power to recognise religion aa
of God, and to give countenance to it, greatly degrades it. It takes
avay from it that moral character with which the Bible most as«
soredly clothes it. If it be merely a man-made machine for keeping
order and guarding life and property, it cannot be subject to moral
hiw, and accountable to Gk>d in any way. But the entire course
of divine Providence in relation to the history of nations is against
this view. God has dealt with nations — not simply with the in-
dividuals composing them, but with nations as such in their corporate
life— as moral agents responsible to Him for the exercise of their
power. As it is in the New Testament the Individualists think they
have their greatest stronghold, we may take one instance from it in
illustration of this. It refers to the rejection of Christ by the
Jewish nation, and the case as against the Individualists has been
thus very ably put by the late Dr. Smeaton. ** We may weigh their
theory in the light of that fearful deed of corporate national respon-
sibility consummated by the action of the rulers. It will not bear
examination for a moment to consider the action of the Jews in any
other light. I abstain from complicating the inquiry by introducing
other elements ; but I assert that the rejection of Christ was the act
of the nation, acting by its rulers, the Sanhedrim ; and that its
enormity, terribly avenged to this day, must be traced to this, that
it was the corporate national transaction of the Jewish rulers (Acts
ili., 17), or of the princes of this world (1 Cor. ii., 8). That there
was a body of individuals in the land attached to Christ — such as
the family of Bethany and the believers in Galilee — did not alter the
caae. That Individualism was not the principle according to which
God 'estimated the conduct of the Jewish people, is too evident to
require proof. It was this national act as it found expression
through Caiaphas (John xii., 49; Matt zxvl, 65), that closed one
epoch and initiated another, comprehending long centuries of judicial
hardening. The last words of Ghristi at the close of His publio
ministry, were of a nature which took for granted a national act
followed by national desolation and blank despair : — ' Behold toub
306 THE BIBUCAL IDEA OF THE STATE.
house is left unto you desolate/ He calls it their house, no more
His Father's ; and points to a day of darkness and gloominess for
their national rejection." The whole teaching of Scripture is in
harmony with this view, that nations are regarded as subjects of
God's moral rule, and accountable to Him for their national acts.
They have a religious standing, and cannot, any more than indivi-
duals, occupy a position of neutrality towards the cause and king-
dom of Christ.
There is a last point on which we can only touch, though its im-
portance in relation to this whole subject is great. This is the
Bible doctrine, that all powers have been put into the hand of the
exalted Jesus as Mediator, that they might be used by Him iu
furthering His great and glorious work. God has given Him, as
Mediator, power over all flesh, that He might give eternal life to as
many as were given to Him. This is an essential part of the exalta-
tion of Jesus, and it has a message to every nation to which the
Gospel comes, as well as to every individual composing it. It is the
message conveyed in these words in the Second Psalm, the Messianic
character of which is proved beyond question by reference to it in the
New Testament. *' Be wise now, therefore, 0 ye kings : be instructed,
ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with
trembling. Kim the Son, lest Fie be angry, and ye perish in the way,
for His wrath will soon be kindled. Blessed are all they that pat
their trust in Him." Nations with their rulers are embraced in Christ's
kingdom — subjects of His regal sway — and it is their duty and privi-
lege and safety to own it, and to act in accordance with this position
divinely indicated to them. Doing so, they cannot but foster the
Church of Christ — the blessed institution that He has erected, and in
which as the Saviour He ever lives and works — in all ways competent
to them. If the Jewish nation was so terribly punished for rejecting
Christ appearing among them in Person, shall other nations escape
who reject Him in the Church, with which He now identifies Him-
self ] They must not interfere with His rule in the Church — for
this involves the blasphemy of assuming His prerogatives — but,
avoiding this, they can give it outward protection and countenance in
carrying out His instructions. The obligation to do so unquestion-
ably rests upon them, and if they fail to discharge it they will not go
unpunished. It is true that the Church can carry on its work
without this support. It needs no arm of flesh to help it in its
heaven-imposed task. But when it has leavened a nation with the
principles of the Christian religion — when it has Christianized it — is
not this recognition and protection a necessary result^ and a crown-
ing evidence of its power t Must the State, when thus Christianised,
POWER FROM ON HIGH. 307
Btill continue secular in all its aims and administration, and never
recognise the agency through which rich and untold blessings have
come to it ? We cannot understand how any sane man can believe
this. The civil establishments of religion that exist in our own land
were the outcome of the Christianizing of the nation. They did
express the national homage to Christ when they were erected, and
were accompanied by an administration which showed that the
homage was real. A sad thing it is, that while they remain, the
reality of which they formed one outward expression should have to
GO large an extent disappeared, and the national administration
should be so little Christian and Protestant. But with a thorough
revival of religion might not the renewed life fall back- into the old
channels] Grod may recall our bondage as streams in the south. In
any case the duty of the nation to recognise the vital parts of our
Christian and Protestant creed and to protect the various branches
of the Church in the maintenance and diffusion of it, will abide
whether it is discharged or not.
"POWER FROM ON HIGH."
Paper read at Mebtinq of U.O.S. Synod — Edinburgh, Mat,
1889.
Bt the Rev. Ebenezer Ritchie, Paisley.
Pathsbs and Brethren, — I have been much at a loss to know what
BQbject to treat of in the paper which I have been asked to read be-
fore you to-day, for '* Practical Religion " means so much that it is
quite limitless. My difficulty has been none lessened by the fact
that I am one who has but recently put on the armour in the
Church, while those to whom I am to speak are, most of them my
seniors, not only in years but Christian experience. Nevertheless,
earnestly seeking to discharge the duty which you have laid on me,
and to glorify God by so doing, I would invite your attention to the
vords which our Lord spake to His disciples ere bidding them
Farewell " till He come " again. '' Ye shall receive power after that
the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto
Me.''
The Lord, though taking from His followers His bodily presence,
gave them as a word of comfort the precious assurance, " Lo, I am
with you alway," and He expected of them that they would carry
forward the work which Himself had begun ; work more glorious
th&Q ever the greatest prophet was called to do, for he that is least
3o8 POWER FROM ON HIGH.
in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than they. For enoouragement
to them and to fit them for their undertaking He said, '* Tarry ye
in the City of Jerusalem until ye he endued with power from on
High," " Depart not from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the
Father which ye have heard of Me : For John truly baptized with
water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days
hence/' They understood not His words, nor their mission, else
they would not have asked, " Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore
again the Kingdom to Israel 1 " but the Lord's answer is one which
is important for all ages, ''Ye shall receive power after that the
Holy Ghost is come upon you and ye shall be witnesses unto Me ; "
i.e., Ye shall have power, and ye shall do the work in My name, and
through Me have the honour of restoring the Kingdom to the God of
Israel. Is not this the aim and end of the Church existent in the
world — of Christianity itself — to be a power in, and have power for,
restoring the Kingdom to God. A small company they to whom the
Lord spoke ere yet a cloud received Him out of their sights yet they
being filled with the Spirit were endued with power, and no force on
earth could resist them, for theirs was the strength of Almighty
God. This little company of men and women has passed away,
yet the promise remains, and it must have meaning for us to-day
since the work of restoring the Kingdom is not yet complete. The
workmen are buried but the work goes on ; voices are still crying,
*' Lord wilt Thou at this time restore the Kingdom f " our voices
swell the sound as we pray '' Thy Kingdom come," therefore, the
message is comforting to us '' Ye shall receive power after that the
Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto Me."
That which the Lord promised to His disciples, we may expect, for
like them we are not to foretell a coming Saviour but a Saviour
come, and if they received the Holy Ghost that they might have
power for work, so surely will we as Christian ministers and workers
if we but wait as they did.
Not to a few of them, but upon all, male and female, disciple and
private individual, did the promise come, and each one then became
responsible for the work of witnessing unto Christ. Do we realise
that upon the Church as a whole lies the onus of the work ? By
present arrangement it seems as if we did not. It has been well said
by one who is an earnest witness for Christ : " The Church
does not look so high as the disciples did when they asked ' Wilt
Thou restore,' &c. ? " It now looks only as far as the minister and
thinks that is his work. It has thrust the minister out of bis
proper place. He is not the golden candlestick, his emblem rather
is in the golden snuffers keeping the lights bright and light diffusing."
Our Lord put the responsibility, we maintain, on the whole body
of Christians, and what else is it but selfishness of the very worst
type that makes so many professing Christians say when urged to
earnest activity — (and we have heard it said) " That's the minister's
work and let him do it."
Such know nothing of the power of the Holy Ghost, making them
witnesses for Christ Their hearts are so very selfish that by their
POWER FROM ON HIGH. 309
lazy indolence in Christian service they are chargeable of doing like
the Pharisees who laid burdens on men grievous to be borne, while
they touched them not with one of their fingers, or worse, like those
entered not into the Kingdom themselves and hindered those who
were entering in. Such may add to the bulk of a congregation, but
they add nothing to its power, or worth. Theirs be the condemna-
tion ; ours be the knowledge of work which we must do, and the
power for its accomplishment.
I. The promise given is, that the Holy Ghost should come upon
them. That this should take place was surely a necessity when so
definitely the Lord twice said that they should wait — till they had
received Him. Not an indefinite something of which they should
not be aware, but a definite outpouring of the Spirit, giving them
power to labour in the Lord's work. " Wait," " Tarry," this was
the command. Surely we are here taught that there is a condition
of discipleship which is unfit for taking part in Christian worL The
Apostles were at this time in such a condition. They had, it is true,
a personal acquaintance with Jesus — had lived with Him. They be*
lieved in Him as Messiah and Saviour, with Him they had had a train-
ing better than the best any man could have who looked forward to
active Christian usefulness. Still they lacked something. Their ex-
perience, knowledge, attachment, were not able to give it — the Lord
calls it " power." Are there not to-day many in like position? They
know and accept the doctrines of Christianity, have much eloquence
in speaking, and yet are not fully qualified for being witnesses for
Christ. They lack this "power" — and so, though "they toil all night
they take nothing." Truth is mighty and will prevail, for right is
might, and truth is right, but it. is not by its own strength that it
becomes a means of conversion and salvatioul The power, fitness,
energy, come by Divine bestowal. The truth in their minds was as
the train of powder ready for the spark to be applied, and at last the
bestowal came in a miraculous manner, in fulfilment of Christ's own
word, but not less in answer to their own expectant prayers as they,
in obedience to their Master, tarried in Jerusalem. On the miraculous
asi^ect of it we do not now dwell, but on the moral and spiritual.
The Holy Ghost was given to them as a Spirit of knowledge and
understanding — their minds were enlightened, and the truths which
Christ had already revealed to them were brought to their remem-
brance, illuminated and made plain. Elevation and enlargement
were given to their thoughts to keep them from error, and to guide
them into all the truth. He was given as a Spirit of wisdom, readi-
ness and skill, ennabling them to put to silence the ignorance of
foolish men, to convince the gaiasayers, and in meekness instruct
those who would learn. He was given as a Spirit of holiness and
prayer. To be like Christ in all things would then be their cozi-
stant aim, to serve Him their delight, and to commune with Him in
prayer their source of happiness and secret of strength. He was given
as a Spirit of courage, and from this time the disciples spoke boldly
and became conspicuous for their zeal in defence of the Gospel. They
3IO POWER FROM^ON HIGH.
who once forsook the Master and fled, even when his bodily presence
was with them, would now never have dared such a thing ; and he
who quailed at the taunt of a woman's tongue could boldly stand be-
fore kings and councils.
The Holy Spirit is needed by us in all these aspects, and is pro-
mised to us. " He shall testify of Me," said our Lord. Then we
may expect that the Holy Spirit in carrying on His work will put us
in possession of, as well as give us knowledge of, the things
which God hath given to us in Christ Jesus. For with Him He will
freely give us all things.
Is it not a sad thing indeed that we should have the unsearchable
riches of Jesus Christ and the fulness of the blessing of the Gospel of
Christ as ours, and yet we do not have it in possession, and are too
satisfied without iti But the Holy Spirit puts us in possession. He
reveals Jesus as fitted to the wants of our common every-day life and
worldly condition.
V He is to be Patience for our every worry. Rest in our toil,
Strength in our weakness and for our difficulty, and in everything
Love, Purity and Truth.*' The work of the Spirit is to reveal Christ
exactly as we need Him, an abiding Presence, able and willing to
help us in every need. In hours of unrest we may therefore come
and say, "Give me thy Peace, Lord." *In hours of irritation "Thv
Patience, Loixi." In hours of temptation, " Thy Purity, Lord," and
in hours of weakness, " Thy Strengtli, Lord." All this we need
that we may not only occupy the position but discharge the duties
of witnesses for Christ.
It sometimes seems as if the Church had become too much a
place of tradition, and lived with too much depcndance on the past ;
that is, we hear of wonderful things done in the past — our fathers
have told us, it is well they did so, that we may recount God's
wonderful doings and know His power : *^ Glorious things are said of
thee, 0 City of God," but the Church has become too much the praiser
of past deeds and days, and this is anything but a healthy sign. *'In
the life of the Church as in that of the individual there is need to
forget the things behind and reach forward to those things which are
before." We need the Holy Spirit, the, power from on High. If the
Lord would give us more of His presence, and times of refreshing and
reviving, the wonderful works of Pentecost and other days would
have their repetition in our midst. There have been glorious revivals.
Reformations, and outpourings in the past, the history and tradition
of them are memories that are sweet, but we need all this now, for the
case is as desperate as ever. Multitudes are perishing in sin, the
enemy is enslaving the world with evil, the hearts of many are wax-
ing cold ; but do not let the followers of the Lord become faint, more
eagerly let them each one seek to discharge present duty, and above
all wait for and expect the blessing of the Holy Ghost. We do not
yet see " lohabod " written on the Church, nor would we say of her as
of Samson, '^He wist not that the Lord was departed from him."
The heroes who have been of old in the Church, rousing it from
lethargy, the blessings of the Spirit which have descended, they and
POWER FROM ON HIGH.' 3II
these will yet be given if necessary for the further spread of the
Gospel, if only the Church will make room for them and receive them
when they come.
II. The outcome, " Ye shall have power." There are throughout
the whole visible Church multifold organisations and innumerable
agencies in operation, but we often have doubts if there is outcome
commensurate with the bustle and noise. We are reminded of a case
of which we once knew. A gentleman put up several electric bells
iu his property. Everything worked to the satisfaction of all con-
cerned, but at last there came a time when the bells would not ring.
What was to be done 1 Everything seemed to be all right, yet the
bells rang not. Take down the wires 1 Fix new bells ? or what 1
Eiamination showed that it was nothing external that had gone
wrong, but the power was wanting. The battery required to be
charged that the electric current might bring about the desired le-
Bttlts. Or is the case more like that of a fire engine, which has all
its parts in motion and yet is accomplishing nothing. Steam is up
at fullest available pressure, everything is moving freely — the men
are busying themselves at their respective duties, yet there is no out-
come. The engine is doing nothing, and why 1 Because the water
supply has ceased.
If a fort were to be stormed, it would not be sufficient that there
should be only a cannon, a piece of cold dead iron called a cannon
ball, powder and men. There must be a spark to give power to all
them as agents in the work. Having this, what do we see ? Walls
falling everywhere by the repeated powerful blows. So in the Church,
the message is the cannon ball, we are but the cannons, useless in
ourselves, and capable of nothing by ourselves ; our earnestness
should be but as the gunpowder, and the Spirit of God must give the
spark that we may have power. If He do this — if the Diviue Fire
should come down upon us — and why not to-day 1 — we would become
powerful indeed and irresistible in our energies.
Power ! What to do ? To subdue the world, and restore it to
Him whose it is. We need assurance of this to-day as much as ever
the disciples did of old. Firmer confidence in 'the power of Him
whom we serve, would banish our fears and confirm our faith, for
having the Spirit are we not strong with the strength of om-
nipotence? Our difficulties oft cast us down, but we magnify them
in our eyes by estimating them in the light of conscious weakness,
instead of that of promised strength. If we be of God, there ought
to be only one motto inscribed upon our banner, " I can do all things
through Christ who strengtheneth me." The power which is to
subdue the world is the power of the Holy Ghost, making men live
out Christ-likeness that they may be reflectors of Christ Himself.
He who has overcome the evil within us gives us the power to go
forth and continue and complete the victory of Christy claiming the
world for its lawful Governor ''imtil the kingdoms of the world
become the kingdoms of our Lord.''
The question naturally arises, ''What evidences of power were
there manifest amongst those who received the Holy Ghost at that
312 THE RELIGION OF IHR HIGHLANDS.
time ? Let iia examine. There was the power of witnessing for the
Truth. It would have heen an easy matter for them to forsake
Christianity and follow the religion of their fathers, for He, in whose
name they spake, was only looked upon as Jesus of Nazareth who
was crucified, despised and rejected. The Jews and Romans were
bitterly prejudiced against Christ, his words, his claims, and his
followers. All that they could say as witnesses for Christ waa in
antagonism to the spirit of the age, and a testimony against all evil.
Yet so boldly and resolutely did they speak,- that even enemies were
compelled to confess that they spoke because they believed. . There
ure two ways of saying a thing. One is as if we had been but told
that it was the truth, the other as if we had conviction, and the
courage of it. In this latter way they witnessed for truth. They
received also the power of steadfastness in their witnessing for
Christ, notwithstanding the opposition of Satan and men. How
soul-stirring and animating the words of Paul and John in their
defence : ** Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto
you more than unto God judge ye, for we cannot but speak the
things which we have seen and heard." Everything that evil hearts
could devise was done to daunt them, but nothing turned them now
from their purpose. They had a ** great work to do, and they would
not come down." They had to deal with thos^ who laboured under
Jewish prejudices, the same as those under which they had formerly
groaned, and from which they had not altogether escaped. They
had to repel the violent and subtle forms of false philosophy and
oppositions of science falsely so called ; defend themselves against
the evil attacks of their enemies who called them fanatics and fools ;
endure persecution for Christ's sake. The truth as it is in Jesus
was written on their inmost hearts, their hands had grasped the hilt
of the Sword of the Spirit, their mouths they had opened to the
Lord and they would not go back. Within a week of the giving of
the Spirit the leaders of Christ's followers were in prison, still they
refused to be silent regarding Christ, and rejoiced that they had
been counted worthy to suffer shame for His sake.
{To be conchided in our next.)
RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS.
(bt a hiohlakd uikibtxb.)
Ons of the great aids to the consecration and fervent piety of the
seventeenth century was personal and family covenanting. Our fore-
fathers found public covenanting in the Bible, and they were not
content to leave it there. From the time of the Reformation,
religious patriots joined themselves to the Lord in a covenant they
THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS. 313
wished to be perpetual. At important epochs in our history this
mode of alliauce was resorted to, and the result was an additional
confirmation of the adage that union is strength. Very abundantly
did God bless such leagues, formed sometimes in the face of seem-
ingly overwhelming difficulties, and accompanied by humiliation,
prayer and fasting. With such public covenanting all that is mo?t
heroic in the history of Scotland is associated. But when men of
devQut minds saw signal-proofs of the Divine blessing attending a public
entering into solenm covenant engagements, they were likely to avail
themselves of the privilege in private life. Believing the ordinances of
Baptism and the Communion to be signs and seals of the participation
of the benefits of the Covenant of Grace, they sought individually to
dedicate themselves and their all to God in solemn written comp8ict>
and endeavoured to induce their children on their arriving at years
of discretion to imitate what had been largely blessed to their
own souls.
In that book which we may almost call the cream of Scottish
religious literature of the seventeenth century, Guthrie's ** Christian's
Great Interest,"— a book which the foremost English theologian. Dr.
Owen, carried about with him along with the New Testament, and
declared that there was more divinity in it than in all his own pub-
lished folios — there is very great ©tress laid on private covenanting
with God. Guthrie, who devotes the concluding chapter of his
treatise to this subject, declares it to be "a warrantable practice and
an incumbent duty expressly and by word to covenant with God,"
and proceeds to show that in many parts of Scripture it is either
expressly commanded or implied, and is " the approven practice of
the saints in the Bible," and " a matter of the greatest concern in
all the world." He gives an admirable form or model, adding : —
'*Let people covenant with God in fewer or more words, as the Lord
shall dispose them."
The "Particular Covenant Engagements," of Lady Gordon of
Earlston, the wife of the sorely peraecuted Covenanter, have been
frequently reprinted, and may be seen in Vol. I. of the Wodrow
" Select Biographies." .The first is subscribed in Blackness Castle,
December 1687, the second at Earlston, January 1691, and the third
at Airds, June 1695.
Nowhere among the holy Puritans of England was there more of
the fervour of devotion, or in tenser spirituality of mind, than in the
household of Philip Henry, the father of the prince of commentators.
He drew up the following covenant for the use of his children : —
"I take God the Father to be my chiefest good and highest end. I
take God the Son to be my Prince and Saviour. I take God the
Holy Ghost to be my Sanctifier, Teacher, Guide and Comforter. I
take the Word of God to be my rule in all my actions ; and the people
of God to be my people in all conditions. I do likewise devote and
dedicate unto the Lord my whole self, all I am, all I have, and all I
can do. And this I do deliberately, sincerely, freely and forever.'*
These words his children repeated solemnly every Lord's Day evening,
and " when they grew up, he made them all write it over severally
314 THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS.
with their own hands, and very solemnly set their names to it, which
he told them he would keep by him, and it would be produced as a
testimony against them in case they should afterwards depart from
God, and turn from following after Him." But there was never any
occasion for the production of these covenants as evidences of un-
faithfulness. Thus trained, the distinguished son, Matthew, in after
life at Chester, made frequent renewals of his solemn acceptance of
God's Covenant.
In the works of Thomas Boston, (Vol. II. 671-4) may b« seen two
forms of personal covenanting, subscribed by the worthy author. In
inserting them the editor, Mr. McMillan of Aberdeen, states : " As Mr.
Boston has in his writings accurately explained the nature, and
warmly inculcated the duty and necessity of personal covenanting,
or explicit entering into, or renewing covenant with God, by taking
hold of God's Covenant of grace ; it will not be improper to subjoin
the two following specimens of that solemn transaction in his own
practice; the first dated August 14, 1699, a little before his ordina-
tion to the ministry ; the other dated December 2, 1729, about two
years and five months before his death." Boston wrote a ^' Memorial
concerning Personal and Family Fasting," in which he urges the
** Duty of Personal Covenanting," giving reasons and advices (Works
XI. 343-493). And, not to multiply examples, in Fraser's " Life and
Diary of Ebenezer Erskine," it is mentioned on page 113 ; "What is
called personal covenanting or solemn self-dedication to God, is an
exercise in which this pious minister frequently engaged." Examples
of covenants subscribed at different times in his ministerial life are
then given. If any one objects, and exclaims *' Legal ! " we reply
that Guthrie, Boston, Haly burton, and Erskine, are certainly not de-
serving of any such reproach.
As a proof of how largely personal covenanting entered into the
religious life of the North of Scotland, we may refer to the *' Brodie
Diaries," so often alluded to in former papers. Lord Brodie was on
the most friendly terms with such leading Covenanters as Rutherford,
Andrew Gray, James Guthrie, David Dickson, and Robert Douglas.
After hearing the famous Andrew Gray preach on Psa. x. 4, he re-
cords : '' This day I did again enter in covenant solemnly, and gave
in my name, consent, subscription, and acceptance of the Lord Jesus
to be my Head, Lord, Husband, Guide, and my all in all. Being
required by Mr. Gray in the Lord's name to declare if I would refuse
or not 1 I said, ' Before the Lord I could not refuse, but with my
heart gave over myself, poor, miserable, sinful, weak, ignorant as I
am to God in Christ to be His. ' " He takes intense interest and con-
cern in urging and helping friends and relatives to self-dedication and
consecration. Repeated references and entries are made as to the
personal covenants of his only daughter : —
" 22 October, 1653. This night being Saturday, I did before the
Lord admonish, examine, reprove and exhort. Oh that the Lord
would bless this means and ordinance for the doing good to her soul,
and for reclaiming her ; and that it may the more deeply sink in her
heart, I cause her write down her confession, purpose, and promise,
THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS. 315
irith her owu hand, to be a testimony and witness for or against her
another day, in case she forget altogether again or turn aside."
Then confession follows in his daughter's handwriting :
** The night I did again confess before the Lord all my former
guilt, both my many wicked practices, and the natural perverseness
and ungodliness of my heart y and besought Him to forgive and blot
them out thro' Jesus Christ. I see much of my own inclinations
and e7il ways ; but, alas ! cannot mourn for them aright nor yet
amend them ; yet, in His strength, denying myself, I desire that He
would turn me, and I shall be turned. He pardons the rebellious ;
therefore that He would pardon me.
** This day I desire to give up myself again to God ; it is my heart
that I desire to give Him, and not my tongue only."
Again on Sabbath 30th October, his daughter writes : —
*^ 1 desire not only that the Lord would be witness, but that He
would be cautioner and surety in this covenant, that thro' His grace
I may overcome. This Lord's Day I have taken new resolutions
upon me to be the Lord's wholly, and not to live any more to sin. I
do not only purpose against the gross evils that I have been given to,
but also to strive against my own nature, and the sinful inclinations
thereof; and especially to seek the Lord in more sincerity, and more
unfeiguedly to repent of my evil ways than ever before, which my
heart has never yet been broken for ; particularly for my lightness,
Taiiicy, wantonness, folly, idleness, profanity, dissembling, lying,
hypocrisy, atheism, contempt of God, slighting Him, His service in
secret and public, swearing, bitterness, stealing, and putting God out
or mind and sighl?, obdureness, not ashamed nor sorry when I com-
mitted sin, wronged God and my own soul, thinking, if I could get
my sin tjovered from men it was well enough. From this day for-
ward I desire to deny these things, and every evil way. And, in
«igQ and token of my unfeigned desire and purpose, I have' in the
sight of God, subscribed this confession and covenant with my heart
and hand — Grissel Brodie."
Grissel (called after her grandmother, wife of Sir Robert Innes, and
daughter of James, Earl of Moray) was seventeen years of age when
she subscribed this covenant. Her brother James, when in his
siiteenth year, is referred to on Ist July, 1653, as having made a
similar covenant : ** My sou (after acknowledgment and conviction
of much unfaithfulness, and unsoundness, and hollo w-heartedness in
following the Lord, according to his engagement, and covenant) did,
aft^r confession to the Lord's glory, seek mercy, and renew the
<»Tenant betwixt the Lord and his soul. This is written in my first
Diary book/' Again, two days after, on Sabbath, 3rd July, he writes :
*'My son's first covenant, and my offering him up to God was
registered in my first Diary bodk, 13th Jan., 1651. But my first
oblation wa» as soon as he was born, even before his baptism ; aiid
then at the Lord's solemn ordinance of baptism where he received
His mark and seal upon him." On the 28th July, 1659, James was
married to Lady Mary, daughter of William, third Earl of Lothian,
and we find an entry in the Diary : " 31st July, 1659, she did sub-
n
3'.^ THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS.
scribe her covenant to and witli God, and became His, and gave up
herself to Him." In the end of 1653', there were troublous times for
the Covenanters of Moray. They had suffered much, as may be setn
in Spalding, from the destructive troops of Montrose, years before ;
and now the Earl of Glencaim was passing northward to join the
standard of Middleton in the Hoyalist cause. On the 20th January,
1654, we read in the Diary ; " Glencaim' burnt the corns and houses of
Lethen (the residence of his uncle, Alexander Brodie). 0, Lord t
sanctify and help us to understand and be humbled under this hand
of Thine. Upon the news I said to Lethen, having risen from praver,^
my heart is calm, and I do rejoice in God and bless His narae»
Albeit there may be in us matter of humiliation for much guilt, yet
His rod seems not to be pure wrath, but mercy in it." On the 24th
January, he records : " This day I went to Lethen and determined
to give a stack of oats and straw to his poor people because of his
freedom and their safety ... * We appointed a day of search, and a
day of humiliation and supplication on the 30th and 31st of January,
to be humbled under the Lord's auger, which hath for many years
broken and burned against the poor land. To be humbled under the
Lord's band upon the families that we belong to, and imder His dis-
pleasure, and under the acknowledgment of our personal and 'par-
ticular provocations."
Soon after we come upon the following detailed account of this
solemn fast. It may be mentioned that the preachers on the interost-
ing occasion, the pioufl Messrs. Joseph and John Brodie were uncles of
the Diarist ; " January 31st, 1654 — Was the solemn humiliation at
Lethen for the causes and reason contained in the paper which is in
my latrou (letteron or cabinet). After * Lethen and Francis (of
Balivat, another uncle) did, with some measure of tenderness, confess
and bewail their particular guilt of covetousness, passion, pride,
unrighteous dealing, and worldly mindedness, and youthful lusts, and
promise breaking to God of many duties which they had bound them-
selves unto ; we were all affected with the work of God on their spirits,
and besought the Lord on their behalf, that He would not let their
wound close till it were thoroughly healed ; but would bring on his
work unto perfection, till He had quite finished it.
*' After some measure of assistance and countenance on the day, Mr.
Joseph (Brodie, minister of Forres) preached on Job xxii., 20, 21, drc:,
* Acquaint now* thyself with Him arid be at peace : thereby good
shall come unto thee.* Mr. John (Brodie, minister of Auldearn) on
Joel ii. We closed the exercise with a solemn engagement of ourselves
to God, and did come under a new, firm, inviolable covenant with
God, that we should be His, and He should be ours. We gave up
and surrendered our soul, body, estates, lands, rents, houses, families,
wives, children, servants, wit, partq, endowments, friends, wealth, and
all tliat we had, or ever should have or attain unto in this world, to
be the Lord's for ever ; that He might call for,' make use and disi)ose
of it, and mark it as His own. We besought the Lord to accept the
free-will offering of our lips and of our hearts, and not to permit us.
• to depart from Him.
THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS. 317
" Mr. John acknowledged his predominant sins of worldliness and
earthly miudedness, passion, pride, unfaithfulness in hid calling ; aud
entered his soul bound to endeavour to mortify these sins, and every
sin, and to labour for more fidelity, watchfulness and carefulness in
his ministerial calling than ever : but renouncing himself desired to
believe in the grace of God through Christ for this effect.
" Mr. Joseph acknowledged and bewailed the same sins, imconscion-
ableness in his calling, and doing duty for some outward respect of
credit or honesty, aud not from pure love to God in Christ ; his
excessive desires after the world, and retaining and holding in, when
he ought to be enlarged and let forth ; unruly passion and humour,
unthankfulness for great mercies and deliverances. And now desired
to give himself to the Lord, and through Him to endeavour to more
holiness, mortification, walking after the Spirit, tenderness in his
walking, conscionableness in his calling.
** Old Letheu renetved his acknowledgments, and prayed the Lord
for a willing honest heart, to make good what was in his heart ; and
desired to give up himself, and his wealth, family, children, wife, aud
his own life, to the Lord ; that He may bo glorified in them, and his
life might not be to himself and to the world, but to, in and for the
Lord. This, besides particular bonds and vows wherein he had been
unfaithful.
" Young Lethen (Alexander Brodie, younger of Lethen) professed
his willingness to consecrate him and his to God, and that, as long as
he had a house or family, it should be the Lord's. He alone should
be worshipped in it, he should have no God but Him ; and this day
gave his heart to the Lord.
" Old Francis (Brodie of Milton) renewed his confession with tears ;
and confessing the Lord to be just in casting him out of his family,
making it desolate ; for he had not honoured Him in that family.
Therefore the Lord was just in burning up his house and substance.
He took the Lord and us, his people, witnesses of his sincere and
unfeigned acknowledgments, and of his purpose and desire to be
turned to God. He gave up his body now to be a temple to the
Lord ; he desired to consecrate his substance and children to the
Lord to be His. He did set the Lord over all ; and bound himself,
soul, body, mind, will, affections, heart, strength, and all his powers
to be the Lord's. Only desired to lay the weight of this day's vow
and covenent, and the performance of it, upon the Lord Jesus, and
His all-sufiBcient grace.
" Young Francis (of Milton) desired to consent, and to subscribe bis
name to the Lord for ever ; and sought their prayers that were
present, that he might never fall back. Both of them, father and
son, promised not only for themselves, but for their families and
servants,' that they should be for examples, so far as weakness would
permit, of holiness before them, and should labour that they might
know and serve the Lord.
" Joseph said he had given himself sometime before to the Lord ;
but complained of an unsound and unsteadfast heart ; yet was he
willing with all his soul to renew the Covenant with God ; desiring
31 8 THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS
that above all thingH he might be His servant, and the Lord be hia
God.
"David (Brodie of Pitgaunie) disclaimed all strength in himself;
and wished that the Lord would confirm it, and make good that
which he was willing to subscribe and consent to, that the Lord
shall be mine, and I shall be His, as long as I live.
" James (Brodie of Brodie, only son of Diarist) gave up hiniself to
the Lord, and prayed for strength, that he should not be forsaken.
" Janet (Brodie, Diarist's sister, and mother of Sir Hugh Campbell),
expressed much distrust of herself; but desired to come under a
new bond for the Lord, resolving upon more watchfulness against
security, falling away, love of self-praise, and against all contempt of
others, who might seem to have attained less; and to have the
Lord ever in her eye.
*' The Lady Lethen dared promise little of herself, being conscious to
her own heart ; but professed of all that were there, she was most
bound, both to take with guilt and the cause of His anger above any
others, although they had taken it on themselves ; and now that
none had so great cause to engage their hearts to the Lord as she
had ; and therefore, in the faith of the Lord Jesus and His might,
she did, and would give up herself to the Lord and all hers ; and
promised to sanctify the Lord's name so far as she could, with
husband, servants, and family, to the uttermost of their power.
"John Brodie, Woodhead, acknowledged much guilt, and great
need of this day's work. He was lying under some bonds to God
already, to inquire into the evil of his own heart and ways ; and this
should add to the former bbnds. He prayed for grace to this effect,
and promised, as to walk more conscionably, and to seek more
knowledge of the Lord's name, so he should labour to have the
Lord's name set up in his family, to bring his wife, and children and
servants to know and serve the Lord.
*' John (Brodie) of Main engaged for a humble and unfeigned en-
deavour, as to honour God in his own spirit, so to be an instrument
God-ward for his wife, children and family, that they also and he
might be the Lord's.
" Mr. Robert Donaldson desired of God to discover if there were any
iniquity in his way, or in his heart, for which he was spared, while
others were smitten. He promised to search his own heart; and
this day professed the desire and joy of his heart to enter into a sure,
perpetual, soul-covenant with God ; and desired our prayers for him.
Katherine his wife burst forth in the complaint of her woful, sad,
deserted case ; but if He would accept, there was not anything in all
the earth which should so content and satisfy her, as that the Lord
would condescend to that bargain, to become her God, and to take
her, and accept of her as His for ever. It was replied, the bargain
was sure enough, if she were willing for her part ; for He is gladder
of the offer, and is readier to accept it, than we are to give it ; and
we hoped her sorrow and sadness were but to let in and make way
for durable and lasting comfort.
''Jean Symington^ sdbeit a stranger among us, yet desired to be up-
EVANGEUSIIC WORK. 319
holden by His grace, and strengthened in her resolution and purpose
to walk more tenderly and more exactly than ever ; and, not for her-
self only, but as far as her good word might go, she should declare
and publish His name to others, and persuade and invite them to fall
iD love with Him whom her soul loved ; and should stir up those
that she conversed with to this effect.
** John Brodie, my boy, professed an unfeigned desire to know the
Lord more, and to cleave to Him more, and to be for Him, and to
His glory, all his days.
"John Tweedie absent at the time. All of us, for ourselves and for
our little ones, and for our wives, that have them, and families and
interests, do stand before the Lord this day, making supplication and
confession on their and our behalfs ; and do take burden on us, ac-
cording to our several callings and stations, as aforesaid, that the
Lord shall be our God, and we shall be His people, on the bare con-
dition of the new Covenant, that He will give us another heart, and
write His law within us.
"On the 1st. February this was written, and letters of exhortation
to every one of them for putting them in remembrance. My soul
this morning desired, for its own part, to rejoice before the Lord in
trembling, and to consent unto this new oblation and Covenant ; and
besought His Majesty for a blessing on it, and on all their souls that
had consented to or were concerned in it."
A similar Family Fast and Confession of Sin took place at Brodie
Castle on the 12th October 1656. This personal aud family fasting
and covenanting seems to have almost dropt out of modem dovnt-
^ade religious lifa When the " latter rain " comes to our land we
may expect in connection therewith the fulfilment of the promise in
Zechariah (xii. 10-14), a great mourning in the land ** every
family apart." May we not long and pray for a time when, as two
hundred and fifty years ago, all classes of society should in profound
penitence say : " Come, and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a
perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten." (Jer. L 5).
EVANGELISTIC WORK.
The need of strenuous effort to reach the masses sunk in heathenism
which are round about us, must be granted by all. If this nation is
to be saved from moral shipwreck, they must be lifted out of their
sensuality and vice. They form a blot on our civilisation, which, if
allowed to grow, will ere long swamp it. The task is one which be-
longs peculiarly to the Christian Church. It has to put the leaven
of Christian principle into this corrupt mass, and purify it. Is not
this one of the main lessons taught us in the latest poem of our now
octogenarian poet-laureate, " Locksley Hall Sixty Years After " ? In
the old " Locksley Hall " he looked for the golden age to dawn
320 EVANGELISTIC WORK.
through the passing of beneficent legislation, political changes, and
scientific discoveries. The cry of his hot youthful spirit then was :
Forward, forward let us range
Let the great world spin for ever down the ringing grooves of change.
But now, sixty years after, an old man — with the enemies he hated,
the friends he loved, ** the comrades of the bivouac and the battlefield,*'
and, above all, with the feelinof that furnished inspiration of the old
poem all gone — he looks around, and he sees that his dream is far far
from being realised. Since the discoveries ofscience and legislation and
political changes have thus failed to introduce a millennium, where are
we now to look for help? The answer of the poem is that it is in such
lives as those lived by his successful rival — lives of humble loving
service towards our neighbours. To our thinking, the gospel of this
later poem is incomparably superior to that of the earlier. It is by
producing such lives in large numbers that the Church will make
the deepest and most lasting impression upon those that are without-
living without God and without hope in the world. The methods
the Church adopts to reach this end do not always commend them-
selves as wise, and on some points are open to criticism. A type of
evangelistic work, well known across the Atlantic, is being introduced
among us, and it may be well for us to know what is thou/^ht of it by
some who have for many years observed its operations. An eminent
American minister, Dr. G.P. Hays, has recently been writing on the
subject, and, while expressing sympathy with evangelistic work, points
out some of its results as at present conducted. After speaking of
work done by pastors and evangelists working under proper church
supervision, he goes on to say :
"But this is not the kind of labour which generally passes under tho
name of evangelistic work. It generally refers to that form of labour
which took its rise, in its modern acceptation, with Mr. Moody's
earlier visits to the larger cities. A big tabernacle, or • the biggest
hall in town, is to be rented, an assistant singer employed, a bi^
choir organized, a corps of workers drilled and captained, and all
pastors and churches of the various denominations are to assist iii
inviting the evangelist and * pushing the meetings.' For the time
being regular church work is to be subordinate to these' special ser-
vices, and newspaper notoriety and general fame furnished to the
evangelist. This is the most conspicuous form of this type of
* evangelistic work ; ' but in its humbler form it takes the shape of
special services by professional evangelists in a given church. Not
unfrequently this individual church sends invitations to all neighbour-
ing churches to unite with them in this effort to reach the miis-^es.
" By this description suspicion will probably be aroused that the
writer intends to excite prejudice against everything of the kind by
the form of the description. Let it be said here, therefore, that all
that is intended by the whole article is to show that there are' two
sides to this question of the evangelistic work. Its advocates gener-
ally discuss it as if there was but one side, and that every minister,
or private member, who hesitates about giving these movements
EVANGELISTIC WORK. 32 1
their unqualified indorsement, is some religious Pharisee that cares
nothing for the progress of the Kingdom. It is a good thing, how-
ever, for aU parties to take a square look at. both sides of every such
question. The evils which will here be deprecated may not follow in
every case ; yet their frequent occurrence is sufficient to make wise
church leaders careful to avoid them. Of course, neither the evan-
gelists nor those who invite and support them intend the results which
follow in these evil cases. But the implications and inferences may
he 80 obvious that they will follow, whether intended or not.
" One of the most objectionable implications is that conversions are
not generally to be expected in the use of the ordinary and regular
means of grace. The evangelist is brought in because of the incap-
acity of the regular minister to do this important part of the work ;
and, without so saying it, a sentiment among the unconverted is de-
veloped, by which they assume that they are to wait uatil the pro-
fessioual evangelist comes before deciding for the Master. That
minister has a hard task who has to preach the gospel to a ' burnt
district.' The efforts of the evangelist to laud and push forward the
pastor, oftentimes only intensifies the difficulty by implying that the
regular pastor needs his patronizing commendation.
*^ Another difficulty which is almost inherent in the situation, is that
the preaching and work of the evangelist build up in the minds of
the Church and the general public a model of pulj^dt labour which is
impossible as a permanency. That it is impossible as a permanency
is evident from the fact that tho very evangelists themselves have not
been able to keep it up permanently in their own past fields. If they
could have kept it up as a permanency in any one location, according
to the success they desire, there would have been no motive for the
present disposition to travel from place to place. It is not reasonable
to expect that it should be acceptable to the public as permanent
spiritual food. Poultry is generally put on the table as a special
compliment to a pastor, as in visiting his people he dines with his
congregation. But chicken gets to be a very tiresome diet when it
has to be eaten every day, or two or three times a day. Ice cream is
a pleasant occasional dessert ; but it would be a hardship to have it
for steady diet, to the exclusion of everything else. Intelligent
Christians, and not less the intelligent general public, will prefer
some * strong meat ' of the gospel from those who are to be their
permanent ministers.
" As a result of the above, seasons of evangelistic work by pro-
fessional evangelists are very often followed by numerous pastoral
changes. If the evangelistic work is not accompanied by a revival,
the fault is laid on the pastor and his officers. If a genuine revival
does accompany the work, then, when the evangelist leaves, the fruit
is expected to cease, and the comparative quiet which follows is laid
to the inefficiency of the pastor and his officers. The standard and
type of preaching furnished by the evangelist he could not himself
maintain for a year at a time, as has been proven by experience over .
and over again. Yet the pastor is compared with that impracticable
model, to his unjust disparagement. Complainers begin venting their
322 EVANGELISTIC WORK.
complaints, aad the pastor's friends take up his defence. Agitation
follows, and the pastor resigns. This cibmplaining criticism and
condemnation may not always come in such vigorous form as to so
seriously wound the minister's self-respect as to constrain him to leave ;
and yet through the succeeding years he may be called to preach on
in fruitlessness, made all the more humiliating by the temporary
success of the stranger. If it is asserted that this picture is over*
drawn, then whole cities can be cited where the deadness that
followed these movements has been the sorrow of the laborious pastors
who had to take the odium, and silently work away in the presence
of unjust criticisms.
'* So far nothing has been said concerning the support of these evan-
gelists. They ought not to be expected to labour without sufficient
income, for the support of themselves and their families. To furnish
that income, the churches must pay double salaries. They pay first
the running expenses of their own church, including pastor, sexton,
and other expenses of their own building; and secondly, the com-
pensation due the evangelist, the musician, and the building expenses
of the hall and its care. A brother once told me that he felt * called
of God ' to enter the evangelistic work, and this difficulty was faith-
fully set before him. Nevertheless he entered the work,. and two
years afterwards wrote again, pleading for a field where he could re-
enter the regular pastorate. Churches able to pay double did not
feel the need of such help, and those unable to pay double were glad
to have him assist them, if he could do so for nothing.
" When regular pastors exchange labour, and help each other, almost
all these difficulties are avoided. There is then no insinuation of
incompetency or spiritual deadness against the regular pastor, or
assumption of extraordinary genius, or special divine endowment, on
the part of the stranger. They are mutual helps. The visiting
pastor is supported by his own people. The permanency of his own
work is given sustenance in the idea of permanent ministerial and
pastoral work. All that is thus said has not involved any criticism
of the theory, not often flatly avowed, but not unfrequently implicitly
assumed, that those who are called to this ' evangelistic work ' have
by their own power or holiness secured of the Spirit a certain wonder-
working gift. If any one doubts the real existence of that which is
here alluded to, let them inquire of newspaper editors whether or not
very remarkable reports of the labours of evangelists are not pressed
upon them for publication. Let pastors themselves look around, and
see if they had not had very peculiar letters of commendation of evan-
gelists from various quarters. A noted evangelistic worker of one
denomination asked liberty to hold afternoon Bible readings in the
lecture- room of a church of a different denomination than that where
he was for the time labouring. When the request was respectfully
declined, the boast was made that he would force his way into that
church against the coldness of its unconverted pastor. Of course,
the officers of the church so declining were sharply criticised by
. over-zealous members of their own church ; but, as usual, in due time
the evangelist departed, the pastor of the church where he laboured
LETTER OF LATE REV. JAMES SMELLIE. 323
resigned, and went fco another field ; and the pastor, whose officers
preferred that their pastor should do his work in his own way, stayed
with his people in peace.
*' Surely, in these matters, it is not best that everybody should think ■
alike. Those pastors and congregations that desire evangelists
should certainly be allowed to employ and enjoy their services with-
out anybody's interference. But just as freely should those who
diflfer from them be allowed to work on in their own way, without
being assailed by the evangelist, or condemned by other people, or
held responsible for the moral ruin of cities. Because they do not
see their way clear to unite in the petition for the coming of an
BTangelist, which the evangelist insists must be signed by all the
pastors and the official bodies of all the churches, they need not be
denounced as opposing the salvation of the multitude. Let them
assert their right to work on in their own way, and let them as
cordially let others, evangelists and all, work on in their own way."
LETTER OF THE LATE REV. JAMES SMELLIE, EDINBURGH.
Bridge of Allan,
esth March, 1873.
Dear Mb. , I fear I have not sympathised enough with you and
other sufferers in my flock, for the Lord has been pleased to lay the
chastening rod on myself, to teach me a deeper and tenderer sym-
pathy. He has shut me up, however, from showing my sympathy
otherwise than by remembering you at a throne of grace, and by
writing a few lines to you, as I now do, to let you know you are not
forgotten.
I suppose you are still a prisoner. But it is comforting to think
that you are a " prisoner of hope." Your frail body is shut up in
the chamber of addiction, but your hope is not shut up there. It is
entering into that within the veil, whither Christ the Forerunner
hath already entered for such as you. I am sure you are saying, or
at least trying to say : —
*' O Lord, my hope and coiifidence
Is fixed on thee alone,
Then let thy servant never be
Pat to confusion."
Well, if you are, you never will be put to confusion. Your hope
beiug fixed solely on Christy the Eock of Ages is an anchor of the
sool, botb sure and stedfast.
324 A WORD FOR THE SUFFERING.
You may be tossed up aud dowu with doubt» and perplexities, juat
as a vessel at anchor is heaved up and down with the swelling of the
waves, but jour anchor of hope will hold fast until the end ; for it
takes hold of Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day and for ever,
and the cable of faith which fastens it to Him is wrought by the
gracious Spirit, Who will not forsake the work of His own hand.
I am anxious, dear M , that you should look less to your own
fitful feelings and more to the promises, invitations, and offers of the
Word. Your feelings Tary with the state of your body and many
other causes, but the Word is the sole warrant of your faith, and
will continue unchangeably the same, whatever changes take place
in you. It is long since it was said to you with power, " Fear not, I
am with you ; be not dismayed^ I am thy God ; I will strengthen
thee 4 yea, I will help thee ; yea, I will uphold thee with the right
hand of my righteousness." Now, God who gave you that promise
aud helped you to take it as yours in Christ, may well be trusted to
keep His own Word. '* He remaineth faithful ; He cannot deny
himself Whatever He has been to you in your best and happiest
moments. He is to you still, and will be to the end. " The moun-
tains shall depart, and the hills be removed, but my loving kindness
shall not depart, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed,
saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee."
Excuse these few hurried lines. I may write you again. I am
thankful to s4y I am gathering strength every day. Cheer up !
** The night is far spent ; the day is at hand." — I am.
Your aflfectionato Pastor,
Jambs Smbllie.
A WORD FOR THE SUFFERING.
Thb following lines are taken from the " Sermon in the Hospital," a
separately published part of a large poem, '*The Disciples," by
Harriet Eleanor Hamilton King. The whole sermon is most beauti-
ful in conception and expression, and it struck us in reading this
portion that it might help some suffering ones to bear their cross
more patiently.
But if, impatient, thou let slip thy cross.
Thou wilt not find it in this world again.
Nor in another; here, and here alone,
Is given thee to suffer for God's sake.
In other worlds we shall more perfectly
Serve Him and love Him, praise Him, work for Him,
Grow near and nearer Him with all delight ;
THE MISSION FIELD. 325
But then we shall not any more be called
To suffer, which is our appointment here.
Canst thou not suffer then one hour — or two ]
If He should call thee from thy cross to-day,
Saying, It is finished ! — That haixi cross of thine
From which thou prayest for deliverance,
Thinkest thou not some passion of regret
Would overcome thee ? Thou wouldst say, " So soon ?
Let me go back, and suffer yet awhile
More patiently ; — I have not yet prai83d God."
And He might answer to thee, — " Never more;
All pain is done with." Whensoever it comes.
That summons that we look for, it will seem
Soon, yea too soon. Let us take heed in time
That God may now be glorified in us ;
And, while we suffer, let us set our souls
To suffer pei*fectly : since this alone,
The suffering, which is this world's special grace.
May here be perfected and left behind.
— But in obedience and humility ; —
Waiting on God's hand, not forestalling it.
Seek not to snatch presumptuously the palm
By self-election ; poison not thy wine
With bitter herbs if He has made it sweet ;
Nor rob God's treasuries because the key
Is easy to be turned by mortal hands.
The gifts of birth, death, genius, suffering,
Are all for His hand only to bestow.
Receive thy portion, and be satisfied.
Who crowns himself a king is not the more
Royal ; nor he who mars himself with stripes
The more partaker of the Cross of Christ.
Efje iEigaton JFieto-
OUR FOREIGN MISSION.
Fbox recent communications received from Mr. Blakely we learn
that one of the Orphan Boys, Philip Gordon, has expressed a strong
desire to study for the medical profession. For this purpose he
requires to take up his residence at Patua, which will involve some
expense; but while under training he will receive several rupees
monthly, the amount increasing year by year till his studies are
completed. We are sure that all connected with the Church at home
will feel interested in this young lad, and wish him^ success in his
•todies. Some of the boys in the Orphanage have been giving Mr.
Y
326 THE MISSION FIELD.
Blakely considerable troiible by going down to the town in the
evenings and staying out till a late hour without leave; but measarea
have been adopted to prevent this recurring, and to keep the boys
under proper restraint. The older lads have been usefully employed
during the holidays in repairing walls and fences about the Mission
property, and they have done the work excellently and cheerfully.
James Smellie, one of the oldest inmates of the Orphanage, was
married recently to the daughter of a retired native officer. We
expect to get details concerning this happy event ; but, meanwhile,
express the hope and prayer that the union which has been formed
may prove beneficial to both parties, and that they may be long
spared to enjoy each other's society and have the blessing of God
ever resting upon them. We are glad to say that both Mr. and Mrs.
Blakely have been in good health throughout the hot seajson, and are
making satisfactory progress in acquiring the language of the people.
They haVe so many things to attend to that it is difficult making much
headway in the study of the language; but it is believed that they will
soon possess considerable facility in using the speech most familiar to
the natives.
It has now been arranged by the Perth and Aberdeen Presbyter 7
that Mr. David Finlayson will be ordained as a Missionary for India
on the evening of Tuesday the 29th October. The services will be
conducted in the Rev. Mr. Stirling's church at Arbroath, with whose
congregation Mr. Finlayson has been connected, and it is hoped that
there will be a large attendance both of ministers and people. It
will prove au interesting occasion to our friends in Arbroath, and
should also awaken the interest and enlist the prayers of all through-
out the Church. It is contemplated that Mr. Finlayson will leave
for India about the beginning of November, and there is little doubt
that his arrival at our Mission Station will be awaited with great
pleasure by those who preceded him to Seoni last year.
*
" The Indian Standard " of April 3rd of this year contains a very
interesting account of farewell meetings held at Seoni in connection
with the departure of Mr. and Mrs. Anderson. On Sabbath the
17th March twenty-one sat down to the Lord's table in the Mission
Chapel, and amongst these twelve natives. On the forenoon of the
19th there was a spontaneous gathering composed of Christians
Mohammedans, and Hindoos, who met in tlie Victoria Library to
give public expression of their gratitude to Mr. Anderson for his
educational services. After the company had been photographed in
a series of groups the chair was taken by Shujat-Ali Khan, son of the
THE MISSION FIELD. 327
Dewan Sahib, who is the recognised head of the native community.
An address in Urdu was read from the students expressing their
high esteem and afifection for Mr. Anderson, and a copy of it, alonor
with a handsome silver cup of local workmanship from masters and
students, was presented to him. A purse containing 135 rupees, sub-
scribed bj friends among all sections of the commudity, was also
handed to him as a small token of the esteem in which he was held.
Testimony was borne by various speakers to the value of his labours.
According to native custom garlands were then placed round the
necks of Mr. and Mrs. Anderson, and amidst general expressions of
regret good-byes were said, and the meeting broke up. There were
from two to three hundred present at the meeting.
On the evening of this day a meeting of Christians gathered at the
Mission House for a farewell service. It was opened by Mr. Blakely,
and several of the older Christian boys and others spoke very touch-
ingly of the missionary about to leave them and his labours among
them. Several of those pi*esent engaged in prayer in English aud
Urdu, asking that God's blessing might rest on those that were
leaving, and on those that were taking up their work.
When on the following morning Mr. and Mrs. Anderson with their
children left, a large number of the native community, besides the
Christians, assembled in the Mission Compound, and at various
points of the road out of Seoni, to wish them a last good-bye.
It must have been very gratifying to Mr. Anderson to receive all
these tokens of affection on leaving the scene where he has laboured
for seventeen years, and gratifying to our readers to loam about
them.
LETIER FROM MRS. BLAKELY.
The following is the letter referred to in last number of the Magazine as
having been sent by Mrs. Blakely in the end of April for the benefit of the
yoang. We are sure that this letter will be read with great interest, and that
similar communications from Mrs. Blakely will be gladly welcomed : —
"I am afraid some of you would be slightly shocked at my husband's
description of the Orphanage. I must confess the first one I saw in Lidia was
%iiite a revelation to me ; but all the native houses are the same, indeed, many
of them much worse.^ I am very fond of the girls. Poor things, they cannot
get the same liberty as the boys. The boys are running about playing games
in the compound, just like boys at home. The girls are all shut in with a high
fence of matting, and unless the walk to school in company with the Bible*
Woman, they are never out, unless by permission. You must not think they
an unhappy— quite the opposite—they are all lively and bright. The other
night we went over to see Janet, who had had fever,, and I am sure little
328 THE MISSION FIELD.
Scotch girls coald not have been laughing more heartily than they were doing.
They were evidently having a good romp before going to bed, as they were
locked up for the night. They are busy little girls also, as they make all
their own clothes and the boys' besides. I have not seen such a home-like
scene since leaving home, as on Saturday. I went over to see thenv at work.
There they were all on the floor, with a little pile of clothes beside each of
them, putting on buttons, etc., on the clothes just come from the wash. I am
sure the girls will be interested to know they have just finished making new
dresses. They had them on for the first on Sabbath at church. Louisa and
Margaret are sewing a small tray cloth in cross stitch. I mean to send it
home to show what little black girls can do. Will you be shocked to hear the
girls eat their food with their fingers also ? You must understand even the
educated natives do the same here. They are very fond of singing and most
of them sing very sweetly ; they even sing English hymns. The boys and girls
come over on Sabbath evening and we have an hour's singing. It is getting
quite popular, as last Sabbath most of the servants came in to hear. There
is one of the boys who has a very strong voice. If you are near him you feel
inclined to put your fingers in your ears. Ho was precentor on Sabbath in the
vernacular service, and did remarkably well, his strong voice rising above that
of every one else. One afternoon last week, a policeman brought a little girl
to our door. If anyone had said she was a little monkey, I would have be-
lieved it just as readily. She was almost skin and bone and had no clothes on.
She was only a year and a half old, and an orphan. She had been found by
the police and taken to the Deputy Commissioner. There were several people
wanting to get her, (not relations), but Mr. Redham did not like to trust her
with any of them, so he sent her on to us. I was so glad wo were able to take
her. She was evidently starved and very weak. I am sure your hearts would
have ached to see how greedily she drank some milk we gave her. We are
giving her very little food at first in case we hurt her, but will gradually in-
crease it. When we went over in the afternoon to see her, she was seated in
the midst of the other girls' plates, and making great efforts to get hold of
some beef. When her own dinner arrived (rice and milk) she started with her
fingers to make it disappear, with such an air of determination, as much as to
say, 'I can manage to take care of myself.' In spite of this, we are a little
anxious whether she will live, but we are very hopeful as she has so much
spirit. She is a great amusement to the other girls.
** Now, I want you to be interested in the girls* school as well as the
Orphanage. I am already very fond of some of the little girls in school. I am
sure you would laugh if you saw one of them. She wears a long pair of very
tight trousers with a jacket and sari. She looks very comical. There is
another fnnuy little one. If you pass near her she always catches your hand
and holds it softly in hers. Mr. Blakely has been giving them drill for a
quarter of an hour every morning for the last two weeks. They are very
naughty little girls and do not come to school at the proper time, so we
thought to tempt them out with drill. As my husband introduces a great deal
of clapping hands they like it very much. It is quite delightful to see their
pleased faces. They show their pleasure in a very practical way also, as the
morning before we began, at the same hour, there were only 17 and the
following morning 37. One day we had 43, which was very good when you
hear the time for drill is shortly after seven o'clock. Mr. Blakely gives^hia
orders in English, and it is wonderful how quickly they learn. I was mnch
THE MISSION FIELD. 329
amoacd to see a little tiny girl staading straight np before some of her com-
inaions and shouting * attention.'
** Joat before closing let me remind all friends of the mission that my husband
and I are in a very trying position at present. We have such an Imperfect
knowledge of the language, and besides all the people seem to be trying us,
to see whether they are to have all their way, or if we are to have ours.
Sometimes my husband is surrounded with people all talking rapid Hindi, and
not being able to make out many words. We do need your prayers — pray
that we may have special wisdom given us for our peculiar difficulties at
present. We are both realising our own great weakness, may wo lean on ' the
Almighty strength.' "
LETIER FROM CHINA.
The following letter is from a young lady who has devoted herself to the
Lord's work in connection with the China Inland Mission to her mother. It
was sent to us for perusal, and so pleased were we with the glimpse 6f mission
work in that interesting land, that we requested and obtained liberty to use
it in the Magazine, We are sure that our readers will thank us for doing so.
—Editor.
My own precious Mother, — Here I am in my nice bright room flooded with
lonshine, and the door into the Uenza wiilc open. It is Friday afternoon, and
Tve given myself a holiday to get my letters written as the mail is put up to-
night. It is really wonderful how the weeks fly one after the other. J am
nearly always occupied, and yet I don't seem to get much writing accomplished,
but I am so thankful I've learnt not to worry about these things, and to be
more willing, after committing my plans and work into our Master's hands at
the commencement of the day, to take from His hands any hindrances He
cboses to send ; for I feel He knows all I want to do, and what is really most
of all to His glory.
Since writing the above a number of women have been to see us, so I went
to tell them the Gospel story as the other two sisters were writing letters.
They were poor women from the Fan Ch^n or Rice Refuge — several immense
places surrounded by mud walls, where hundreds of families who have been
deprived of home and food by the late floods, have for the winter months
heen living huddled together in huts not larger than 2 to 3 yds. square,
and receiving two meals a day consisting of a basin of gruel. In about a month
they will close these places, and the poor people — men, old women, mofhers
and children— will return to their distant towns and villages to get a livelihood
as best they can. The weather will then be getting quite warm and it will be
easier to live, and they will be able to fish in the rivers and streams.
It is thought there will be —
Another set of dear women been and gone ! It is delightful to see them coming,
and get the opportunity of telling them of Jesus' love and what He is able to
do for each one of them. But sometimes we feel very tired, they come in such
nmnbers— the fan-chen makes all the diflerence — they come in crowds, some-
times about 100 in a day ; poor things, thoy have yet to learn the blessing and
comfort of cleanliness. There is often such a heavy strange smell about them
that it soon becomes very oppressive ; and the Chinese language tries the
throat very much if spoken for a good length of time. But if you have some
330 THE MISSION FIELD.
dear interested ones eagerly looking into your face and repeating the words
every now and again ; and a look of joy breaks over the face as some piece of
good news is grasped for the first time — one's heart goes out in sach yearning
love, yon forget all about time, feelings and surroundings ; oh ! how one longs
one could gently lead them over the line of ** Trust."
Every now and again my eyes fall upon the words of two texts I hare
hung opposite one another, and I feel how true they are — " Looking unto
Jesus," "As thy days, so shall thy strength be."
Of course there are great differences. Sometimes you will get a group, on
the whole, quiet, attentive and able to follow what you say. Sometimes,
perhaps, none can understand your words ; and, at other times, one or two
can follow, and if you carry on a conversation with them, yon can manage to
get the attention of the rest. One dear woman to-day said she had never been
before. I was astonished how well she followed and seemed to understand.
She said, ** she would not forget, and come back and hear more." Another
dear old woman told me she would trust Jesus, and kept folding her hands
and repeating over and over again a simple little prayer I taught her, asking
Jesus to forgive her sins, save her soul, give her peace, and day by day keep
her from sinning. I cannot tell you in words how I felt as I saw such a
beautiful light come into her dear old face. Please pray for her. God has
been so good to me, giving me such joy and peace in my own heart. I asked
Him at the beginning of the week to give me special help with the language
this week, and He has been graciously helping me. The women coming in
such numbers, I've been more with them than ever before, and day by day He
is helping me. This is Friday evening, and Mr. C , in passing, had
heard me with the women and gave me quite an encouragement. Isn't this an
answer to my prayer ? Join me in heartfelt thanks and in asking that I may
be kept at the Master's feet in the place of blessing and fitting for service.
I did want to tell you our d.aily routine.
Lily and I study till about 12 a.m. After 1 o'clock dinner, our daily prayer
meeting. Study in afternoon till 5 p.m., changing our time alternately each
week with the teacher. In turns we relieve Mrs. C. with the women when
they come in great numbers. In the evenings, after worship, we occasionally
have reading and work, writing letters, or anything we have on hand. It is
a treat to sit down to my treasured harmonium and have a hymn or two.
M r. C. has a prayer meeting with the Christians every Wednesday, and once
a month a missionary meeting. I think a splendid idea — lie has been sliowing
the natives that coloured diagram representing the prevailing religions all over
the world and their proportionate numbers in comparison with Christianity.
Next night is to be Africa, so Mr. C. asked me if I could copy some heads
typical of the different tribes. I said I would make an attempt, but I really
did not think I would manage it ; but I asked for help, and feel I have been
answered. They give great satisfaction. Two in black crayon and two
coloured negroes and one in the centre with scarlet turban. I have pasted
them on to a large sheet of white calico. Mr. C. is doing a large rough
coloured map of Africa, so I expect the natives will be even more interested
than before ; may God lay heavily on their hearts their own icsponsibility to
do all they can to live out and spread abroad the glorious gospel message
which has brought gladness and peace to them.
Mrs. C. fears she will have to postpone her weekly visit across the river for
a few weeks, also starting another, the crowds are so great. But it is the
PAGBS FOR THE YOUNG. 331
Master's work and He will guide. The great numbers coming prevent me
commencing my children's class when I hoped. But it is all right, the
Master's time and ways are always the best. Pray much for us and join in
thanks for His great goodness. In fondest love —
Your own Annie.
^agc0 for the loung*
BIBLE QUESTIONS.
Tbk holiday season has thinned a little the ranks of our classes, yet, we are
glad to say, not to any great extent. The little folks are in great force with
their most interesting answers about Abraham, and the seniors have turned
out in large numbers with most admirable replies to the questions on Christ's
Parables. In the middle class ther^ is the greatest falling off, but the
answers that have been sent in do credit to the young students. We hope
that when the sea-side season is over, they who have dropped off will re-
appear. We are now more than half-way through the year, and we feel it
to be very gratifying that so large a company has been led to spend some
little time in the study of some interesting portions of Scripture.
The answers on Abraham we give are those of ** Onward," Ayr.
1. On one of the mountains in the land of Moriah.
2. '* My father : behold the iire and the w^ood ; but where is tlic lamb for ^
burnt offering ? "
3. *'My son, God will provid '. himself a lamb for a burnt offering ? "
4. Because he had told him to kill Isaac to try his faith, not because he
really wanted Isaac killed.
.). Jehovah — jireh — the Lord will see or provide.
Good answers have been received from: Aberdeen — Primrose; Ayr — May-
flower, Sunrise, Obedience, Truth ; Birsay — Hope ; Coupar- Angus — Maggie,
Den, (one without any motto) ; Dundee — Snowdrop ; Edinburgh — Youth,
Olive Leaf ; Glasgow — Perseverance ; Kirkcaldy — Try ; Kirkintilloch — Lily,
^loimtaiu Ash ; Perth — Peace, Excelsior, Violet ; Stranraer — Hope, Boyd,
Gentleness.
Excelsior, Stranraer, in last number should have been Excelsior, Perth.
The answers on Life of Moses we give are those of *' Hopeful,' Carnoustie.
1. The Moral Law as summed up in the Ten Commandments.
2. His morning prayer was, " Rise up. Lord, and let thine enemies be
tcattered." His evening prayer was, ** Return, O Lord, unto the many thou-
ttnds of Israel," (Num. x.. 33-36).
3. His wife and two sous, his brother Aaron, his sister Miriam, his father-
in-law Jethro, and his brother-in-law Hobab. Aaron was his spokesman to
the people, and filled the priestly office. Jethro advised him to get help in
judging the people. Hobab was to him as eyes, giving him information about
the places they passed through. Aaron hindered him by making the golden
calf at Sinai. He and Miriam were once jealous of his higher position and
BOQght to lessen his iniiuence, slighting him for marrying an Ethiopian
woman.
I
332 PAGES FOR THE YOUNG.
4. Meekness.
5. At Meribab. He was not allowed to lead Israel into the Promised Land^
nor to enter it himself.
Good answers have been received from : Aberdeen — Meekness ; Ayr — Up-
ward; Birsay — Fidelity; Carluke — Violet; Coiipar Angus — Annie; Dundee —
Spes ; Glasgow — Hope ; Kinkintilloch — Snow- drop ; Perth — A little one ;
Stranraer — Fides, Mona, Noiram, Maggie.
The answers on the Parables of Christ which we give are those of "Mat-
thew vi. 33," Mains Street, Glasgow.
1. The Pharisees were marked by their attachment to the Ceremonial Law,
their frequent washings, fastings, prayings, their public alms-deeds, scrupulous
iithings, affected gravity of dress, gesture, and mortified looks. They
neglected mercy, charity, justice, and humility. They hated and oppressed
our Saviour, did all they could to entrap Him, and were severely rebuked by
Him.
2. The publicans were collectors of the Roman ^ribute, and were accounted
oppressive thieves and pick -pockets. They were detested by the Jews. Our
Lord showed a compassionate regard to them. Some of them became His
disciples.
3. The Pharisee's prayer contains no petitions, but is principally a self
complacent thanksgiving.
4. A sense of his own sinfulness, and the mercy of God, were the upper>
most feelings in the publican's heart.
3. Job xxiL, 29. Psalm cxlvii., 6. Matthew xxiii., 12. Luke xiv., 11,
James iv. , 6. 1 Peter v. 5-6.
Capital answers have come from : Aberdeen — Fidelity ; Ayr — Ezcelsior»
My Helper, Ecolier, Daily Improving ; Birsay — Consider the Lilies ; Carluke
— W, J. ; Toberdoney — Recinus Communis ; Dundee — Qui vivra verra»
Love, Labor vincit omnia; Edinburgh — Lamb, Teach Me; Glasgow — Mains*
Street — Veritas ; Hamilton — For Christ's Crown and Covenant ; Kirkcaldy —
Domine da lucem ; Olrig— Daisy, Spes, Thought Employed ; Perth — Zuru-
shaddai ; Stranraer — Deus est Amor, Love, God is Love.
The following are the questions you are next asked to answer. Replies ad-
dressed to O.S. Magazine, The Rev. R. Morton, 23 James Street, Perth ;
should be to hand before the 1st of October.
Under 10.
Write in your own words the story of Cain and Abel. Be sure to put in
the following things.
1. What were their occupations ?
2. Describe their offerings.
3. What did God say to Cain after he had killed his brother, and what wa*
Cain's reply ?
4. What was Cain's punishment ?
5. What was the sin that led Cain to kill Abel ?
Under 13.
1. What is meant by Jehovah-nissi, and where did Moses build an altar of
that name ?
2. Write a short account of the worship of the golden calf, and, if you can»
tell why the people made their idol in the form of a calf.
PAGES FOR THE YOUXG. 333
3. What was the tent called in which the Israelites worshipped God in the
wilderness ? How was it divided ?
4. Tell where examples may be found of Moses praising God for His good-
ness to the Israelites.
5. Give two examples of Moses pleading very earnestly that God would for-
give the Israelites.
Over 13.
1. Write out a list of the Parables.
2. Which one do you like best ? Give your reasons for preferring it.
3. Name some of Christ's parables that show that His Kingdom will grow
greater.
4. Name some that show His Kingdom to be precious.
5. Name some parables that show that there is joy in heaven when sinners
repent and turn to God.
COMPANIONS TO THE HEAVENLY WORLD.
"Faith, Hope, Love."— -1 Cor. xiii. 13,
We come now to consider the last mentioned of these companions— in
various respects the best and greatest. It is the one, the more of whose spirit
we catch, it will make us likest to God. Among the many beautiful de-
scriptions of God in the Divine Word, He is never said to be faith or hope,
but He is said to be love— ** God is love." This is the companion whose
friendship is felt to be the warmest, sunniest, w^insomest. It bears into our
hearts the pure and warm glow of a heavenly affection, casts brightcst'sunshine
Around our path, and surrounds us with loving kindnesses. Many nice and
beautiful things can be said of this companion, but our remarks are to be in
the line of love's characteristic. If faith is the receiving grace, and hope is
the expecting grace, love is the giving grace. If faith brings us something,
and hope keeps us up,
LOVE TEACHES US TO GIVE.
This is one reason love is so like God. He is the giving God. From Him
Cometh down every good and perfect gift. Each day of our lives He opens
His hand and satisfies the needs of His creatures. On this account too, lovo
IB like the sun which daily pours down its rays to warm, brighten, and beautify
mankind and nature. Thus, love is the companion which teaches us to think of
othrs. It is most unselfish. If faith and hope lead us to think a good deal
aboDt ourselves, love leads away from self to others. Is not this the Saviour's
very likeness and spirit as presented in the Gospel ? '* He went about doing
gWHi." His thoughts were mainly of others. So self -forgetful was He of His
own earthly comfort and enjoyment that He seemed to live the life of a home-
less wanderer. From His own lips there come those touching words : ** The
foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests ; but the Son of Man hath
not where to lay his head." Yet He never was forgetful of others. It is a
human failing, due to the presence of sin in our nature, which we have to un-
learn by degrees— thinking of ourselves so as to forget the needs and claims of
others. We cannot put before you a finer example of unselfishness than what
334 PAGES FOR THE YOUNG.
WO have iu the Saviour. A nobler miad, a truer and warmer heart, and a
manlier spirit never appeared among the children of men than what we have
pourtrayed in the life of our Lord. What love there was in Him. If we
make love our companion It will lead us to forget aelf and go out in kindliest
thought to others.
The first it teaches us to think of, and chiefly, is the Lord Jesus. And
what does it teach us to give Him ? It teaches U8 to give ourselves to Jesus.
Have we yielded this gift to the Saviour — our love, our trust, our reverence,
our obedience, our worship, our devotion ? He has given us Himself, ought
we not all to give Him ourselves in return ? If Christian love becomes our
companion this is the gift we will make. There shall well up in our hearts
feelings which will find fitting expression only in such beautiful words as those
of Frances Ridley Havergal :
" Take myself, and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee."
Love teachfii also to nhare our money with Jesus. I do not care to speak
much to grown-up people about money, for one is in danger of making them
angry or of being misunderstood ; but I think I may speak freely with young
people. Girls and boys, learn to share your money with Jesus. Next to one's
self I suppose people universally learn to value money. For, if we have money
we can get fine clothes, property, many enjoyments, and travel over the
country, the continent, and the world, as many are doing in these days. But
if we learn to spend more on our own enjoyment than we give to the Saviour,
I think we make a mistake. Should yon grow up hard, grumbling over what
you give to the cause of religion, while it may be you are at the same time
puttmg pioney in the bank, religion will never be such a beautiful thing in
your life, and certainly you will not be listening to the voice of love whicli
says, share your money with Jesus. Some people are always grumbling about
what they give to the cause of religion. That tells they are not much under the
influence of love's companionship, for love likes to give and teaches to share
with the Saviour, A boy one day received from his uncle a gold coin.
" Xow, you must keep that," said his uncle. ** I will halve it first," said the
boy, adding, *' Maybe I'll keep my half." ** What ! it is all yours," said his
ancle. ** No," replied the little fellow, ** it is not all mine ; I always go
halves with God." "But God owns the world, the gold and the silver are
His." The boy was puzzled for a moment, then he said: *'Any way God
always goes halves with me, don't you think I ought to give Him back a part?"
Tnis boy had evidently love for his companion. May it be similar with us.
Bo not grow up selfish girls and boys. There is something terribly mean in a
selfish character. Listen to the teaching of love and you will learn to be
unselfish. A lady writer says, ** love not only purifies, beautifies and softens,
moulding all in its elevating influence, but it utterly subdues self. If it does
not, doubt what you feel — doubt what is poured out to you — ^it is not real love.
The utter abnegation of self is the touchstone of love."
It is part of love's teaching, further, to be ready if necessary to yield up our
life to Jesus. Many have actually done this. The Apostle Paul, on one
occasion when Christian brethren sought to dissuade him from going up to
Jerusalem because of the danger to his life, said to them : " What mean ye to
weep and to break mine heart ? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also
to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." That life he yielded up
PAGES FOR THE YOUNG. 33S
for his Master's sake. Tradition says he was beheaded. Very many too have
T>ut of love to Christ suffered imprisonment, banishment, burning at the stake,
thereby yielding up their life to the Saviour, counting it not theirs but His.
Another touching illustration of this readiness was recently given in the
** Sword and Trowel." At a conference of 500 ministers an earnest appeal was
made for missionaries to the Congo in Africa. Standing next to Mr. Spurgeon
was a young man named John Maynard, who had been brought up in the
Stockwell Orphanage. "John," said Mr. Spurgeon, '* are you willing to go to
the Congo for service ? " ** Yes, sir," was the quick reply, **I am ready now."
" But you may die before you get there." ** No matter," said John, *' I am
ready now." ** You may take fever and die as soon as you arrive." Still the
atiswer was the same, **I am ready now." On leaving the platform he turned
to his college companions and said : *' 1 would be ashamed of myself if I was
iif»t ready to die for Jesus. It was Jesii3 Christ who clothed me, housed me,
ted me, and saved me when a lad in the Stockwell Orphanage. He taught me
onl blessed me in the Pastor's College ; and therefore, I feel I must do or die
at His pleasure." John Maynard went to the miii^ion field, and his life early
fell a sacrifice in the cause of Christ. Wliat led to that sacrifice ? It was
love. Love taught him his readiness to yield himself up to Christ. You may
not be called to go to prison or to the stake for Jesus ; but supposing the
Savioar should ask you, like John Maynard, to die soon, would you be ready to
lay down your life at His will ? But a few mouths ago, I was by the bedside
rjf a young friend whose life was just bursting into womanhood. The Master,
lijwever, was clearly asking her to yield up her life with all its earthly pros-
I^ecte to Him. When I spoke of readiness to go away, if necessary, at His call,
fehe answered : ** I'm willing to go or willing to stay just as He pleases. " What
produced this willingness ? Don't you think it was love's companionsliip? Love
tej^hes us we are not our own but His, redeemed with His precious blood.
Once more. Love teaches wt to give to others who come within the sphere of our
injfu^jtce all the helpfulness we can. Girls and boys who love their father and.
mother, brothers and sisters will help them and even deny themselves for their
?ake3. What will we not do for those we ardently love ? As some say, ** we
would run on the ice to serve them : " that is, we would run risks and greatly
ueny ourselves to do them good. What happier homes there would be if all
brothers and sisters were influenced by love's companionship to be kind, for-
giving and helpful. When the Saviour was a boy we are sure this was one
striking feature in His character ; and if we would be like Him we must think
much of others and help them all we c».n. ** Love is of God, and every one
that loveth is bom of God, and knoweth God." May we all have these choice
companions — faith, hope and love^with us each day of life, then life will be
sweeter and happier than it could otherwise be, and eternal life will be to us
* glorious reality.
THE BEST TREASURE.
A Sebmon to the Childkeln after a Communion Sabbath.
**He is precious." — 1 Peter ii. 7.
Last Sabbath, dear children, was our Communion Sabbath. Perhaps you
▼oold like to know why we keep this holy feast — why the table is spread, and
the bread and wine are handed from guest to guest. The text gives you the
403wer. We keep the feast in remembrance of Christ our Saviour and Lord.
336 PAGES FOR THE YOUNG
We keep it because He Is very precious to us, and because we do not want
ever to forget Him.
I might tell yon of many things which make Him precious to all who sit
down in the right spirit at His table. It is difficult to sum up His perfectiona
and His mercies ; they are like the sand on the seashore innumerable, fiut I
shall choose out only three.
I.
He is precious, because He gives us rest from the burden of our sin.
'* I saw in my dream," John Bunyan says, ** that, just as Christian came up
with the cross, his burden loosed from off his shoulders, and fell from off his
back, and began to tumble, and so continued to do till it came to the mouth of
the sepulchre, when it fell in, and I saw it no more." That burden under
which the poor pilgrim groaned was his sin. He had come to know how very
evil he had been, and how God was angry with him. He had an aching con-
science. He felt himself a guilty and heavy-laden roan. But the cress of
Chrisfb brought him deliverance ; his burden disappeared there ; neither ho
nor the dreamer who was watching him so earnestly saw it any more. That
is Bunyan's way of telling us that Jesus only, Jesus who died on the cross in*
stead of sinners, can free us from our load : from the burning memories and
bitter accusations and stinging reproaches that haunt us, from the wrath of
God that lies in front of us. The old Greeks had a fable about a river called
Lethe, the river of forgetfulness. They said that the dead were ali^ays trying
to find it out and to taste its waters, in order that they might forget their sin and
misery and might enter into rest. So you and I try in many ways to forget
our sin and misery. But it is no use until we come to Christ His blood is
the true Lethe, the fountain of forgetfulness, the river whose streams bring us
peace and make us glad.
No one has put this more sweetly than that good man whonn God took to
Himself a few days ago. Dr. Horatius Bonar. Some of you will remember hia
words ; I should like you all to know them.
'* I heard the voice of Jesus say,
* Come unto Me and rest,
Lay down, thou weary one, lay down
Thy head upon My breast.'
I came to Jesus as I was,
Weary and worn and sad ;
I found in Him a resting-place.
And He hath made me glad. "
Christ will be very precious to you, if He has freed you from the burden of
your sin.
II.
He is precious, too, because He is a Portion that satisfies our hearts.
It is wonderful, it is pitiful, with how many things men and women have
tried to fill their hearts. There was Eve ; she thought that the love of her
child would make her happy ; when Cain was born, she said, '* I have gotten
a man from the Lord." There was Lot ; he thought that there could be nothing
better than flocks and herds, and vineyards and oliveyards, and silver and
gold ; he chose him all the plain of Jordan, which was well watered every-
where. There was Solomon ; he fancied that to be wise and learned was to
find the secret of perfect blessedness. And there was the poor prodigal ; " My
heart will be bright and joyous," he told himscl(, '* if only I eat and drink and
PAGES FOR THE YOUNG. 337
be merry." Bat they were all disappointed — Eve and Lot and Solomon and
the foolish prodigal ; they were all aadly and terribly disappointed. They
foand no real and lasting pleasure in those things which they had chosen.
There was some speck within the garnered fruit that spoiled it all. There was
a little rift within the late that widened and grew until the music was wrecked
and destroyed. It is just a picture of how nothing on earth can satisfy our
hearts. The whole world itself oould not do it, if it were ours. ** The world
can never fill the heart of man," an old writer has said very quaintly and very
truly, ** because the heart is three-cornered and the world is round." There
will always be some comer unoccupied, you see, some place vacant and empty.
But Jesus can meet our largest desires. If it is wealth we want, He can make
u<; rich toward God. If it is knowledge. He can teach us the true wisdom. If
it iii happiness, He can give us the peace which passcth all understanding. If
it is love. His love is strong as death.
Shall we go on with Dr. Bonar's hymu ? —
" I heard the voice of Jesus say,
* Behold, I freely give
The living Mater ; thirsty one,
Stoop down, and drink, and live.'
I came to Jesus, and I drank
Of that life-giving stream ;
My thirst was quenched, my soul revived.
And now I live in Hira. "
Christ will indeed be precious to you, if you have found in Him so glorious a
Portion..
III.
He is precious, last of all, because He is the best G uide for our lives.
So long as we are in the world, we are walking through the midst of
rUngers. And the sad thing is that we are both ignorant and weak — so ignor-
ant that we do not know the way to take in order to escape the dangers ; so
weak that we are quite powerless to overcome them. We are like men climb-
ing the Alps, with their slippery glaciers, and treacherous crevasses, and dizzy
precipices, over which so many have stumbled to their destruction. Or we are
like travellers pushing through a tropical forest, such as that which Mr.
•Stanley and his companions crossed lately in the heart of Africa. What a
forest it was ! For 160 days they marched on, with the marshy ground under-
neath, with the great trees overhead, with wild beasts and wilder men dogging
their steps, with fever and dysentery playing havoc among them : for 160
<lays, until at last they came to the Grass-land, out of the shadows into the
nn, out of hanger and disease and unseen risks and horrible fears into a place
of plenty and beauty and rest. Equally perilous is our march. We need no-
thing so much as a sure and trusty Guide. And lo ! here is Jesus waiting to
give us direction. He will speak to us, if only we are willing to listen, through
the commandments and the promises of His Word, through the daily events
of oar lives, through the voice of His Holy Spirit within our hearts. He will
make us wise to understand where the dangers lie, and strong to conquer them
▼hen they meet us face to face. He will keep us from all harm. He will
lead us on and up, homeward and heavenward, by the right way, the way of
the Pilgrims ; and we shall reach the Celestial City at last.
This is what the closing verse of the hymn speaks about :
33^ LITERATURE.
" I heard the voice of Jeans say,
' I am this dark world's light ;
Look unto Me ; thy morn shall rise,
And all thy day be bright.'
I looked to Jesns, and I found
In Uim my Star, my Sun ;
And in that Light of life I'll walk
Till travelling days are done."
Dear children, if Christ have given you rest from your load of sin ; if He have
satisfied all the longings of your hearts ; if you have taken Him to be your
Leader and Guide through life and death and eternity ; yon understand His
value and His glory. He is your Dearest and your Best. Unto you which
believe He is precious.
^Citcraliirc.
The triumphs of modern Bcieuce seem the more marvelloua the more
intimately one becomes acquainted with them. They have opened
up a new world, lying round about us, which was unknown to our
fathers. They have put new meaning and emphasis upon that ques-
tion that has come "down forty centuries.*' " Who can by searchiDj?
find out God 1 Who can find out the Almighty unto perfection ? It
is high as heaven, what canst thou do ) It is deeper than hell, what
canst thou know) The measure thereof is longer than the earth and
broader than the sea.'* They have shown us not only the almost
illimitable vastness of God's universe, but they have unveiled wonders
in common objects around us and beneath us which previously lay
hid. They have opened our eyes to behold the wonders which God
has written in the page of nature. The history of the discovery of
some of these wonders, and of their application to the improvement
of the conditions of life, reads like a romance. With this interesting
and fruitful subject the first volume we tuke up, deals. It is entitled
Tales of Science, and is written by the Rev. J. G. MTherson, minister
of Ruthven. (James Gemmel, George IV. Bridge, Edinburgh, 1889.)
It consists of a series of popular scientific papers which were contri^
buted to some of the monthly magazines, and which, at the request
of friends — scientific and unscientific — the author has put together
in this more permanent form. He has done well in this, for the iu>
formation contained in the papers is most useful, and b imparted iu
language, free, as much as possible, from the hard technicalities that
prove, in scientific treatises, serious stumbling-blocks to the general
reader. It is mostly the revelations which one special department
of science — that connected with chemistry and meteorology — has
brought to light, that are described, but if the author receives ap-
proval for what he has already done he intends to continue his
work, and traverse other fields. It is impossible even to mention all
the matters touched on, and about which tlie results of the latest
LITERATURE. 339
Bcieutific investigations are clearly placed before us. A better way
to give an accurate idea of the volume will be to take one subject
and show how it is treated. Let us take what may seem at first
the unpromising one of "Dust and Fogs." The first piece of in-
formation given is that without the dust we sometimes feel to be
so troublesome there would be no mist, no cloud, and probably no
rain. " There would only be dew on the grass and road. In certain
conditions of the weather — when we now have rain — our bodies would
be always wet. Instead of the diligent housekeeper losing her temper
over the continually annoying dust in her rooms, she would be ten
times more worried at seeing the walls dripping and the floor always
wet ; for that would be the result of having no dust in the air." If
we have difficulty in believing this, a very simple experiment will
abundantly convince us. Let common air be forced through a filter
of cotton wool — in which all the dust particles will be retained — into
a glass receiver. Also let a glass receiver, filled with common air
that has not passed through any such filter, be placed beside it.
Then let both be connected with a boiler by means of pipes, and
steam allowed to pass into both, and '* a very strange sight will meet
the eye. In the vessel containing the common air the steam will be
seen, as soon as it enters, rising in a dense cloud : thus a beautiful
white foggy cloud will be formed, so dense, that it cannot be seen
through ; but in the vessel containing the filtered air the steam is
not seen at all ; the eyes may be strained but no appearance of steam
is to be detected ; there is not the slightest appearance of cloudiness,
though it is as full of water-vapour as the other receiver. In the one
cixse, where there was ordinary atmospheric dust, fog at once appeared ;
in the other case, where there was no dust in suspension, the air re-
mained clear, and destitute of fog. Invisible dust, theti, is necessary
in the air for the formation of fogs, clouds and rain." The fine
pj\rticle8 of dust in the air act as free-iurfaces^ on which the water-
vapour condenses into fog, and according to the proportion in which
thetie fine dubt-particlcs and the water-vapour exist in the atmosphere
will be the fog, light or heavy, or the falling mist and rain. Tlie
reason why fogs are so prevalent in our large towns is found in the
particles of burnt sulphur that are sent into the atmosphere from its
many chimnejs. The most active of all surfaces as a fog-producer is
this burnt sidphur, and the quantity sent into the atmosphere over
such a city as London is enormous. '* Seven and a half millions of
tons of coal are annually consumed in London. Now the avernge
amount of sulphur in English coal is IJ per cent. That would give
no less than 93,750 tons of sulphur burned every year in London fires.
If we consider that on an average twice the quantity of coal is there
consumed on a winter day that is consumed on a summer day, no
less than 347 tons of the products of the combustion of sulphur (in
extremely fine particles) are thrown into the London atmosphere
every winter day. This is an enormous quantity, quite sufficient to
account for the density of fogs in that city."
But even the fogs have their uses. " Would it be advisable to
340 LITERATURE.
diminish the escape of sulphur from the chimneys ] We must con-
sider the advantages of the presence of sulphur before we answer.
Now it is well known that sulphur has powerful deodorising and
antiseptic properties. It checks to a great extent the effects of the
death-laden and sickness-bearing germs, which are constantly exhal-
ing from the lungs, and sewers and lanes of the city. Deadly germs
are being vomited into the air from the pestilential hot-beds of the
lowest slums. If the sulphur were checked, these germs would have
more baneful influence. Better surely to bear the inconvenience of
fogs than be now and again subjected to the terrors of pestilence."
This is an outline of the manner in which one of the many themes
discussed in this volume, is treated. Many of the other chapters are
as full of interest and instruction. The uses to which the unsavoury
coal-tar is put, the latest being that of producing saccharine, a sub-
stance said to be 230 times sweeter than sugar, suggests to the author
a new application of Samson's ancient riddle. They who have dis-
covered this substance in coal-tar " might ask a riddle more para-
doxical than that of Sarason^s, * Out of the strong came forth sweet-
ness/ and none but he who had gone through the wearisome process,
could give the answer. 'What smells stronger than coal-tar, and
what tastes sweeter than saccharine V" In these pages we have a
definite idea given to us of the wondrous results which have been
reached in different directions by recent painstaking scientific inves-
tigation. God's works, looked at anew in the light of these investi-
gations, may well breed admiration in our hearts.
We are glad to find that a demand for the late Dr. Hugh Martin's
well-known work on Th^ Prophet Jonah, his Character and Mission to
Nineveh, has led to a new issue (James Gemmell, Edinburgh, 1889).
It has established its place as among the most suggestive commen-
taries on this interesting book of Scripture, and has proved very
helpful to many students. For a discussion of the critical questions
circling around the person, mission, and prophecy of Jonah, we must
go elsewhere ; but laying these aside one could not desire an ex-
ponent of Scripture with deeper insight and penetration or with more
power of forcible expression. The lessons taught us by Jonah's
character and work, with the results of it, are admirably and lucidly
stated. We notice with pleasure that a re-issue of his " Shadow of
Calvary " is to follow this, and we cordially wish both a wide circu-
lation.
The little booklet entitled Our Children for Christ has, it seems,
been out of print for some time, and in compliance with many urgent
requests, the author — the Rev. Samuel M'Naughton, M.A. — has had
it reprinted and issued (James GemmeU, Edinburgh, 1889). It was
highly commended in these pages when it first appeared, and we bid
it God-speed when again sent forth, *' as a messenger of truth to be
a guide to those who are desirous of knowing the true teaching of
Scripture on the subject of Baptism." The subject is a most im-
LITERATURE. 34I
portant one — the relatioa in which our children stand to the Church
and the covenant of God, and it is treated, by no means exhaustively,
but very ably and satisfactorily. The position, that the children of
professing Christian parents are entitled, by the divine law, to Church
membership is supported by a clear exhibition of Bible teaching on
this matter. It is shown that in every covenant God has entered
into with man the children have been embraced in it. The sign and
seal of the covenant — circumcision under the old, baptism under the
new^-ought to be administered to them. This is their right as em
braced in the covenant, and they who would deny it to them set aside
a divine law. As to the mode of baptism — which is the second main
subject discussed, but which really is very secondary — it is shown
that our practice of sprinkling is quite Scriptural. There is only
one thing we feel inclined to ask, — Is the phrase, admitted to the
membership of the Church by baptism, quite accurate as applied to
the children of believing parents f Is it not rather a recognition of
their standing within the visible Church, and a means of grace which
through the faith of the parents may bring rich blessings to them )
The preparation of a commentary on Exodus for the excellent
series of Handbooks for Bible Chsses (T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh,
1889) was entrusted to Dr. James Maogregor, late of the New College,
Edinburgh, and now of Omaru, New Zealand. It has recently been
issued, but cannot be spoken of so highly as some others in the series.
It does not fail in quantity, for it extends over two volumes, but in
quality it does come short. The Introduction contains a great deal
of interesting and important matter, but it is too diffuse and fails to
give a definite idea of the book and its contents. The critical ques-
tions which have been raised in connectioa with it, and which may
bring trouble even to students in Bible classes, are very much ignored.
The Commentary has its usefulness marred with the same diffuse-
ness and want of point. There is abundance of comments, and some
of them very interesting and valuable, but oftentimes the veiy
things on which we earnestly desire information are passed over very
lightly. The value of the work as a g^ide to the youthful wide-
awake inquiring student would have been much enhanced had it been
reduced in size, and greater attention paid to critical, historical and
geographical points.
This is an inventive age, and the newest thing out ever attracts
a good deal of attention. Some think that if we are not ahead of
the Athenians in the constant craving for some newer thing, we are
certainly ahead of them in the power of gratifying it. A new idea
has struck a probationer of the Church of Scotland, and it is, that
along with the certificates that are sometimes sent to vacant charges,
he might futuish them with some printed specimens of his handi-
work. As a result of this he has published a small volume of Ser-
moTu (James Gemmell, Edinburgh, 1889) in the hope that they may
fall into the hands of election committees of vacant charges and pave
z
342 LITERATURE.
the way for their seeking him aa their minister. He is quite willing
to preach a sermon on any text any Committee may prescribe to him
six clear days beforehand, and suggests this as a test that might
with advantage be applied more widely. A doubt crossed our mind
about his seriousness in all this, but an examination of the sermons
reveals no traces of the liveliness and wit we would associate with
one who was poking fun. The sermons have their good qualities, but
are by no means brilliant or very effective productions. It is next
to impossible to tell the author's exact theological standpoint from a
perusal of them, but perhaps this may be reckoned a virtue in some
quarters. The first discourse is on " Election," but whatever be his
theological belief on this well-worn theme, it does not appear from
beginning to end of it. ^The message he has to deliver from our
Lord's words, " No man can come to me except it were given him of
my Father," seems to be summed up in such words as these : '* To
the simplest and most untaught mind it must appear to be probable,
and to be expected, that if we do that which is well-pleasing unto
God we shall receive better of Him, to whom belongs all power in
heaven and in earth, than if we neglect and despise His ways and
precepts, and if we seek after Him we shall indeed find Him. God
is not unjust. To him that asketh it shall be given; he that seeketh
findeth ; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. All that we
are, and presently have, or ever can have, we must owe to God. And
no man can come to Christ except — but that, that also, be given him of
God, who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not." The young
probationer may advance to more definite opinions, but we do not
think that a new prophet has appeared in this volume.
The current number of the Presbyterian Revitw (T. <k T. Clark,
Edinburgh) contains some capital articles. The one on Dr. Shedd's
" Dogmatic Theology " is ably written, and cannot be read without
profit. What churchmen can say in defence of the connection be-
tween Church and St^te in England is well put by Canon Knox
Little in a paper that will command a wide and interested audience.
Dr. William Taylor's contribution on " The Heroic Spirit in the
Christian Ministry " is most excellent, bringing out a side of the
Gospel that is apt to be overlooked. A short account is given of the
proceedings both at the Synod of the English Presbyterian Church
at London in May last, and at the General Assembly of the Presby-
terian Church of the United States held recently in the City of New
York. It was the centennial meeting of the last Assembly, and as
with ourselves the question of the Church's relation to the West-
minster Confession is being discussed. Referring to the idea of re-
vising the Confession to meet the objections made to it, Dr. Briggs,
who furnishes the narrative, has these pertinent remarks among
others :
" What is the objection that these brethren have with the Westminster sym-
bols but their Calvinism ? They are either Semi-Arminians or else real Armini-
ans, and they desire to get the historical Calvinism out of the Standards, for it is
LITERATURE. 343
to this that they find it difficult to subscribe. In objection to this course of
procedure I would state : (1) That the statements of the Calvinistic system in
the Westminster symbols are the most cautious, firm, and carefully guarded
that can be found, and I would not trust any set of divines now living to
revise them or improve them. (2) Many of the objections to them — ^such, for
instance, as the charge of fcUaJism by the Cumberland Presbyterian Church —
are not valid as against the Standards themselves interpreted in their historic
tense, but only against certain scholastic text-books on theology that have
put a false construction upon them. These scholastic systems of theology
should be discarded, and the Westminster Standards should be studied
m their historic meaning. (3) Those who hold to the historic Calvinism
cannot consent to the removal of that Calvinism from our Standards. We
certainly cannot consent to the introduction of Arminian or even Semi-
Arminian, views into the Standards, as the Cumberland Presbyterian Church
has done in its revision. We cannot consent to omit all reference to
these great questions that have ever distinguished the Reformed Churches
from all others. We have never heard of any theologian who was able to give
a definition of these mooted questions in which the different parties can agree.
If we could attain such a statement the long strife would come to an end.
Bat it is vain to look for such a thing in this transitive period of theology."
It is also poiuted out that if the Standards be revised to suit the
Arminians, others such as the Premillenarians will put forward as
strong a claim on behalf of their doctrines. Dr. Briggs is in favour
of amending the formula of subscription rather than revision, though
as far as he is concerned personally he does not feel any need of
either.
A bundle of smaller books and pamphlets wait for notice, but we
can do little more than mention them. The sermons preached in
the Buccleuch Free Church of Edinburgh on the death of the late
esteemed Professor Smeaton, by the Rev. Robert Gordon and the
Rev. Professor Thomas Smith, have been published at the request of
the Kirk Session (T. & T. Clark, 38 George Street, Edinburgh,
1889). They contain along with an earnest exhibition of Gospel
truths, appreciative estimates of the character and work of the late
Professor. Like many others who have done eminent service in the
Church of Christ, he was, it seems, devoted to the Lord from his birth
by a pious mother. That mother, contrary to her own expectation,
and that of others, survived his birth, and in her heart consecrated
him to God, and resolved to train him for the work of the ministrv.
When, as he grew up, he came to know and understand this, he cordi-
ally acquiesced in it. The Scottish Reformation Society (17 George
lY. Bridge, Edinburgh) has issued a little pamphlet containing
half-a-dozen lectures on the popish question in relation to civil and
religious liberty. It has for its title " Protestant Freedom or Homish
Despotism" and when we mention that the Lectures are by such
men as the late Drs. Guthrie, Hetherington, Cunningham, Begg, and
by the veteran champion of Protestantism, Dr. Wylie, who is still in
Tigoor spared to us, the ability and thoroughness with which the
344 NOTES BY THE WAY.
various points taken up are discussed is guaranteed. While the
price is threepence, copies for distribution may be obtained at two
and sixpence per dozen. They who have the means could not use
them in a better way than in putting such a pamphlet into extensive
circulation. Dr. Marcus Dods' now almost historical paper read at
the last meeting of the Pan-Presbyterian Council is subjected to a
very trenchant criticism in the " Church and Scepticism" by the Rev.
James Scott, D.D., L.L.D., (James Gemmell, Edinburgh). The
whole view of revelation and inspiration that finds expression in this
paper and in other works, is searchingly examined aud its fatal defects
clearly pointed out. The booklet is a very seasonable one and worthy
of careful study. The Sabbath School Magazine issued by the Glasgow
Sabbath School Union (John M'Callum, 177 to 181 Buchanan Street,
Glasgow) holds on its way, and gives many admirable expositions of
the Scripture Lessons in the scheme adopted by the Union. In
'* Answers to Bible Questions for Mr, CuthherVs Sabbath Class,
Session 1888<89," a large amount of useful Bible instruction is im-
parted in a very interesting way. It is well fitted to give guidance
to those who are engaged in the important work of teaching large
Bible Classes.
fiotts iig ti)e QEag.
" A Protester *' has written to us, calling attention to a statement
made in last number, in our review of recent Synods and Assemblies,
asserting the right of the Church to revise her doctrinal symbols.
He does not, if we understand him, call in question this right in the
abstract — this would be to give humanly-constructed symbols domi-
nion over the Church — ^but he expresses the opinion that the history
of the Reformed Church of Scotland, and its historic relation to the
Westminster Confession of Faith, binds it to continued adherence to
this venerable aud valuable document forever without the liberty of
altering it in any way, or making any addition to it. He refers to
the Act of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1647
in which, according to him, the Confession was adopted " in its entirety^
(1) As the chief est point in that uniformity in religion which those
who had sworn and subscribed * The Solemn League and Covenant '
were bound to * endeavour.* (2) As most agreeable to the Word of
God, and in nothing contrary to the received doctrine, worship, discip-
line, and government of the Kirk of Scotland. (3) As a common
Confession of Faith for the three kingdoms." After this he I'efers to
various Acts of the Church of Scotland, aiid of the civil authorities,
reduplicating upon this, and then alludes to the fact that the Seces-
sion Church took up and maintained the covenanted platform, on
which the Church of Scotland took its stand at the era of the Second
Reformation. He thinks that in view of these facts we owe it to our
readers that we should place before them the grounds on which we
NOTES BY THE WAY. 345
base what he is pleased to call '' your claim of right to revise your
Church's Confession of Faith." We may say, in reply, that in face
of all these facts, of which ^* Protester " must not think that he
monopolises the knowledge, we abide by the sentiment already ex-
pressed in these pages. We will yield to no one in admiration of the
Westminster Standards, distinguished for their moderation, as well
as for their precision, their clearness and their comprehensiveness, but
we venture to think that to exalt them to a position of lordship over
the Church is rather a dangerous proceeding. Is it not the Protes-
tant principle that this pobitiou must be reserved for Christ alone
speaking through His inspired and infallible Word 1 If the Church
made the creed, surely it stands to reason that, if in the course cf
the Lord's leading and teaching it sees fit to alter it or to add to it,
it has a very sacred right to do so. It will not do to ignore the fact
that the Westminster Confession is not the only creed the Christian
Church has ever had, not even the only creed the Scottish Reformed
Church has ever had. There was a creed dear to the early Refor-
mers in Scotland, and which in their hands had accomplished much,
laid aside when the Westminster one was adopted. If the Church
had the right to do that then, why not now f My friend points to
legislation about the Westminster Confession, both on the part of the
ecclesiastical and civil authorities in Scotland at the time of the
Second Reformation and subsequently. The ideal sought in that
legislation was one Presbyterian Church for the three kingdoms with
this for its dociriual symbol, and the Covenants were designed to
further its realisation. This, indeed, was the express and avowed
object of the Solemn League and Covenant. We heartily acknow-
ledge the obligation still resting upon us to seek this ideal, and feel
that no grander one has since been devised to fire the hearts of
British Protestants. But "Protester" conveniently passes by the
fact that the Westn)inster Confession was accepted by the Church of
Scotland with certain qualifications, not without important bearing
on this very point at issue. It received the Confession as embodying
the same evangelical doctrine as was exhibited in its former symbol,
and was thus careful to preserve its own historic continuity. And it
guarded itself against a possible application of its teaching in rela-
tion to the duty of the civil magistrate circa mora, and asserted the
principle of the Church's spiritual independence. It is not then
quite in[accordance with historic fact to say, as ** Protester " does, that
it was accepted *^ in its entirety J* The Church in this Act did not put
itself in subjection to the Westminster Confession, but freely and
with some qualifications, cordially accepted it as substantially ex-
pressing its faith, and as a bond of union between the Churches of
England and Scotland. And all subsequent legislation is based upon
this Act. The formula of subscription which came into the Seces-
sion from the Church of Scotland looks back to it, and binds to the
acceptance of it as it was then "received and approved." It certainly
binds the Church to maintain the doctrines of the Confession in their
entirety, but to view it as binding it to the very letter of the Con-
34^ NOTES BY THE WAY.
fession, and depriving it of the right to make any alteration or
addition of any kind, is utterly to mistake the aims and objects of
our noble reforming ancestors. They were too wise and farnseeing
to do what " Protester " seema to think they did. But while
asserting the inherent right of the Church to revise its doctrinal
symbols, we need not repeat that modem movements which are
entirely away from the position of the Westminster Standards have
neither our approval nor our sympathy.
♦ ♦
Our esteemed contributor Mr. D. H. Fleming, St Andrews, has
been busy for some time preparing for the Scottish History Society
" The Register of the Kirk Session of St. Andrew*, 1559 —1600."
The first volume was issued in the spring and we had expected in
this issue a review of it from a competent hand, but it will not appear
until our next. The volume is the fruit of great and long-sustained
labour, and it has, as was anticipated, been very thoroughly and ably
done. One in the daily press speaks of it iu these terms :
'^The volume is somewhat late, but the time has been well spent,
since it has allowed the editor, Mr. David Hay Fleming, to take the
greater care in the collation of the proofs with the manuscript. The
Register is written in a foolscap folio of 300 leaves, and the penman-
ship is, of course, of the most varied kind. At the first blush, such
a reprint sugge ts only Dry-a^-iust and his kin. But there could be no
greater mistake. The volume is full of living interest from cover to
cover. It brings us, as no formal history can, into direct contact
with our ancestors at one of the most remarkable epochs of the
country's history. The time covered by the Register is the transition
period from the old faith to the new, after the one had gone down
like a house of cards, and before the other had fully entered upon its
heritage. The picture presented is a most remarkable one. We
have the spectacle of a rude and ignorant people, often licentious in
habits, and coarse iu language, but with such inherent respect for
law and order that they submitted to the most humiliating punish-
ments and to the most irksome restraints, imposed by a body which
hnd not even the sanction of antiquity to give weight to its decrees.
Kirk-sessions took cognisance of offences of the most varied kinds.
Their methods of dealing with breaches of the moral law are well
known, and the Session of St. Andrews, in these early days of the
Kirk, seems to have had its hands pretty full of cases of the kind.
The records also contain much curious information about the old
custom of handfasting ; much about dealings with Sabbath-breakers
and drunkards, with "fly ting" wives and stubborn Papists, with
w^itches, actors, and those who indulged in the wicked amusements of
" cairtis and dyce." Besides transcribing and editing the manuscript,
Mr. Fleming has contributed a most valuable preface and very full
notes."
Mr. Fleming is now busily engaged preparing the Second Volume,
which will ere long be issued.
*
NOTES BY THE WAY. 347
Principal Cairns was preacher at a recent celebration of the Ter-
Jubilee of the Border Seceders at Gateshaw Brae. His sermon was
based upon the words found in 1 Kings viii. 57, 58 — '' The Lord our
God be with us, as He was with our fathers : let Him not leave us
Dor forsake us, that He may incline our hearts unto Htm, to walk in
all His ways, and to keep His commandments, and His statutes, and
judgments, which He commanded our fathers." From the circum-
stances in which they were met, and from the history of the Secession
Church, he drew, first, a Usson of thankftUness. " The whole living
Church has reason for thankfulness in what was done by the Secession
fathers.
** The first reason for thankfulness is found in the banner which
they raised for pure and Scriptural Christian doctrine. In this part
of the country there had come to be a denial of the doctrine of the
Trinity. The fall was firat into Arianism, and then into Unitarianism.
There was also a denial of the doctrines of grace. Our fathers raised
a protest, and though they had no wish at that time to separate from
the Church of Scotland, they felt that there was no remedy but
in separation.
" The second reason for thankfulness is found in the stand which
they made on behalf of Christian discipline. They set up a standard
of purity of life in themselves which we would do well to follow.
*'The third and last reason for thankfulness is the service they
rendered to the Scriptural rights of the Church of Christ. There was
the system of patronage. But our fathers taught that all should have
equal rights in the election of ministers. They infused a largeness
into the society they founded that the Church might be, what she is
said to be, the freest society in the world.
''There were, then, three reasons for thankfulness in that they
sought truthy purity and liberty"
Another lesson was encouragement to Hope, "In 1736 Bishop
Butler wrote this sentence in the preface to his Analogy : ' It
is come, I know not how, to be taken for granted by many
persons, that Christianity is not so much a subject of inquiry,
but that it is now at length discovered to be fictitious.' Such
was the sad and depressing language of this bishop in England.
How gloomy and dark the prospect ! Methodism was beginning its
agonies of new birth, but had not had time to influence the country
largely. Our fathers in Scotland might have been pardoned if their
heart had failed them. Here was the twilight which seemed to
betoken the fall of total darkness. These were the circumstances in
which our fathers began. They had not a supply of Bibles such as
we have. There was no new book coming out from time to time
arousing thought and inquiry. Where were the writers of juvenile
hterature? Where was the Sabbath-school 1 The Sabbath-school
was not an institution in our country before the close of last
century.
** In spite of these discouragements our fathers worked away till
they saw the name of Christ again writ large in Scotland What do
we want? Faith. * According to your faith so be it unto you.'
348 ECCLESIASTICAL INTELLIGENCE.
Yet it is not according to any fixed proportion. For we read, ' How
should one cbase a thousand and two put ten thousand to flight.' '*
The last lesson was a call to prayer. " Solomon felt that all the
triumphs behind him were due to the presence of the God of Israel,
and that without that presence these triumphs would become de-
feats. What will avail if the God of salvation be not with us in such
sanctuaries as we can now rear, so different from those of our fathers t
All so-called refinements will not avail if we have not the dropped
mantle of prayer. Where is the Lord God of Elijah 1*'
(EcrlestaBtual Inttlligeiue.
SEMIJUBILEE OF REV. WILLIAM B. GARDINER'S
MINISTRY.
A few months ago the Original Secession Congregation of Pollokshaws
met — Mr. Robert Howie, preses, in the chair, when it was resolved
to celebrate the semi- Jubilee of their Minister's pastorate in some
befitting manner, and to present him with a testimonial as an
expression of their gratitude for his long-continued labours among
them, and his self-denying efforts for the benefit of the community
and the Church at large. A numerous and influential Committee
was appointed to superintend the arrangements and uplift sub-
scriptions, and the result has been most gratifying to all concerned.
Mr. Gardiner was ordained to the pastorsd office towards the end of
July 1S64, and it was resolved to have special services in the Church
on the last Sabbath of July, and a social meeting on the Tuesday
evening following. Accordingly on Sabbath the 28th July, the Rev.
Robert Morlou, Perth, preached in the forenoon from Ecclesiastes iii.
15, " God requireth that which is past." At the close of the dis-
course, Mr. Morton referred to the interesting occasion on which
they were met and made allusiou to Mr. Gardiner's ministry in
Pollokshaws and his manifold duties in connection with the Synod,
reminding the people of their responsibility and the need of diligently
improving the Gospel privileges enjoyed. Mr. Morton also preached
in the evening, from Acts iii., 13, " The God of our fathers." In the
afternoon Mr. Gardiner delivered a discourse from the words in Acts
XX., 20 and 24 verses. *' I kept back nothing that was profitable
unto you, but have showed you, and have taught you publicly, and
from house to house ... so that I might finish my course with joy,
and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to
testify the Gospel of the grace of God." At the conclusion of the
discourse, which was listened to by an audience which nearly filled
the church, Mr. Gardiner gave the fullowiug sketch of his ministry
in Pollokshaws : —
Before closing the services I will advert to the interestlDg circamstances in
which we meet together this day, and this I do with mingled feelings. For
ECCLESIASTICAL INTELLIGENCE. 349
the period of 25 years the Lord has been pleased to maintain unbroken the
relationship in which we stand to each other as pastor and people, and to per-
mit me, however unworthy, to carry on His work in this ;)ortion of the vine-
yard during that lengthened period; and surely, brethren, we have good
cause, when reviewing all His dealings with us as a congregation, to erect a
new stone of remembrance, and say with gladdened hearts " Hitherto hath
the Lord helped us." On Thursday, the 28t day of July, 1864, I was
solemnly set apart to the ministerial oflSce and the pastoral inspection of this
congregation by the Glasgow Presbytery, and of the eight ministers who took
part in the proceedings of that day only four now survive. My ministry was
commenced on the last Sabbath of that month, when I preached from the
words " Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech
you by us : we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God." The
language points out the honourable position occupied by the servant of Christ,
and the spirit and manner in which he is to discharge the duties of his office.
How far I have been able to act according to the high ideal of the Apostle
Paul, it is not for me to say : but this I can honestly affirm that during the
whole course of my ministry I have aimed at acting as the herald, the servant
and the ambassador of my heavenly Master, whose word I have endeavoured
faithfully to proclaim, whose commands and laws I have sought to make
known, and whose wonderful love and compassion for souls I have tried to dis-
close. The great aim of my ministerial labours has been to awaken in the oare-
leas a desire after Christ, to draw sinners to the Saviour, and to edify the
Lord's people — thus striving to extend and prosper the Kingdom of the Lord
Jesus Christ. In the discharge of my pulpit duties I have delivered no
fewer than 2,208 discourses on an almost endless variety of subjects, and have
tried to lead you into many of the " green pastures " of the word, where rest
and refreshment could be enjoyed, and where every one might have his portion
of meat in due season. Following the good custom prevailing in the Secession
Church in her best days, and still adopted by most of our ministers, I have
Qinally lectured consecutively on some selected portion of Scripture on the
morning of each Lord's day, and in this way I have conducted you through the
following portions of the Old Testament — ^the Book of Kehemiah, the Book of
Gather, the Book of Daniel, many of the Psalms, the opening chapters of the
Book of Proverbs, the lives of the Prophets Elijah and £lisha and the blessing
of the twelve tribes by the Patriarch Jacob : while in the New Testament I
have expounded the Gospel according to Mark, several chapters in the Gospel
according to John, the parables of our Lord and many of His miracles, tlie
moit of the Acts of the Apostles, the second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians,
the Epistles to the Ephesians and Philippians, the first Epistle to the Thes-
lalonians, the Epistle to the Hebrews, the first Epistle of Peter, the first
Epistle General of John, and several chapters in the Book of B«velation. The
nbjects taken up and discoursed on in the afternoon have been of a very
^ried kind, sometimes biographical and at other times historical : some days
purely doctrinal, and on other days more thoroughly practical. On every
occasion I have sought my message from the Lord and have delivered it in the
belief that it has been specially designed for some of my audience. In the
earlier years of my ministry, when a monthly evening service was conducted, I
gave a series of discourses bearing on the different parts of public worship,
lectured through the Book of Jonah, gave a number of sermons on the parable of
the Prodigal Son, took up a number of Scripture characters, and delivered an
annual Sabbath evening Sermon for the special benefit of the young.
35© ECCLESIASTICAL INTELLIGENCF.
In addition to all this I have given expository and practical lectures at the
Tuesday evening Prayer Meeting, beginning with the 1 19th Psalm and going
right on to the end of the Psalter, then the life of Jacob, the life of Moses
and the history of the Hebrew Commonwealth, the life of Joshua and the con-
quest of Canaan, the story of Ruth the Moabitess, the life of Samuel the Pro-
phet, the words of the Royal Preacher as contained in the Book of Elcclesiastes,
the prophecies of Zechariah, the writings of Malachi, the first Epistle of Paul
to the Corinthians, a portion of the General Epistle of James, the Prayer
Meetings mentioned in the New Testament, and the different questions of th«
Shorter Catechism in regular order.
Fully twelve years ago I considered it my duty to try and interest the
young in the services of the Sanctuary by preaching a brief sermon on a short
text once a month, specially designed for the children, and in this way I have
delivered no fewer than 150 short sermons addressed particularly to the
lambs of the flock.
Kow from this statement you will readily perceive that a considerable
portion of the Word of God has been expounded and brought to bear on the
heart and conscience during the past part of my ministry, and that much of
the precious seed of the Kingdom has been sown. And yet, although I have
been engaged in this work for a quarter of a century, how much of the sacred
volume still remains unexplored, and how much has still to be told concerning
the matchless love of God, the redeeming work of Chnst, the regenerating and
sanctifying operations of the Holy Spirit, the efficacious nature of Divine
grace, the sinner's wants, and the Saviour's remedy ? What long and patient
study ^i\X be required to consider, master, and intelligently expound what yet
remains of the Scriptures of Truth. Indeed in the lifetime of no minister can
the whole Word of God be overtaken, and hence the longer one lives, and the
greater variety of subjects he can bring before his people, the more he finds
still untouched in that wonderful Book which resembles an inexhaustible
mine, and a rich store-house of choice treasure which can never be emptied.
When I began my ministry here there were 142 names on the Communion
Roll — 134 of whom had signed ray call — and of the whole number only 32 are
now members with us in full communion, and these reside in 26 different hoase-
holds. A few of the original number left us to take up their residence in
other parts of the country, several emigrated to America and New Zealand,
but by far the greatest portion of those whose names have been deleted from
he roll have gone the way of all the earth.
At the commencement of my pastoral work, the Session consisted of 7
elders, and many pleasant and profitable meetings we had, for they were men
eminently qualified to advise, encourage, and assist a young minister. Of my
first session, only one now remains actively engaged in the duties of the elder-
ship. The first break in the session was occasioned by the death in August
1868, of Robert Biggar, a man whom every one esteemed and honoured, and
his removal was quickly followed by one after another within the succeeding S
years. While we greatly missed their counsel and co-operation, we cannot be
sufficiently thankful that the Lord has raised up others time after time to be
invested with office in His house and take the spiritual oversight of His
people. With my present Session it is a pleasure to be associated, for our
meetings verify the words of the Psalmist, "Behold, how good and how
pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.'*
The earliest list of managers in my possession contains the names of 10
ECCLESIASTICAL INTELLIGENCE. 35'
members, and of that namber only 3 continae their conoection with us, and
these are now members of Session.
As for the membership, it has to be said to the praise of the Lord that it has
increased greatly during my ministry, notwithstanding the numerous changes
that have taken place among the people constituting the congregation. To
the original 142 members on the Communion Roll, no fewer than 866 names
hare been added, making in all 1,008, but, oh ! what ravages have been made
by death, and what numbers have left us from time to time to seek more
Incrative employment in foreign lands. Then many have been obliged to
leave us through dalness of trade, and consequent removal to other parts of
our country, and not a few through marriage and otherwise ; while some it is
sad to say have lapsed, and have grown forgetful of their Ood and forsaken
of His Sanctuary. Still at the present time we have a Communion EoU
nombering 419 members, and for this we cannot be sufficiently grateful to the
great King and Head of Zion.
During the course of my pastorate I have administered the ordinance of
Baptism to 759 children and 33 adults, making a total of 792 who have been
baptized in connection with the congregation. The Sacrament of the Lord's
Supper has been dispensed 54 times, and on every occasion I have been enabled
to take part in dispensing that sacred ordinance.
The deaths that have occurred in connection with the families belonging to
the congregation number 401, and I have followed to the grave no fewer than
1,126 — the most of w^hom have found their last earthly resting place in the
two cemeteries within this parish.
Bible classes for young people of various ages and stages of advancement
have been conducted on a week night ever since I commenced my ministry,
and many hundreds of young persons connected with the congregation, and
many outside of it, have attended these classes, and, I trust, have derive<l
benefit therefrom.
A Literary Society for young men was in existence for a few sessions, and
was carried on with vigour and success ; but through the removal of some of its
members, and other causes, it came to a close and has not yet been resuscitated.
An Association for prayer and brotherly fellowship was commenced a few
years ago on Sabbath mornings with considerable zeal, and still continues to
flourish ; and this Association, I know, has been very helpful to not a few of
the young men, and must, under the Divine blessing, prove a valuable help to
the congregation — fostering habits of study and devotion of a most beneficial
kind.
A Temperance Society was organised a few years since, and was at first de-
signed for the members and adherents of the congregation exclusively. After
having a somewhat struggling existence for a time, it has latterly assumed the
form of a Band of Hope, and has been open to all comers. Although not
countenanced as I would like to see it by the members of the congregation,
it was in the height of its popularity last session, and I trust will long con-
tinue to prosper.
Oar Sabbath School was but meagrely attended 25 years ago, having about
10 teachers with comparatively few scholars ; but it has gradually grown into
a school of considerable dimensions, having at the present time about 40
teachers with about 250 scholars regularly receiving religious instruction.
These teachers are rendering valuable assistance in the religious training of
the young, and their self-denying service to the Church deserves to be thus
publicly acknowledged.
352 ECCLESIASTICAL INTELLIGENCE.
Due attention has been given to our Congregational Psalmody, and well-
attended classes have been taught, with considerable success, year after year
by those who have been appointed to lead our praises in the services of the
Sanctuary.
While carrying on the work of the congregation, the Session has not been
forgetfal of those outside the pale of the Church. For several years different
missionaries laboured in connection with the congregation, visiting the houses
of many in different localities, who were unconnected with any place of wor-
ship and conducting meetings in various places both on Sabbath evenings and on
^•eek nights'; and their efforts to promote the good of men and the welfar*^ of
the congregation were not without fruit of a satisfactory kind. Whi e no
agent has been employed for some time in this special work, the membc- < of
Session have for several winters carried on meetings in different districts and
their labours have proved highly beneficial.
The pastoral visitation of the congregation has been regularly attended to,
and the office-bearers have been careful .in visiting their respective districts
time after time, and in paying • special attention to the sick, the infirm, the
dying, and the bereaved.
Such is a brief outline of work attempted and accomplished by us as pastor,
elders and people daring the past quarter of a century, and at the close of it
all we would be found, amid all our unworthiness, cherishing a deep sense of
our dependence on God and hope in His mercy, remembering that '* Except
the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it ; except the Lord
keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain."
A feeling of deep gratitude should surely fill our minds and hearts this day
when we reflect on the past, and ours should be the resolution to give due
praise unto that God who has preserved, sustained and directed us, giving us
the ability and the willingness to do work for Him, and keeping us faithful in
our adherence to His truth and cause in these days of abounding formalism,
ecclesiastical laxity and widespread error. We are connected with a section
of the Church which took its rise in the Secession of 1733, when for conscience
sake the Fathers of the Secession left the Church of Scotland, believing that
loyalty to Christ and opposition to Erastian tyranny warranted them to separ-
ate themselves from a Church in which they had been trained and which they
loved so well. We adhere to the doctrinal standards, laws, and constitution
of the Church of Scotland in her purest days — and exhibit a Testimony for the
truths of Christ ; while by our Solemn Covenants we are pledged to seek the
overthrow of Popery, Prelacy, and all manner of evil in our land. At the
same time we are bound to promote union and religious uniformity among the
sound Protestants of Scotland, England and Ireland on the basis of the West-
minster Standards. We have distinctive principles, otherwise there would be
no occasion for separation from Christian brethren in other churches ; but our
principles being what we consider Scriptural cannot be pronounced peculiar.
The Church to which we have the honour to belong may be numerically small
and possessing but little influence in the country ; but we are greatly mistaken
if we do not find many yet associating themselves with us who have a regard
to the maintenance of the truth, the purity of worship, the welfare of this
covenanted land, the honour of Christ and the glory of God. The words of
the dying martyr Guthrie may soon be verified when " The covenants I the
covenants! shall yet be Scotland's reviving." Meanwhile let us abide at the
post of duty and earnestly and faithfully do the work to which the Lord calls
us ; and wliile He permits us to tarry here, let us look to the Lord Himself for
ECCLESIASTICAL INTELLIGENCE. 353
all needed grace and strength. And onto Him that is able to keep us from
falling, and to present us faultless before the presence of His glory with
exceeding joy ; to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty,
dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.
Oq Tuesday evening, 30th July, a social meeting was held in the
Church, when the building, which accommodates about 700, was
crowded to overflowing, and many who desired to be present failed
to procure admission. Mr. William Kyle, Session -clerk, occupied the
chair, and was supported by the Pastor of the congregation and
Messrs. Sproull, Arbuckle, Hart, Mitchell, Howie, Macfarlane,
Wilkie, Currie and Urie, elders. There were also on the platform the
Rev. John Robertson, Ayr ; Rev. John Ritchie, Shottsbum ; Rev.
Professor Aitken, M. A., Glasgow ; Rev. Professor Spence, Auchinleck;
Rev. Thomas Hobart, M.A., Carluke ; Rev. John M'Kay, Glasgow ;
Rev. John Sturrock, Ekiinbiurgh ; Rev. James Patrick, Carnoustie ;
Rev. Alexander Stirling, Arbroath ; Rev. Robert Morton, Perth ;
Rev. Andrew Miller, Kirkintilloch; Rev. Thomas Matthew, Kil-
winning; Rev. Alex. J. Yuill, Glasgow; Rev. Alex . Smellie, M.A.,
Stranraer ; Rev. Ebenezer Ritchie, Paisley ; Rev. G. R. Heugban,
U.P. Cburcb, Pollokshaws ; Rev. James Mackie, Eastwood ; Dr.
Sewell, Pollok Academy ; Ex-Provost Camerou, Treasurer M'Dougall,
Councillor Hall, and Mr. Dunlop, Clydesdale Bank. Messrs. S.
Walker, B. A., David Finlayson, and James Young, Probationers ; and
Mr. James Patrick, MA., B. Sc, Divinity Student, were also present.
The Rev. John Ritchie having asked a blessing, tea was speedily
served by a large staff of young people connected with the con-
gregation, and the company thereafter joined in singing the opening
verses of the 103rd Psalm. The Chairman gave an interesting
history of the Congregation from it-s formation, and then called on
Mr. Robert SprouU, senior elder, to make the presentation. In a
most felicitous address, Mr. Sproull referred to Mr. Gardiner's
ministry of 25 years, and then presented him with a cheque for £160
in name of numerous subscribers both in the Congregation and out-
side of it. Mr. Sproull also presented Mrs. Gardiner with a silver
salver bearing an appropriate inscription, along with a cake basket, a
biscuit-box, and two cruets. Mr. Gardiner replied in a suitable
manner, and heartily thanked the donors for their handsome gifts,
both to himself and his wife. Later on in the evening's proceedings,
the Chairman presented Mr. Gardiner with an illuminated address,
handsomely bound in morocco, and signed by the fourteen eldera
who constitute the Kirk-Session, while Mr. William J. Isbister of
Mains Street Congregation, Glasgow^ presented Mr. Gardiner with a
cheque for £15 in name of that Congregation for services rendered
during the illness of Professor Aitken. These additional gifts were
acknowledged in a feeling manner by Mr. Gardiner. The following
is the full text of the address " To the Reverend William Bisset
Gardiner, Minister of the Original Secession Congregation, Pollok-
shaws.
" Dear Sir : — As you have ncv in the good providence of God completed the
354 ECCLESIASTICAL INTELLIGENCE.
twenty-fifth year of your pastorate of this Congregation, we, as Office-bearen
and representatives of the members and adherents, heartily congratulate yon
on the occasion, and express our high appreciation of your ministry, and the
warm affection and esteem we have for yon personally. We are deeply sensible
of the kindness and Christian courtesy so characteristic of all your intercoone
with us, individually, and in connection with our various agencies, and im-
pressed with the sympathy you always manifest with every earnest effort to
further the spiritual and temporal interests of the Congregation.
" Especially do we value your services in the cause of moral and intel-
lectual progress, and particularly yoar labours in the religious instmction of
the young of your charge, and those in the Schools under the Board of which
you are a member.
'* Your method of conducting public worship commends itself to oar sense
of propriety. Your lucid and fervent discourses so instruct, encourage and
comfort us in the truth, that we feel them to be the production of one with s
mind and heart desirous to minister to the spiritual necessities of bis heaiers.
Whilst your pulpit ministrations are eminently practical, we rejoice that
your great theme is the Gospel, * Jesus Christ and Him crucified.'
'* We also testify that yon have borne faithful witness to the principles
which are distinctive of that section of the Reformed and Covenanted Church
of Scotland, with which we are connected.
*' And as you have been called to prominent service in the Courts of oar
Denomination, may the living and exalted Redeemer, the great Head of the
Church, give you His Holy Spirit increasingly and in rich measure as the
Spirit of wisdom and understanding, so that you may be guided and strength-
ened in the discharge of all your onerous duties of a public kind, besides those
of a minister of the Gospel.
<*That the rich lx)unties of Providence and the richer blessings of the
Saviour's grace may rest and abide on you and your family, and that yon all
may long enjoy the society and mutual love of each other, is our earnest
prayer.
" Sitting under your faithful ministry, enjoying its benign influence, and
being associated together for the maintenance of Christ's cause and extension
of His Kingdom, we regard as privileges which cannot be too highly valued.
" May the Lord grant that your spirit may be often refreshed with seeing
the fruits of your abundant labours, that the pastoral tie which binds yoa
and us together may be firmer than ever, and that minister and people may
be knit together in love, in the unity of the Spirit, and in the bond of peace."
Pollokshaws, 30th July, 1889.
Interesting and appropriate addresses were delivered by the Rev.
John Robertson, Rev. Professor Aitken, Rev. James Patrick, Rev.
John Sturrock, Rev. Thomas Hobart, Rev. Robert Morton, Rev.
Alexander Smellie, and Rev. George R Heughan. Mr. Andrew
Macfarlane read a statement showing the financial condition of the
Congregation, past and present. The singing class, under the
leadership of Mr. Walter Roy, precentor, rendered some pieces of
music, which tended to enliven the meeting. Votes of thanks to
the speakers, Committee, Singing class and Chairman were enthusi-
astically given on the proposal of Dr. Sewell, Ex-Provost Cameron,
Councillor Hall, and Mr. Dunlop. The meeting, " one of the most
memorable that has been held in Pollokshaws for many years," was
OBITUARY. 355
closed with the singing of Psalm 133rd, and tbe Benediction pro-
nounced by the Rev. James Mackie, assistant minister of Eastwood.
Close op the Hall. — The current session of the Hall was closed on
tbe 30th of July last. Besides the professors, students and members
of tbe Hall Committee, a number of other brethren were present at the
closing services. The Rev. John Robertson opened the public meet-
ing with prayer. The professors reported that the students had
been regular in their attendance, diligent in their studies, and that
they bad performed all the prescribed exercises in a highly creditable
manner. It was reported that Mr. James Young, who had finished
his fourth session, was to be licensed at the close of the Hall services.
As Mr. James Patrick had finished his third session, the Perth and
Aberdeen Presbytery was requested to prescribe trials to him for
licence, with the view of having the public part of them over before
the next meeting of the Hall. The Rev. Thomas Hobart delivered
the valedictory address. On the motion of Mr. Gardiner, Mr. Hobart
received a vote of thanks for his able address. The Rev. Peter
MTicar, Moderator of Synod, closed the meeting with prayer.
Intimation. — Intimation is hereby given to all students in Divinity
or Arts, under the inspection of the Synod, that the usual competi-
tion in bursaries will be held in Mains Street Church, Glasgow, on
Tuesday the 15th Oct. next, at eleven o'clock. "The History of the
Kingdom of God as recorded in the Bible from the death of Saul till
the captivity of Judah," is the subject on which competitors will be
exaraiued. Writing materials supplied. Intending competitors who
have not already done so, are requested to send in their names to>
Rev. Thomas Hobart, Carluke, on or before the I2th Oct.
Thomas Hobart, Convener,
MR. WILLIAM M*CONAGHY, TOBERDONEY.
It has been omitted to record the death of this most faithful elder ;
and, as many of his friends who knew him, both in Scotland and in
Ireland, may not have heard of his decease, it is thought fitting here
to mention his death, and at the same time bear testimony to his
honourable life and character. While writing of his many good
qualities, we confess ourselves indebted to the testimonies of many
who knew him.
Turning to his early days, we find that he was brought up in an.
abode of piety, and trained in good religious principles and habits.
His mother appears to have been a very pious woman, of fragrant
memory ; and^ as often happens, a good mother had a good son.
Coming further on, we find him as a young man taking an active in-
terest in all religious matters. In his case, early training and early
piety led to early usefulness. Nowadays, many of our young men
seem afraid to identify themselves with Christ in any public manner,
altogether forgetting the promise: "Them that honour Me, I will
honour." Not so with Mr. M*Conaghy. He early became a member
of the Church j and, when a young man of 20 years, he seems to
356 OBITUARY.
have formed the good habit of attending the district societieB or
prayer meetings, and to have taken a prominent part in all the ex-
ercises. This he continued to do, being present at the very last
meeting of the Toberdoney society that was held before his death.
It was in this society that the departed was seen at his best. Being
a man of strong intellectual powers, he derived great delight and
benefit from the discussion of the hard theological problems that
sometimes came before the society. Here we might mention what
was a peculiar feature in Mr. M*Conaghy's character. While con-
versing on doctrinal points, he invariably made use of what may be
called the Socratic method. In other words, he obtained and im-
parted his knowledge, through the putting of questions. Nor was
the deceased's interest in the affairs of the Church of Christ confined
to society meeting. For we find him acting as a member of the
Congregational Committee as far back as 1837 ; and on the Uth
Feb. 1842, he was ordained to the office of elder, along with his
brother Robert, and Mr. James Colvin. In both of these ofiices he
acquitted himself to the satisfaction of all with whom he had to deal.
The deceased elder took a keen interest in the welfare of the
Secession Church, and never more so than on the occasion of the
Disruption of Synod. At that time the minister and a minority of
the congregation joined the Free Church of Scotland, and claimed
the church buildings. After a long and expensive lawsuit, engaged
in by Mr. M'Conaghy and his brethren in office, they got possession
of their meeting-house, to be used for the maintenance of the
Secession testimony in behalf of the Covenanted Reformation in
Britain and Ireland. Never should the members of Toberdoney Con-
gregation forget the memory of those men who freely and willingly gave
up their time, labour and means, in the interests of the Congregation.
Mr. M'Conaghy's private life was the life of the godly man. Need-
less is it for us to say that he truly loved Zion, and partook regularly
of Zion's provision. On the last occasion that he attended ordinances,
he was so weak that he had to rest two or three times during the
short walk from his place of residence to the meeting-house. How
zealously he performed his duties as the priest of the family, may be
seen from the fact that he regularly conducted family worship up
to,, and on the night of his death. And we can see what was the
habitual frame of his mind, and how he was ripening for glory-land,
from this other touching little incident. On the last evening of his
life, as he was taking tea with his family, he put the 37th question
of the Shorter Catechism to one of his daughters. On her answering
— " The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness,
and do immediately pass into glory ; and their bodies, being still un-
ited to Christ, do rest in their graves till the resurrection " — he said,
" Will that be long 1 " referring to his own death. On that evening,
the 9th of August, 1888, he died in peace, at the age of 78. As he
had lived the life of the righteous, he died the death of the righteous.
Erratum — In May number, page 170, line 27 from top, for Louden
read London.
THE
ORIGINAL SECESSION MAGAZINE
NOVEMBER, 1889.
WORDS FOR THE CHRISTIAN LIFK
I. — ABOUT THK CONSOIxATIONS OF GOD.
'* Are the consolations of God small with thee ? *' — Job xv. 10.
KuPHAZy who asked this questioD, was the oldest and the wisest of
the three friends of Job. He spoke more thoughtfully and more
considerately than either Bildad or Zophar did. Bui his spirit was
hot within him too. He wondered why Job should liave derided fso
contemptuously the opinions of those who were anxious to counsel
and direct him, and why he should have claimed with such confidence
to be the possessor of a higher wisdom than they. He wondered still
more at the irreverence and the impiety, for so he reckoned them, of
Job's beliefs and language. He and his companions had been trying
to prove to him that God's providence must and did, even in this
present life, measure out to every man the due reward of his deeds,
good to the good, and evil to the evil ; and that, as Job was suffering
the punishment proper to guilt, he must of necessity be chargeable
with sin, which might be hidden from men, but which was well-
known to God. But in his replies to them Job had called their
^ument in question, and had passionately denied the inference they
drew from it^ asserting his perfect innocence of all the charges which
they insinuated against him. They could not understand this ; they
were deeply hurt ; they thought themselves most unworthily treated.
And when Eliphaz begins to speak afresh, he gives utterance to the
feelings that rankled in his own breast and in those of his two
associates. He rebukes Job's disregard of them, and his assumption
of superior knowledge, and his irreverent thoughts and words. Was
he the Adam of the race, the first-bom of men, that he should be en-
NO. VI. YOU XIX. 2 B NEW SERIES.
362 WORDS FOR THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.
dowed with transcendent wisdom ? Had he a place in the ooancils
of God, where he could listen to the secrets of the Almighty t Wan
he better than the fathers, the sages, who had gone before himt
And were the consolations of God too small for him, beneath his
deserts and notice : those assurances which they had been giving him
in the name of the Lord, ever since they came to see him in his
desolateness and misery : those admonitions which were comforting
words to all who received them in the right spirit, and which had
surely been conveyed to him with temperance and gentleness 1 So
£liphaz plied the poor sorrow-strickea Job with sharp questions,
speaking to the hurt of one whom God had wounded.
" The consolations of Crod." Job did stand in need of them ; he
would not have despised them ; they were what he wanted most of
all in his time of trouble and deep distress. There had been a period
in his history when he had not thought much of God as the Con-
soler, the Comforter, the Binder-up of broken hearts, the Helper of
the weary. He had been rich and increased with goods — the richest
man in all the East. He was righteous and godly. It was his joy to
serve the Lord, and to succour needy men. He delivered the poor
that cried and the fatherless ; the blessing of him that was ready to
perish came upon him, and he caused the widow's heart to leap for
joy. Then he had thought of God as his glorious Master, who gave
him gi'eat tasks to do, and for whom it became him to labour with his
whole heart. Then it had been a delight to him to be active and
diligent in obeying God, and a pleasure to lay down all his possessions
on His altar. His feet had gone readily wherever the Lord had sent
him ; his hands had ministered generously to those whom God had
bidden him consider and relieve. But everything was utterly changed
now. He was a man stricken and afflicted. He had lost his money,
his children, his health. His friends rebuked him, and the yery out-
casts disdained him, and the little children laughed and mocked at
him. His own heart tempted him, and it was hard for him to put
away resolutely and determinedly the idea that God was unjust and
tyrannical and pitiless in His dealings towards him. Yes, what Job
required more than anything else was the strong and tender consola-
tion of the Lord his God : not to think of Him any more in the mean-
time as the great and gracious Prince and Ruler and Sovereign, but
as the Comforter of the sorrowful, and the Physician of the sick, and
the Father who pities His children when they are in trouble. But
those " consolations of God," which his friends had imparted, were
not such as could do him good. They had promised him deliverance
from his misery and restoration to happiness, if he should first con-
fess and renounce his great and inexcusable guilt. They did not
WORDS FOR THE CHRISTIAN LIF£. 363
understand that the Lord may chasten those whom He loves for their
profit — ^those who are not His enemies at all but His dearest friends.
And 80 their words had failed to touch and soothe and strengthen the
sad-hearted man.
There is none of us, I suppose, who does not need the consolations
of God. We have all our distresses, of body or of mind or of spirit :
those which arise from within ourselves, or those which are caused by
the sins and sorrows of others : those of which it is possible for us to
speak to oar neighbours, and those which cannot be uttered to any-
one, the " deeper griefs," the " tears which at the fountain freeze."
if there be any class amongst us that might be pronounced free from
care and pain, it would be the children. But I have no doubt that
even they have their trials which are very real to them. And thus
we must all be glad to think that God is not only the God of the
happy and the strong, who can do great things for Him, and who
walk at liberty in the path of His commandments, but the God of
patience and consolation, the Lord so mighty and so tender who
healeth our diseases, and forgiveth our iniquities, and redeemcth our
life from destruction, and removeth our transgressions from us as far
as the East is from the West. It is just as if a traveller, who has
been moving all day through pleasant scenery and under the brightest
skies, should be overtaken at nightfall, when he is about to enter on
a dangerous part of the road, by a storm of wind and rain. How
much he is rejoiced if, at the critical moment, a friendly door is
opened to him, and he is taken in from the tempest to cheerfulness
and wanutb and safety ! God is that door to all who are in trouble,
an open door which no man can shut : a very present help in the
time of need. Yet we find it hard to believe that He is so. We
faint in the day of adversity ; and His song is not with us in the
prison and the night. We imagine that no one has ever been tried
as we are tried, that we are forsaken by the Lord, that all these
things are against us. And so it may do us good to think of some of
His consolations : consolations more true and helpful than those of
which Job's friends reminded him, and which ought not to be small
with us.
The difficulty is to know where to begin and where to end — the
comforts of the Lord are so many ; like the sand which is on the sep-
Bbore innumerable. I can only point you to a few of them, and one
or two sentences about each of these must suffice. The others that I
leave untouched you must call to memory for yourselves.
364 WORDS FOR THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.
L
Are the consolations of God small with thee? Hast thou for-
gotten His name ?
The names of God are the revelation of His character, some of the
more awful side of His character, otherar of the brighter and more
winning side, ail of them disclosures of His excellent glory and per-
fection ; through His names we read His inmost soul, His surpassing
beauty. His infinite majesty. And this is the name by which He
loves most to make Himself known : Father, our Father in Heaven.
The child of an earthly father, who deserves in any measure that
blessed title, knows the meaning of the word. To him it means for
one thing a strong arm, and for another a tender and considerate
heart. He can trust his father's power and his father's love, even
when the difficulties in his path look to him overwhelming, and even
when the father's dealings are dark and sore to his young flesh and
blood. He will almost question his own existence, before he will
doubt the strength and the mercifulness of one who bears such a
sweet and glorious name. But the child of God has a Father greater
in power and more wonderful in love. Nothing can stand before
Him : no enemy, no obstacle, no darkness, no sorrow, no sin.
Nothing can exceed His sympathy and His grace ; the truest father-
liness prompts His treatment of everyone of His sons and daughters.
Art thou unmindful of this, thou whose strength is small in adversity,
thou whose heart is utterly downcast and broken? Host thou
ceased to remember the name, so musical, so pregnant, so comforting,
which thy God bears 1 Art thou a child in the family, and yet art
dubious and uncertain about the might and the mercy of thy Father 1
Surely these things ought not so to be.
II.
But I have another enquiry to make. Dost thou believe in God's
knowledge of thee 1
He could not be God unless He were possessed of a knowledge both
universal and particular ; as wide in extent as the universe, and yet
singling out each man and woman and child ; embracing all things
in heaven and earth and hell within its grasp and sweep, and yet
knowing every one of us by name, and the enemies we battle with,
and the troubles that afflict our souls. There are two ways in which
you can look out on the world of nature. You may station yourself
on some lofty hill, and take in a great expanse : the green fields, and
the dark woods, and the river running through the meadows, and the
WORDS FOR THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. 365
sea to which it is making its way. Or you may select some little
comer, as a recent naturalist has told us we must do if we are to
understand rightly the wonders of the world, and you may examine
every insect and flower and blade of grass, until you have grown
perfectly familiar with them and with all their beauty. God does
both. He has the knowledge that includes in its province the world
and hfe and death, things present and things to come ; but He has
the other knowledge too which takes note of eveiy separate heart,
every separate life, the burden that each carries, the crook in the lot
of the youngest and weakest of us all. Not a sparrow falls to the
ground without His being well aware of it, and much more is He
afflicted in the affliction of His children. There should be consolation
in that thought — the thought that our distress is not overlooked by
God ; that He is conversant with everything that vexes and grieves
us; that we do not bear our load without His understanding its
exact weight, and the precise nature of the trouble which it occasions,
and the weariness which comes over us sometimes as we bow to the
yoke. Hast thou forgotten this, 0 my soul, when thou art so cast
down and disquieted within me ?
III.
And there is far more than that. Art thou putting out of sight
this strange and blessed truth that thy God has a personal experience
of thy pains and griefs 1
His acquaintance with them is not that of One who scrutinizes
them from the outside ; He has passed throngi) them. Let us con
aider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Jesus Christ.
He was tried in all points as we are, with this diffei'ence only,
that His trials were many times severer in their intensity. Hunger
and thirst and homelessness ; poverty and hardship ; the misunder-
standing of friends, the hostility of foes, the sorrow that bereavement
hrings, the anguish of being i*ejected by those whom one is trying to
help and save, the dark, dark night when the love of God itself cannot
be felt : He was familiar with them all, He understood them all.
And He was one with God ; He was God ; God knew and experienced
whatever He knew and experienced : Father and Son are so closely
and mysteriously united that the One rejoices with the Other in His
joy, and weeps with the Other in His pain and woe. Jesus, then,
bore our griefs and carried our sicknesses : Jesus, whose thoughts are
God's thoughts and whose ways are God's ways; and thus God
Himself has been in our wildernesses before we set foot on the
barren rocks and burning sands. You must know, many of you,
366 WORDS FOR THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.
those very touching lines in which Cowper compares himself to a
stricken deer that had left the herd, mortally wounded by the cruel
Huntsmen, and seeking only some quiet shadow where he might die
in peace ; but there, he says, " there was I found by One who had
Himself been hurt by the archers ; in His side He bore, and in His
hands and feet the cruel scars " — One who drew forth the darts, and
healed, and bade him live. There should be strong consolation here,
in the remembrance that our God is not only the ever-blessed God,
in whose presence is fulness of joy, and at whose right hand are
pleasures for evermore, but the God who was tempted as we are,
tossed with tempest, afflicted and not comforted. Art thou unmindful
of Gethsemane and Calvary ? Does it not quiet thy fevered heart to
feel that thou art not alone : that God is with thee even in the mid-
night and the storm, able to succour thee, because He understands
thy needs so well, because He has drunk to its dregs thy bitter cup ?
IV.
But why should His consolations be small with thee 1 Hast thou
considered His past dealings with others and with thyself) Hast
thou not learned the comfortable lessons these are fitted to teach ?
History — the history of Christian men and women from the be-
ginning— is one of the books in which we are meant to read the
character and grace of God. He has revealed Himself not only in
the world outside, nor yet exclusively in the law and the Gospel, but
in the careers and lives of His people through all time. They have
been written for our admonition and for our encouragement too.
And what do w^e find inscribed in these living epistles 1 Why, the
record is for the most part a record of trouble followed by deliverance,
of storm succeeded by calm, of sorrow swallowed up in joy. We
fancy that no one has ever been so tried as we are ; we count our-
selves the most grievously afflicted among the children of men. Let
us cast our eyes back over the past, and we shall be disabused of the
notion. The people of God have never lived an easy life ; the Chiuxsh
has always been an anvil smitten by the hammer; the bush has
burned on age after age. Often the tempest was terrible in its
violence. " They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were
tempted, were slain with the sword; they wandered about in sheep-
skins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented."- That is
the one side ; but there is another and a different one. Their sorest
distresses were blessed to them. Their God sustained them under
them, and brought them out from them wiser and holier. '' Through
faith they stopped the mouths of lions^ quenched the violence of fire,
WORDS FOR THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. 367
escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong,
waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens."
They would not have missed their most painful experiences for the
wealth of the world : they found out then hetter than at any other
time the power and the mercy of God. And all this is told us for
onr leamiug, that we may have patience and comfort and hope when
our hearts are in perplexity. Yes, and surely our own history has a
similar message for us, if we will hut consider it. God has hrought
you and me out of six troubles, and He will not fail us in the seventh.
He has before now led us to be thankful for our heaviest crosses.
He has more than once shown us the incalculable value of His discip-
line of our souls. Hast thou lost sight of this, 0 weary and desponding
heart] Dost thou not believe in the God who has been a safe strong-
hold to all His people, though their distresses were greater than
thine, and who has already done thee good in the furnace ? Bless
Him, and forget not all His benefits.
V.
I ask you to go on to another point. Assuredly God's consolations
ought not to be small with thee : He speaks to thee, and thou may est
speak with Him.
He has glorious words, words great and precious, for thee : the
words we call His promises. They meet every necessity in which we
can be placed ; they are a medicine for every sickness ; they are a
rod and a staff in all our times of frailty and fear. Over against
each of our troubles God has put one of His good and comfortable
words, and if we look for the special promise that suits our case we
shall find it without fail; **His gracious thoughts to us- ward far
above all thoughts are gone." The Bible is like the midnight sky
studded with all the stars ; just as bright and cheering and number-
less are its assurances of peace and not of evil. A good writer of
to-day teUs us that he walked out once in the dark with his little
daughter, and she said to him that she was going to count the stars ;
and by-and-bye he heard the child whispering, '* Two hundred and
twenty-one, two hundred and twenty-two, two hundred and twenty-
three." But soon the confession came : " Father, I never thought
tbey were so many," and the brave effort was given up in despair.
Just as impossible would any attempt of ours be to count the promises
of God ; they are beyond our reckoning ; they are meant to conquer
and heal our manifold necessities. And if He speaks to uS so graci-
ously, we can speak to If im in return, crying out of our depths. We
can take His words and make them our words, pleading for the f uh
368 WORDS FOR THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.
filment of His own declarations, asking Him for evidence of their
truth that our souls will not be able to gainsay nor resist. We can
do what Luther tells us the Syrophenician mother did with Christ ;
we can " snare '' God in the meshes of His promises : God who is
infinitely willing to be thus snared and captured. He will not
repudiate His engagements ; nothing pleases Him more than our
seizing fast hold of them, and resting on them utterly, and looking
for their performance. So, because He speaks to thee and thou
canst speak with Him, thou hast much comfort, and His consolations
should not be small with thee.
VI.
I have not done yet. Why lose heai-t and hope 1 He sends no
trouble on thee without sending many alleviations along with it.
The cloud has always a silver lining ; in the gloomiest night some
star appears.
'* No darkness is so deep, but white
Wings of the angels through can pierce ;
Nor any chain such heaps lies in
But God's own hand can hold it light ;
Nor is there any flame so fierce
But Christ Himself can stand therein."
Shall we think of some of these streams in the hot and dreary
wilderness, some of God's methods of lightening our distresses ? " He
giveth His beloved sleep," the Psalm says ; and how much the quiet
rest of sleep does for the sick body and the troubled mind ! To get
rid of the consciousness of the burden for a few hours every night, to
awaken refreshed and more cheerful, to feel that all the time we
were steeped in forgetf ulness God sat by us and watched and con-
sidered what would be for our good — the God to whom darkness and
light are both alike, who keepeth Israel and neither slumbers nor
sleeps : have we ever been sufficiently thankful for this alleviation of
our sorrows ? Or, suppose that we are distressed on account of the
indifference and sin of others, of someone whom we are anxious to
lead to the gate of the kingdom. Well, but he is not always so careless,
or so satisfied with the world, or so hot and hssij in his pursuit of
unholiness. He has moments, they come to every man, when his
soul is impressed by higher things, and there is a far-away look in
his eyes, and we see. that he is willing to listen to the truth of God
which brings life and peace. That is an opportunity our Lord has
sent us ; He has given us this chance of accomplishing that on which
our hearts have been set so long and so earnestly ; if we take ad-
WORDS FOR THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. 369
vantage of it, it is impossible to tell what we may do through Christ
who gtrengtheneth us. That is another of God's alleviatious. And
then there is the sympathy of true and loving friends, those who
understand something of God's secret, those whom He has comforted
in their own tribulations that they may be able to comfort them who
are in any trouble. £liphaz and Bildad and Zophar, who spoke to
Job's hurt rather than to his healing, may have their representatives
still; but the world is full of Christians of a different stamp, tender-
hearted, bearing one another's burdens and so fulfilling the law of
Christ It helps us to have the grasp of their hand, and to listen to
their words, however falteringly they may be spoken, and to kneel
down with them in united and fervent prayer. These are but
samples of the way in which God relieves the distresses of His
people. He suffers none of them to be banished to the blackness of
dwkness. And if this be so, why shouldest thou write bitter things
against Him 1
VII.
Let me turn to one other consideration. Hast thou learned the
end which God has set before Him in afflicting thee, the purpose
which He wishes to fulfil )
It is a twofold end. He means to do thee good, and He means to
glorify Himself in the eyes of the world. It may be difficult for His
people to believe that He is planning and bringing about their good
when He compels them to pass through fire and frost, " the rock-
waste and the river " — difficult in the extreme. Or, if they do be-
lieve it^ they fancy that the lessons mastered in the school of sorrow,
and the results gained, and the harvest reaped, will only be imder-
stood in eternity, when the present life is over and done, in that
future world which seems so distant from the world where tliey live
and move. But God's intention is that their blessedness should be
promoted and enlarged, and that the glorious purpose should be
achieved on this side of the grave and before heaven is reached and
entered. He means trouble to rescue us from the undue love of
earthly things, and to teach us to seek our all in Him, and to chasten
us into meekness, and to make us more holy and therefore more
happy ; He means it to fulfil a hundred gracious ends in our experi-
ence. If we cherished a simpler trust in Him and His wisdom and
love, we should glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation
worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope ; aud
hope maketh not ashamed. And then, through the crosses of His
people, God's glory is to be spread abroad in the world. He desires
that men and women, who care for none of these things, should see
3/0 WORDS FOR THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.
how He supports us in our trials and makes His grace sufficient for
us, how He keeps us cheerful in the midst of distresses that would
crush them to the earth, how He gives us the victory over every
enemy and evil : should see this, and be impressed, and be led to
glorify our Father who is in heaven. If that end is to be gained,
He must not afflict us above what we are able to bear ; His hand
must not be laid so heavily on us that the world will find in us
thqse who are heart-broken and hopeless ; we have a guarantee and
assurance here that our God will chasten us in measure and not
unduly. But, if we are to advance His honour, a duty is imposed on
us too — ^the duty of watching against querulousness and unbelief and
murmuring, of receiving well whatever He may send. It would ill
become us to give the world a wrong idea of Him, to picture Him as
a hard taskmaster, to bring up a false report of His good land. In
joy and in sorrow, at noonday and at midnight, in life and in death,
let us magnify Him before men. If thou wouldst but remember, 0
my soul, the ends God has iu view in chastening thee, thy highest
good and His own glory, thou wouldst find abundant consolation in
the chastening. Thou wouldst sing the song of the old prophet :
'^Though the fig-tree shall not blossom, and there be no fruit in the
vines ; though the labour of the olive fail, and the fields yield no
meat ; though the flock be cut ofif from the fold, and there is no
herd in the stalls ; yet will I rejoice in God, I will joy in the God of
my salvation."
These are some, by no means all, of the consolations of Crod.
They pertain to His own people ; they are meant for them. But He
desires to include us all in that number. He calls us in the Gospel
by the love of Christ. He calls us within our own hearts by His
Holy Spirit. He calls us individually and earnestly. And if to
some the call is not effectual, whose fault is that 1 Not His, certainly.
He addresses it in perfect faith to everyona Do let us take Him for
our God, our Guide even unto death. Then about our life, from its
beginning to its end, we may say what He said about creation, when
it had just passed sinless and beautiful from His hands : '* Behold, it
is all very good."
THE SERAPHIM AND THEIR SERVICE. 37 1
THE SERAPHIM AND THEIR SERVICE.
(Ax INDUC3TI0N AdDRESS DELIVERED AT KiLW INNING, MaT, 1889.
By the Rev. Profesbok J. Spencb, Auchinleck.)
My Dear Brother, — The duty has been laid upon me by the
Presbytery of addressing to you a few words of exhortation on this
interesting, and to you and the congregation here, most solemn
occasion. Now, in addressing myself to the performance of this duty,
I feel myself placed, in your case, in a position of peculiar difficulty.
Had you been a young soldier of the Cross just buckling his armour
on — a young minister of Christ just setting out on his great life-
mission, and entering on his great life-work, it would have been
comparatively easy for me to have uttered words, which might have
proved helpful to you, in the way of poiirting out how the great life-
battle was to be fought, and the great life-work done. Very difterent
from this, however, is the position you and I to-day occupy in relation
to each other. You have been actively engaged in the holy war
almost as long as I myself have been ; you therefore know, as well
as [ can possibly do, the foes you have to fight, the weapons you have
to wield, the Captain under whom you have to serve, and the cause
for whose advancement and triumph you have to strive. You have
already been for a long series of years a minister of Jesus Christ, and
consequently you are intimately acquainted, not from theory alone,
but from a lengthened practical experience, with the high duties and
paramount claims of your holy office. You know better than I can
tell you how to perform the one, and how to respond to and meet the
other. You know, as well as I can possibly do, how to preach the
Gospel, how to instruct the young, how to visit the sick, how to take
the oversight of souls, and how fo perform " all the parts of the
ministerial office to the edification of the body of Christ." You are
well acquainted, too, with the peculiar difficulties and discourage-
ments of a minister's life ; for I have no doubt that in the course of
yoar ministry you have had often personally to encounter and face
them. You know also the grand encouragements, the high and holy
joys of the faithful servant of Jesus, for I believe that in your inmost
80ul you have had a blessed experience of them all. I cannot expect,
tberefore, to say anything in connection with your office and work
with which you are not already quite familiar. All that I can hope
to do is just to stir up your pure mind by way of remembrance,
although you know these things already, and are established in the
present truth ; and instead of attempting to give you detailed direc-
tions as to the various duties which will fall to be discharged by you
as pastor of the congregation here, as this in your case would be quite
372 THE SERAPHIM AND THEIR SERVICE.
superfluous, I think it will be better on the present occasion to make
mj remarks somewhat more general, and simply to say a few words
to you, and at the same time to myself, as to the spirit in which it
becomes the minister of Christ to discharge his duties — the spirit in
which he should ever strive to do his work.
What, then, is the spirit in whijch the servant of Christ should
endeavour to discharge his duties and do his work 1 To this I would
reply that he should ever strive to discharge his duties in an angelic
spirit, to do his work in the same spirit in which the angels do
theirs. Among the many honourable and significant names given
to ministers of the Gospel in the New Testament there is none more
honourable, none more significant, than this : they are called '^ the
angels of the Churches ;" that is to say, they are to be in the churches
to which they minister what the angels are, to live and act as the
angels do, to serve God, to serve Christ, to serve their brethren of
mankind even as the angels serve them. You remember how the
angels place themselves alongside of -us who are the ministers of
Christ, and claim to occupy precisely the same position and the same
relation to Christ that we do. '* I," said the angel to John in Patmos,
" am a fellow-servant with thee, and with thy brethren the prophets,
that hold the testimony of Jesus ; worship God." {See Rev. xix. 10,
and xxii. 9, E. V.) Angels in heaven and ministers of Christ here on
earth are thus fellow-servants of the one Master, called to spend their
existence in the service of the same Lord ; and this being so, it surely
must be eminently becoming that we should strive to imitate our
fellow-servants the angels in the manner and spirit of their service.
Yea, should not our highest aim and holiest ambition be to make
our servicjs here on earth, as far as that is possibly and attainable, a
copy and a counterpart of the pure and perfect service of heaven f
This at least is what Christ would have us to pray for and strive
after, that we may do the will of our Father even as it is done by
the angels who are in heaven.
Now, while it is not customary in such addresses as this formally
to take a text, perhaps you will bear with me if on the present occa-
sion I practically do this ; for there is one passage in Old Testament
Scripture which, I think, brings before us very forcibly and very fully,
the angels in the character, the spirit, the mode of their service, and
which, therefore, sets before us very forcibly and very fully what the
character and spirit of our service ought to be. The passage to which
I refer is that in which Isaiah describes the vision of Jehovah in His
glory which he had when first called to be a prophet of the Lord.
He first of all describes the great Monarch of the universe, and the
glorious high throne on which He sat, where high the heavenly temple
THE SERAPHIM AND THEIR SERVICE. 373
stands. " I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up,
and his train tilled the temple " (Isa. vi. 1.) Having thus brought
before us the King in His regal majesty seated on His throne, he
next describes His royal retinue, the attendants that surround His
throne. "Above Him (or beside Him) stood the seraphim. Each
one had six wings ; with twain he covered his face, with twain Fie
covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto
another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts ; the whole
earth is full of His glory. And the foundations of the thresholds
were moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled
with smoke. . . . Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having
a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off
the altar; and he touched my mouth with it, and said, Lo, this hath
touched thy lips ; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin
purged" (v. 2-4, 6.) These seraphim are, to some extent, ideal
figures, but they may be safely taken by us to represent the highest
creaturely life of the universe in its relation both to God and man,
to represent the loftiest created intelligences, the highest of
created beings, in their attitude to God, their character, their
worship, their work ; and thus they set before us what our attitude
to God, our character, our worship, our work as ministers of Christ,
ought to be.
Notice, in the first place, the name by which these lofty intelli-
gences are called. It is a very striking and significant one. They
are called the seraphim. Now, this term is derived from a Hebrew
verh saraphy which means to hurny and so denotes the burning or
fiery ones. This name, the seraphim or fiery ones, no doubt de-
scribes the appearance they presented to the prophet^s vision ; but
it may also be taken as descriptive of the inner nature and character
of the beings it is used to designate. They are beings whose nature
is all on fire, whose hearts are all aglow \ they are the beings with
t4ie burning souls, with the fiery hearts. Among all their countless
hosts there is not one cold, indifferent soul, not one cold or luke-
warm heart. No, on the altar of every seraph's soul there bums with
a bright and brilliant flame, there bums for ever, the holy fire.
Now, is not this just what we, as ministers of Christy should
earnestly aspire and aim to be — seraphim, men whose natures are
all aglow, men whose lips and whose hearts have been touched, whose
moral and spiritual being has been pervaded and penetrated with
the heavenly fire. In this world in which we dwell there are many
strange anomalies and great absurdities, but among them all there is
surely no anomaly so strange, no absiurdity so great^ as that of a
minister of the Gospel, a servant of that God who is love, of that
374 ^^^ SERAPHIM AND THEIR SERVICE.
Jesus who poured out His heart's blood for man's salvation, with a
cold or lukewarm heart, — a minister of Christ, on the altar of wliose
soul there burns not at all, or bums but faintly and feebly and
fitfully the holy fire.
Now, what is the fire that bums in the seraph's soul, that flames
on the altar of the seraph's heart 1 It is, for one thing, the holy fire
of hatred to sin. In every seraph's heart there bums with a bright
and brilliant flame the sacred fire of hatred to sin, of aversion and
hostility to moral evil in every form. Themselves perfectly holy,
they hate with a burning hate all that is unlike themselves in the
characters and lives of God's intelligent creatures ; loving God with
an ardent love, they hate with a burning hate everything that is
unlike God or antagonistic to God in the universe He has made.
They know what sin is, and what sin has done, and tlierefore they
hate it with an intense and burning hate. This appears from the
very fact that it is the holiuess of God, His implacable enmity to
moral evil. His unchanging, everlasting hatred to sin, which they
specially adore. They cry one to another. Holy, holy, holy, is the
Lord of Hosts. Now, the energy and intensity of their liatred of
moral evil may be measured and gauged by the intensity and earnest-
ness of their adoration of God's holiness. And how intense and
earnest that was we learn from the prophet's narrative. With sucli
burning ardour, with such intense earnestness did they throw them-
selves into the adoration of God's holiness, that we are told they
cried one to another, and as they uttered the words of adoration the
very pillars and door-posts of the heavenly temple shook and trembled,
and the house was filled ^ith smoke. How brightly, then, must hura
on the altar of their hearts the holy fire of hatred ta sin.
Now, if you and I are to be worthy and efficient servants of the
great Master, Christ, we must imitate the seraphim in this; we
must strive to be seraphim in our abhorrence of moral evil ; there
must bum always brightly on the altar of our hearts the holy fire
of hatred to sin. " Behold the Son of God goes forth to war," and
you are called not only to follow in His train, but to take an active
part, a foremost place, in the holy strife. Now, as in the ages pasr,
He who hath on His vesture the name written, King of Kings and
Lord of Lords, is engaged in intemecine conflict with moral evil, in
a holy war which has for its object and end the utter overthrow and
destruction of sin, and you, as one of those who are called and chosen
and faithful, are summoned to take your place in the very forefront
of the fight. Now, surely if you would take an honourable and suc-
cessful part in this holy warfare, you must have in your heart not
only an ardent love to the great Captain under whose banner you
THE SERAPHIM AND THEIR SERVICE. 375
fight, but also a burning hatred to that fell enemy of God and man
it is your life-mission to fight with and overthrow. It is well for
every minister of Christ to cherish to the uttermost this sublime
passion of hatred to evil, for he may rest assured that the more
thoroughly he does this, the more completely his whole spiritual
being is possessed by this passion of hatred to sin, the more successful
will be be as a soldier of the Cross, the deadlier will be the blows
which he aims at the great enemy, the grander will be the victories
which he wins for goodness and for God.
But there burns in the seraph's bosom also another, though a
kindred fire, and that is the fire of holy love, the fire of love for
goodness, love for God, and love for man. Repelled by the utter
uglioess and deformity of moral evil^ they hate it with a buiiiing
bate; but attracted by the surpassing beauty of holiness, smitten
with the transcendent loveliness of moral goodness, they love it with
a burning love. Dwelling evermore in His immediate presence,
gazing unceasingly on His infinite beauty and loveliness, living in
the sunshine of His smile, they love God with an ardent and whole-
hearted love. Looking down with an eye of heavenly pity and
compassion on earth, with its sorrows and its sins, with all the love
of their large hearts they love and long to bless and save the souk
of men. In their heavenly home they live in, and breathe habitually,
the very atmosphere of love. The fire of love is a fire which pervades
and penetrates their entire spiritual being ; love is the grand motive
principle and power of their celestial lives. Theirs is a love which
bums, and which burns on always and for ever ; theirs is a love the
flame of which never grows dim, the fervour of which never waxes
cold, but fed ever anew from the central fire, it bums ever on with
a steady and perpetual glow.
Now, surely if there is any one thing more than another in which
the minister of Christ should seek to be like the seraphim, it is in
i\m : one thing above all others he should earnestly aim at and strive
after, to have his heart filled, his entire spiritual being penetrated by
the fire of holy love, to have, as the controlling factor in his spiritual
character and life, a burning love for holiness, a fervent love to God,
an ardent love to the souls of men. Of all the equipments and quali-
fications for the ministerial office, there is, perhaps, none which is of
mch paramount importance, none so absolutely essential to success
in its highest forms, as this. A healthy body, an eloquent tongue,
a clear intellect, a comprehensive knowledge in the region of things
human and things divine, — all these are excellent gifts, earnestly to
be coveted, and, as far as that is possible, diligently to be cultivated
by the minister of Christ ; but incomparably better and more to be
37^ THE SERAPHIM AND THEIR SERVICE.
desired than any or all of these is the loving heart — the heart that
is all aglow with love to Jesus, that is all on fire with love to the
perishing souls of men. '' Though I could speak," says Paul, " with
the tongues of men and angels, but have not love, it profiteth me
nothing.'' To speak not only with a man's but an angel's tongue, to
be able to tell the story of redeeming love, and entreat men to be
reconciled to God, with all the magic charm and persuasive eloquence
of an angel's speech, — would not that be something devoutly to be
wished, earnestly to be desired by those whose hearts are set on
winning souls for the kingdom of Godi And yet, after all, what
would it avail us to be masters of the eloquence that falls from the
seraph's lips if we were wholly destitute of the love to God and man
that burns in the seraph's heart) •* If," says Paul again, "I have
the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge,
but have not love, I am nothing." To understand all mysteries, to
comprehend and possess all knowledge, what a grand and glorious
thing would that be ! Yes, there be some among us deep dowu in
whoso hearts there is an earnest desire to know^ an insatiable craving
to know all that can be known, whether human or divine, to under-
stand all the mysteries of God and man, of heaven and earth, of the
present and the future life. But, my brother, though this craving
of our souls to know were gratified to its uttermost extent, though
we possessed and could call our own all the vast treasures of know-
ledge that are stored in a seraph's mind, what would it all avail ub
if we were wholly destitute of the holy fire of love that burns so
brightly in the seraph's heart ] A thousand times more to be desired
by the minister of Christ than the seraph's eloquent tongue, or than
the seraph's commanding intellect, is the seraph's loving heart. Let
us, then, as ministers of Jesus Christ, covet earnestly, and cultivate
with all diligence and zeal, the best and highest gifts ; but more
earnestly and zealously still let us covet and cultivate, as the crown
and consummation of them all, the heavenly, the seraphic, the divine
affection of love. While not neglecting the careful education of the
intellect, let us above all devote ourselves assiduously to what is
more important still — the education of the heart ; for there is a pro-
found truth in the often>quoted maxim of the great Neander, Fectui
€st qiiod theologum facit. It is the heart — the he^rt more than the
head, that makes the theologian ; it is the loving heart more than
the lofty intellect that makes a man an efficient and successful
minister of Jesus Christ.
I might also have mentioned, as elements in the fiery character
of the seraphim, their burning zeal and ardent devotion. There
bums brightly on the altar of their hearts the fire of holy iseal for
THE SERAPHIM AND THEIR SERVICE, 377
the honour aud glory of God, of ardent devotion to the service of
God, to the welfare of man, to the cause of holiness and truth the
vhole universe over. And if you and I would be good and faithfhl
servants of Jesus Christ, there must be in us also something of the
same ardent zeal for the glory of God ; the same holy fire of fervent
devotion, of entire and whole-hearted consecration to the highest and
holiest of all causes must bum on the altar of our hearts. In a word,
the more that you as a minisiter of Christ are a Baraph^ a burning one,
the more brightly the holy fire of love and zeal and devotion bums
on the altar of your heart, the more completely it pervades and pene-
trates your spiritual being, the more it breathes from and gives a
tone to all your words and deeds, the more intensely active, the more
blessed^ the more powerful and successful will your ministry become.
The more intensely active — for the fire of love and zeal burning brightly
in your soul will not suffer you to rest or to remain inactive, but will
stir you up to the highest activity and diligence of which your nature
is capable in the service of God and man. The more blessed — for the
fire of holy love to God and the souls of men will make the hardest
kboiu' light, the heaviest burden easy to bear ; it will make your work
for God and man, however arduous and difficult in itself, a pleasure
and a joy. The more powerful and successful — for love and zeal and
devotion are the mightiest forces in all the universe ; there is in them
a power such as nothing else possesses, to win souls to goodness and
to God, and to gain men for the kingdom of heaven. Let the fire of
holy zeal and love and devotion bum in your soul, breathe from your
^ords, pervade your work, and your ministry cannot fail to tell for
good on the immortal souls committed to your cara Be all aglow
jonrself with holy zeal, be all on fire with love and devotion, and
other souls will catch the sacred flame, other hearts than yours will
have enkindled within them the holy fire, and begin to glow with
love and zeal and devotion. And what could you desire more than
this, to be the medium of communicating to other souls a fire of zeal
and devotion, the means of enkindling in other hearts a flame of love
aiun to that which biuns in the breasts of the seraphim beside the
throne Y
Notice next the attitude of these seraphim, the position which
they occupy in relation to the throne and to the King who sits upon
it. "Above it," rather " above Him," or as the words of the original
might be rendered, "Beside Him were standing the seraphim.^'
"Poasesaed apparently of human form, and in an erect posture, they
stood in a double choir about the throne, each with two of .his wings
seemuig to support himself upon the air."^ They stand in the very
^ Driver, Isaiah, p. 17.
2 C
378 THE SERAPHIM AND THEIR SERVICE.
presence chamber of the King ; they stand before the Lord. Now
throughout the Bible, to stand before the Lord just means to be a
servant of the Lord. This is what is meant when it is said of the
Levites that thej were separated to stand before the Lord (Deut. x.
8), what Elijah meant when he said before Ahab **As the Lord God
of Israel liveth before whom I stand" (1 Kings xvii. 1), and Gabriel
when he said to Zacharias, " I am Gabriel, who stand in the presence
of God." Stiinding before the Lord is thus the attitude of service,
the attitude of those who know and feel themselves to be servants of
the sovereign Lord. Such was the attitude of the seraphim on the
present occasion ; they occupy the position befitting those who are
servants of the King. This they are, and this they count it their
highest glory and honour to be ; there is no position in all the uni-
verse they would exchange for this ; ^o title which could be
conferred upon them would they consider so noble as this, to be
designated servants of the most High God.
Such is the attitude and such the position of the seraphim before
the throne. And, precisely similar, my brother, is the position you
are called upon to occupy, that of a servant of God, yea, a bond-
servant, a slave of Jesus Christ. And surely there is no position in
all the world so truly honourable and noble, none so earnestly to be
coveted and desired as this, — to be a servant of God, a slave of Jesus
Christ. " Who would be a traitor knave, who so base as be a slave,'*
asks our great national poet, and truly to be the slave of a fellow-
man is base ; it is degrading to the God-given manhood that is in us
all. But to be the bond servant of God, to be the slave of Jesus
Christ, to resign ourselves to Him in absolute property and possession,
to employ every faculty, every energy, every power in absolute sub-
mission and service to Him, is not ignoble or base. Such slavery as
this is the most perfect freedom ; such slavery as this is the highest
glory and dignity of man. Paul, I am sure, would not have regarded
it as any great thing, or as a thing to be much elated about, even
though he had been able to write over against his name. King of
Judea, or even Emperor of Rome, but he did count it a grand and
glorious thing — a thing which he regarded as his crowning distinction
and privilege— that he could write himself down IlavXos SovXos 'Ii/or6v
Xpiarrdvy Paul the bondman of Jesus Christ. And you too, ray
brother, if you have imbibed aught of the spirit of the great apostle,
will count it your highest honour to be a servant of God — a willing
slave of that Saviour who loved you and bought you with his blood.
You would not exchange the proud position you occupy for all the
dignities of earth ; yea, would you not be what seraphs and apostles
glory to be — a servant of God — rather than monarch of the mightiest
kingdom, or autocrat of all the world ?
THE SERAPHIM AND THEIR SERVICE. 379
But the attitude of the seraphim not only suggests to us the idea
of the service they have to render to God, hut also reveals to us some-
thing as to the nature and character of their service. Thus it sets
before us the readiness and promptitude with which their service is
ever performed. They stand in the presence of the King, with wings
outspread, waiting for His commission and command, ready at the
Bllghteat expression of His will to go ^wherever He may send them, to
do whatever He may bid them do. Until the command is issued, the
seraph stands before the King in the attitude of patient expectancy,
but no sooner does the command go forth than the seraph is off
—speeds away without a moment's delay to do the thing the King
commands. What the thing is, whether it be a great thing or a
little thing, matters not at all to him ; if he is bidden do it, be does
it at once without a cavil or a question. It has been strikingly said
that if two angels were commanded by God — the one to govern a
great empire, and the other to sweep a street crossing in its capital
city — ^they would not exchange occupations. The one would not com-
plain of his task as too great, nor the other of his commission as too
mean and low, but without a moment's hesitation or question the one
would go off to govern his empire, the other to sweep his street cross-
ing, each recognising in the command he had received the sovereign
will of his Lord. Now it is in the same spirit of prompt and ready
obedience that we, as ministers of the gospel, should seek evermore
to stand in the presence of our King, ready to go wherever He may
send us, to do anything that He may command us to do. If he gives
us some great thing to do for Him, let us endeavour, in humble de-
pendence on His promised grace, to do it. But if it is His will to
give us only little things to do, little services to perform, let us strive
to do these little things, and perform these little services faithfully
and well. John Newton was wont to say that he regarded every
knock that came to his study door as a call and a commission from
Christ. Here was a new opportunity of doing something, however
small — of performing some service, however slight, for the Master
whom he loved and served. That is the spirit of the seraphim who
stand before the throne, and should also be the spirit of every true
and faithful minister of Christ.
The seraphim stand before the throne in the immediate presence
of the King. They habitually realise the presence of the great God ;
they are constantly conscious of being in the presence of the thrice
Holy One. They live and act, therefore, evermore under His eye, and
everything they do they do as unto Him. And would it not be well
for us, as ministers of Christ, if we could be more like the seraphim
in this, habitually realising the presence of the great Jehovah, think-
380 THE SERAPHIM AND THEIR SERVICE.
ing and speaking and acting evermore as in His presence, doing
everything as "under the great Taskmaster's eyeV* Would it not
tend to exercise an elevating, solemnising, sanctifying influence upon
us, and give a high and heavenly tone to our prayers, to our preaching,
to our intercourse with men, if we could only keep habitually before
our minds the thought that all we say and do is said and done in the
immediate presence of the All-holy One 1
The seraphim have this thought habitually present to their
minds, and notice the effect which it has upon them ; observe the
influence which the realisation that they are in the presence of the
All-holy One exerts upon them. They stand before the King, and
as they do so, " with two of their wings they cover their face, and
with two they cover their feet." With twain they cover their face,
in holy reverence and awe ; they feel that, as creatures, they may
not dare to look with open face on the glory of the Holy One, and
so, in reverence and awe and holy fear, they cover their faces as they
stand before Him. And with twain they covered their feet, in pro-
found humility and lowliness of mind. Realising the measureless
distance that separates them, as creatures, from the great Creator,
feeling that they are not worthy to have the eye of God resting on
them, they, in deep humility, cover their feet with their wings, to
screen themselves from the awful gaze. " Each seraph, with two of
his wings, covers his face in reverence, that he might not gaze directly
upon the Divine glory ; and with two his own person in humility,
not daring to meet directly the Divine glance." * Now, surely, as
ministers of Christ, it well becomes us, as those who stand in the
presence of the holy God, to cherish, like the seraphim, a spirit of
holy reverence and profound humility. Does it not become us well
to perform our every duty in a deeply reverential spirit, to have upon
us, in all our ministrations, a reverential awe and holy fear of Grod,
solemnising and sanctifying all our worki And with the spirit of
reverence and awe ^should ever be combined a spirit of profoundest
humility. Realising how unworthy in ourselves we are of the high
position which we have been called to occupy, remembering our many
deficiencies and imperfections, our multiplied shortcomings and sins,
it becomes us well to be clothed with humility, knowing that God
resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. In any man
spiritual pride is a hateful and loathsome thing, but in none is it
more hateful and loathsome than in a minister of Christ. That
humility which becomes the seraphim so well, and forms the crowning
adornment of their service, is equally becoming and beautiful when
it graces the chai*acter and adorns the service of a minister of Jesus
Christ.
' Driver, Isaiah, p. 17.
THE SERAPHIM AND THEIR SERVICE. 38 1
Whatsoever the seraphim do they do as unto the Lord, as an act
of service directly and consciously done to God. Now, the comfort
and success of our ministerial life will largely depend upon this —on
onr being servants of God in everything, on our doing everything
that we do as unto the Lord. Whatever it may be you are called
upon to do, strive ever to do it as unto the Lord Jesus, look upon it
as something done directly to Christ. Let it be what it may, the
composition of a sermon in your study or the preaching it from the
pulpit, the teaching of the young in Sabbath School or Bible Class,
the visiting the sick, or speaking a word of comfort to the sorrowful
or bereaved, presiding at a meeting of Session, or attending a meeting
of Presbytery or Synod, or whatever the work may be, endeavour to
realise in regard to it. This is something done for God, this is a
service rendered to Christ ; strive to feel that it is such^ seek con-
sciously to do it as such. Oh, how much brighter and more blessed
would our -lives as ministers be, what a higher meaning and purpose
would be given to all our ministrations, if wo performed them all
more entirely in this spirit, were we to do them all not as a matter
of mere routine, or as things we know we have to do and are expected
to do, but as acts of service done to Our great Master, Christ ! As
Paul puts it, " Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name
of the Lord Jesus ; whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as unto the Lord
and not to men, for ye are not the servants of men, but the servants
of the Lord Jesus Christ."
Notice, again, with reference to these seraphim, that they are not
merely servants, they are winged servants of God. Each of them
liad six wings, and with two of these wiugs he did fly. These wings
were meant to help and further them in their great life-mission of
serving God. They made the seraphim free of God's universe ; with
tbem they could fly from heaven to earth, and rise again from earth
to heaven. Here below, on some mission of mercy and love, they
oould, whenever they willed to do so, rise above the earth and soar
aloft iato the region of the heavenly and divine. These wings of the
seraphim, therefore, may typify to us the upward tendencies, the
heavenward, Godward aspirations of the soul. Faith, hope, love,
holy desire, everything that raises it above the earth, and lifts it into
the region of the heavenly and the divine, may be said to constitute
the wiugs of the soul. The great Greek philosopher, Plato, in one
of the grandest passages of his writings, has very beautifully and
effectively employed this image. He says that " the function of a wing
is to lift the heavy body up, and to bear it aloft to those upper regions
m which the gods have their abode. Of all material things, therefore,
the wing is that which is most akin to the spiritual and divine. Now
38a THE SERAPHIM AND THEIR SERVICE.
the wings of the soul are fostered and strengthened by heavenly con-
templation, by the contemplation of the ideal beauty, the heavenly
wisdom, the divine purity. So long, therefore, as the soul continues
fixed in the contemplation of heavenly things, so long do her winga
continue strong, and she rises higher and higher into the region of
the divine. But if the soul withdraw her gaze from the contemplation
of heavenly things, and fix her eyes exclusively on the oppositea of
these, then her plumage begins to droop, her wings fall off, and she
sinks downward, ever downward,, to the earth." This thought, so
beautifully expressed by the greatest of the Greek sages, is the very
same thought which is also expressed by the sublimest of the Hebrew
prophets : " They who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up on wings as eagles." They that wait upon the
Lord, they who live near to God, shall rise above the world into the
upper empyrean, they shall mount a^ on eagles' wings into the higher,
holier atmosphere of heaven. Now, surely, my brother, it becomes
ui), as ministers of Christ, to have the wings of our souls strong and
ready for the loftiest and most daring flights. In other words, would
it not be well for us to cherish and cultivate to the utmost every
upward tendency, every Godward, heavenward aspiration of our souls,
to foster and cherish everything within us that would raise us higher
up, that would lift us nearer God, and bring us nearer heaven than
now we are. Let us aspire frequently, yea, 'habitually, to breathe
the purer, heavenly atmosphere, to live even here the higher, heavenly
life ; for we may be well assured of this, that the less of earth and
the more of heaven there is about us, the more unworldly, the more
unearthly, the more heavenly our characters and lives are felt and
seen to be, the more powerful for good and the richer in blessing will
our ministry become. Goldsmith says of his village pastor that he
lured his flock to brighter worlds and led the way ; and if we would
lure men to heaven, we must ourselves lead the way ; if we would
raise others up into the higher regions of the spiritual and heavenly
life, we must ourselves mount up as on eagles' wings, we must our-
selves breathe the higher atmosphere and live the heavenly life.
Notice next that each of these seraphim had six wings, and ob-
serve also the different purposes for which these wings were used.
Four are used for purposes of worship, and two are used for purposes
of active service and work. As Dr. Goulburn, in his '* Thoughts
on Personal Religion/' well puts it, ^* With twain he did cover his
face, and with twain he did cover his feet, this is the seraph's life of
devotion ; and with twain he did fly, this is his life of active service."
The whole life of the seraph is a life of service ; evermore and always
he is a servant of God, but his holy service may be said to be broken
THE SERAPHIM AND THEIR SERVICE. 383
up, as it were, into two parts, to have in it two distinct constituent
elements — worship rendered to God and work done for God. Some-
times it is the seraph's task to worship in the heavenly temple, to
stand before the throne, and, in rapt adoration, to cry, '^ Holy, holy,
holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory." But
at other times it is his duty to leave his position of worshipper be-
fore the throne, and it may be to fly to earth, and as God's messenger,
to touch the lips of some sinful mortal of earth with the live coal
from the altar, and say to him, '* Thine iniquity is taken away, and
thy sin purged." " The seraph himself,'' says the writer just quoted,
''though the spirit of devotion is on him always, is not always en-
gaged in direct acts of praise." With twain of his wings he doth fly
—speeds forth on the errands God sends him — goes forth to do the
work God bids him. His life is not all worship, nor yet is it all
work, but a life of worship and of work both harmoniously combined.
Now as it is with the servants in the upper sanctuary, so is it also
meant to be with us who serve God in the ministry here below. If
our service is to be in any measure a copy and a counterpart of that
of the seraphim, these two elements must enter into and combine to
constitute it. There must be in it the elements of worship, adoration,
thanksgiving, prayer, — intense, fervent, believing, importunate
prayer, — devout and earnest meditation on divine things, the com-
munion of the soul with God ; but there must be also in it the
element of active service- -of earnest, devoted, persevering Christian
work. A life all worahip, though to a spiritually-minded man it
might be a very pleasant and enjoyable life, would be a very selfish
and unprofitable and un-Christlike life — a life very unlike that of the
seraphim before the throne. On the other hand, a life all work with-
out worship, without prayer, would be a very dull, barren, unpro-
ductive life — a life of effort and toil which would come to nothing —
which would leave behind them no beneficent results. The comfort
and success of your ministry, therefore, will in a large measure
depend on the way in which you succeed in blending and harrooni-
onsly combining in your life these two elements of devotion and
active service — of worship and work. Be it yours each day to
feed your soul in the pastures of devotion, to gather fresh spiritual
strength and energy from earnest prayer, and close fellowship with
C^; and when your enfeebled energies have thus been recruited
vith the bread of heaven — when you have got through prayer and
eommanion with the Unseen the strength you need — then use
the strength you have received from on high, and throw yoiurself
with ardour and earnestness into the buttle with sin, into the work
joo have to do for God and for the souls of men. Praying without
384 THE SERAPHIM AND THEIR SERVICE.
working, and working without praying will accomplish little or
nothing ; but praying and working, or as John Eliot put it, " Prayer
and pains, with the blessing of God, will accomplish anything."
The seraphim have not only worship to render, homage to pay,
they have also work to do ; and notice what the special work was,
which, on the present occasion, was given to one of these seraphim
to do. He was sent forth and commanded, in God's name, to convey
a message of forgiveness to a sin-laden, but penitent, mortal of earth,
to touch his lips with the heavenly fire, so that they might be puiged
from the taint of sin, and fitted to speak burning prophetic words,
that he, pardoned and purified and touched with the fire from heaveo,
might be fitted for his great life mission — prepared when the Divine
call came to him, ''Whom shall we send, and who shall go for usV*
with a glad heart to respond and say, " Here am I, send me."
And is not this the very mission on which you too are sent, the
very message with which you are charged, the very work which you
are commissioned to do ? Like the seraph, you have assigned you, as
your high task, to go to sin-laden men, and to tell them that God is
love, and that there is forgiveness with Him, to say to every one,
who unfeignedly repents and believes the Grospel of Christ, '' Thine
iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged." You do not claim any
priestly power to bestow the pardon or impart the cleansing ; you
put in no priestly claim^ any more than the seraph did, to be the
mediator by which alone God's pardoning mercy and cleansing grace
can reach the sinful soul. Just as the seraph was not himself the
author of the forgiveness or cleansing, but simply the messenger
sent to tell the prophet that he was forgiven and cleansed by God,
the medium by which the fire of God's altar was brought into contact
with the prophet's sin-stained lips and life ; so you claim to be
nothing more than this — the messenger of God's love, of God's pardon,
of God's salvation ; the instrument, if God so will it, of conveying the
fire of His altar to the lips and hearts of men. But what vocation
can be higher and holier, what life-work more noble and blessed than
this, to tell to your fellow-mortals the glorious tidings of God's redeem-
ing love, to tell the guilty of freedom, the polluted of cleansing, the
enslaved of liberty, the lost of salvation, to thrill the hearts of sin-
burdened ones with the great joy of forgiveness, and then by bring-
ing them into contact with the fire that bums on the altar before the
throne, to fit them for the service of the King, and make them glad
with their whole hearts to respond to the call of a three-one-God, and
to say each one, '' Here am I, send me."
Such was the seraph's task, and to a being such as he, whose
whole nature was aglow with love to God and man, the task must
THE SERAPHIM AND THEIR SERVICE. 38$
have been a most congenial one — ^a task into which he would enter
eon amare, into which he would throw himself with all his heart
and soul. And if you have caught anything at all of the seraph's
fire, this will be to you also a most congenial task — a task in which
Tou will find the highest joy of your existence^ the most perfect satis-
faction of your spiritual life.
I believe that to this very hour it is a source of gladness and joy
to that seraph that he was permitted long ago to do such a signal
service to the sin-burdened prophet, as to bring the joy of forgive-
ness and cleansing into his heart. And I am sure that the prophet
has never forgotten what he did, and that to this hour he feels grate-
ful to the seraph for the service he rendered and the joy he caused
him, and will continue to do so for ever. And if you are pern lit ted
to do this signal service and bring this holy joy to any of your fellow-
men, he will never forget it ; he will feel thankful to you for it for
ever. Every soul that you are the means of filling with the joy of
pardon, every soul you are the means of gaining for the kingdom of
heaven and fitting for the service of the King, shall be to you a crown
of rejoicing in the day of tho Lord Jesus — shall be to you in very
deed a joy for ever.
And now, my brother, what more can I say to you than just this —
try to become more and more seraphic. Seek in entering upon a
new stage in your life work to get a fresh baptism of the heavenly
fire, to have your lips and your heart anew touched by Him, " who
touched Isaiah's hallowed lips with fire ;" and thus equipped, to go
forth with new vigour and energy and zeal to the great work to
which you have devoted your life. Feed the flock of God committed
to your charge, do for it faithfully and lovingly the shepherd's office,
that so when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, you may receive the
crown of glory that shall never fade away. Go, work to-day in the
vineyard of the Lord ; work diligently, earnestly, faithfully until the
shadows of evening fall — until the hour shall come when the Master
shall say to you, " Come up higher," and shall bid you exchange tho
lower service of earth for the higher, the nobler, the everlasting ser-
vice of heaven.
** Think not of rest ; though dreams be sweet,
Start up, and ply your heavenward feet.
Is not Qod*s oath upon your head,
Ne'er to sink back on slothful bed.
Never again your loins untie,
Nor let your torches waste and die,
Till, when the shadows thickest fall,
You hear the Master's midnight call ?
Ansel He caUs you, be this your strife,
To live on earth the angel's life."
386 THE GLORIOUS RETURN.
THE GLORIOUS RETtJRN.
About six weeks ago a remarkable scene was witnessed in the North
of Italy. Men from many lands and of every condition in life flocked
to a quiet spot among the mountains. Men from Scotland were
there ; othera came all the way from South America ; and the King
of Italy sent a representative. An eloquent preacher addressed the
assembled people from the same text that another pastor had preached
from on that day two hundred years before. When the sermon was
over, five thousand people held up their right bauds and swore a
solemn oath to God to stand by one another in defence of truth and
of their country. So solemn was the scene that many who were
present wept tears of joy. What was the meaning of it alii What
was the meaning of those old and tattered banners which some
carried so reverently and watched with such jealous care lest one more
fragment of them should be lost 1 They had gathered to celebrate
** La Rentr^ Glorieuse," — the Glorious Return of the Waldenses to
thsir native valleys two hundred years ago. From the earliest days of
Christianity there has lived among the Alps a sturdy race of Pro-
testants who could not be crushed out They were cursed by Pope
after Pope ; army after army swept through their valleys ; cruelties,
the mere name of which would make your blood run cold, were in-
flicted upon them, but still they clung to their religion and their
liberty. These simple herdsmen and vine-dressers have a history
such as Scotland itself cannot show. Sometimes they were reduced
in numbers to a few hundred, and all hope had gone, when suddenly,
as if by a miracle, deliverance came. For centuries they struggled
on amidst persecutions the like of which you never heard of. In
Christmas of the year 1400 an army entered one of their valleys, and
next day fifty young children were found dead among the snow, some
lying on the bare ice, others locked in the arms of dead mothers.
Ou another occasion three thousand took refuge in a cave ; wood was
piled up at the entrance and set on fire. All the inmates perished—
smothered by the thick smoke. Four hundred infants were found
in the cave in cradles or in their mothers' arms. At other times
these brave Waldenses suffered death by burning, or by drowning, or
by terrible tortures. Hugo Chiamps had his entrails torn from bis
living body. Peter Geymarali had his entrails torn out and a fierce
cat thrust in to torture him. Maria Romano and Magdalen Foulano
were buried alive. Susan Michelini was bound hand and foot and
left to perish of cold and hunger. Bartholomew Fach^, gashed with
sabres, had the wounds filled up. with quick-lime and perished thus in
agony. Daniel Michelini had his tongue torn out for praising God.
THE GLORIOUS RETURN. 387
James Baridari perished covered with sulphurous matches which had
been forced into his flesh under the nails, in the nostrils, in the lips,
and all over the body, and then lighted. Daniel Revelli had his
mouth filled with gunpowder, which, being lighted, blew his head to
pieces. Maria Monnen had the flesh torn from her chin and cheek-
bones so that her jaw was left bare and she was thus left to perish.
Paul Gamier and Susan Jaquin were slowly sliced to pieces. Anne
Charbonnier was impaled and carried on a pike as a standard.
Daniel Rambaud had his naite torn off and was asked to abjure the
Gospel. He refused. Then his fingers, feet, hands, arms and legs
were separately cut ofi^, and each time he was asked to abjure the
Gospel. Cruelties, worse even than these, and which cannot be de-
scribed in words were inflicted upon the poor Waldenses. Still they
struggled on. Catalan Girard cried from amid the flames, " Bring
me two stones." The bystanders, curious to know what he intended
to do came nearer. " You think," said he, " to extinguish our poor
churches by your pei*secutions. You can no more do so than I, with
my feeble hands can crush these stones.'' Another addressed the
multitude who gathered round the fire that was consuming him, in
such a way as to make them weep. Then raising his voice he sang
aloud till death ended his song. Mountains seem to have been
meant by God for the protection of His people. Climbing far up
among the grand old Alps by paths which they afterwards shuddered
to look at, these heroic people were able to keep whole armies at bay
with a handful of men. On one occasion six men withstood a whole
army. They bravely took up their position in a narrow pass between
two huge rocks. Two knelt in front and fired, two stood behind
shooting over their heads, and the remaining two stood behind loading
the empty rifles. At one time their army was reduced to five
hundred, but though the enemy's was nearly twenty thousand strong,
they battled on for the glorious truth. " The people that know their
God shall be strong and do exploits," says the Bible ; and a man who
lived at that time said, ''I had always considered the Waldenses
to be TtUTif but I found them lions" Their faith never failed.
They seldom had peace, and when they had, they had to dress their
vines with their weapons of war beside them. Louis XIV. of France
whom the whole world feared, was about to die. He asked the
priest who acted as his confessor how he might get the pardon of
his sins. The priest told him that he could atone for all his past
sins by rooting out the Protestants.
An army of 15,000 was forthwith sent to conquer the indomitable
Waldenses. In the first battle this large army was beaten back with
a luss of five hundred, though the Weddenses only lost two men.
388 IHE GLORIOUS RETURN.
But the French army at length managed Sj deceit what they had
80 often vainly tried ,by force. In every valley they told the people
that all the other valleys had yielded, and it was hopeless to resist.
They believed the lie, and submitted. Three thousand were im-
mediately massacred. The rest of the little nation — 12,000 or
15,000 in number — were shut up in various prisons and fortresses
thro\ighout Italy. The Waldensian valleys were empty. If ever
the great white Alps seemed lonely, they did so now. No smoke
rose from the stone-weighted roofs in the valleys to cheer the weary
traveller with hope of shelter and refreshment. No psalm was suog
when in the morning and evening the sun-light tipped the snowy
peaks with red. The psistures were forsaken. The vines were un-
trained, and the grapes grew wild. The woodman's axe was not
heard in the chestnut groves. The nation was in prison, and in the
dungeons how terrible were their sufferings ! The bread was bad.
They had putrid water to drink. They were exposed to the sun by
day, and to the cold by night. They were compelled to sleep upon
the bare pavement, or on straw so full of vermin that the stoue
floor was preferable. Disease broke out, and many died. Of the
15,000 hardy mountaineers who entered these terrible dungeons, only
3000 wretched beings came out alive. The 3000 were set free —
but not to return to their homes among the hills. They must be
driven, hungry and weary as they were, across the hills into exile in
another land. Their enemies would not give them time to recover
their strength, or to wait till the tempests of December were over.
One hundred and fifty died during the first march. £ighty-six
perished in the whirling snow next day. For three weeks that ever-
thinning procession travelled on over the mountain-passes to
Geneva where they were kindly welcomed. Way-worn, sick and
faint, frost-bitten, so that they could not shake the friendly hands
extended to them ; with tongues swollen so that they could
not speak, they reached the city. Some fell dead at its threshold.
For three years the Waldenses lived in exile, but longer they could
not stay. Oh, how they longed to be once more among their native
mountains. When they prayed to God, they turned their longing
eyes towards the snowy peaks that were so dear to them. Deter-
mined to see once more their native valleys or perish in the attempt,
eight hundred survivors set out. In the starlight^ they sailed across
the lake, after bidding their Geneva friends a loving and grateful
farewell. Led by Henri Arnaud, who was both general and pastor,
they encountered many difficulties, suffered terrible hardships, gained
almost incredible victories, till at length they reached the only
church that was still standing. All the othora were in ruins. The
THE GLORIOUS RETURN. 389
building was too smill to hold the seven hundred men that now
composed the heroic band. The little church was filled. Those who
coald not get in stood outside. Henri Arnaud stood on a ta,ble in
the porch and preached to them. The service was begun by their
singing, " Oh God why hast thou cast us off] " and then they listened
to a sermon from the words, " Many a time have they afflicted me
from my youth may Israel now say." Then the seven hundred
warriors sang the psalm, and you can hardly wonder if their voices
sometimes trembled as they sang. This was the Glorious Return,
and well it deserves the name.
The enemy now came in such numbers, that the little band was
hemmed in on every side. Determined never to yield again, they
began griidually to ascend a lofty mountain called La Balsiglia, and
entrenched themselves far up on one of its lofty peaks. Winter was
near, provisions and ammunition were scarce, but they still deter-
mined to hope in God. There was only one way by which the enemy
could come up the hill to attack them, and it was carefully watched
and strongly defended. For a whole winter the four hundred — for
that was the number of the survivors now — held their position, and
morning and evening prayer and praise ascended from their strange
fortress which seemed more like an eagle's nest than a human habita-
tion. Twenty-two thousand troops surrounded the hill. Five
hundred picked men came up to attack them one day, but only
twenty went down alive. Not a defender was killed. Cannon were
at last brought to bear ypon the fortress, and the sounds of artillery
echoed among the hills. All hope of escape seemed now gone, but
even at the eleventh hour, help came in an unexpected and wonder-
ful manner. Down came a rolling mist, lower and lower, till it
covered the camp and completely obscured everything. A bold
mountaineer offered to lead the remnant of the army down by a
dangerous path known only to himself if they would follow him.
They did follow him right gladly. What was the astonishment of
the enemy next day when they prepared for the storming of the rocky
fort, to see it entirely deserted ! The four hundred Waldenses
reached Pra del Tor, and great was their joy and amazement to be
told that peace had come to them at last. Grermany, Britain,
Holland and Spain, had united to crush the power of Louis XIV. so
that the French army would have to leave the valleys of Italy
immediately. Can yau wonder that such a glorious history should
be commemorated by an assembled multitude taking a solemn oath
to maintain their dear-bought liberties ? And need you wonder if
the hearts of the covenanters of our own small Church in Scotland feel
refreshed and delighted to hear of such a solemn covenant being renewed?
390 POWER FROM ON HIGH.
"POWER FROM ON HIGH."
Papeb read at Meeting of U.O.S. Synod— Edinburgh, May,
1889.
Br THE Rev. Ebenbzer Ritchie, Paisley.
(Goncliided,)
The disciples had also the power of setting great and good example. On
them was imprinted the likeness of their Master, trained with Him they
had caught some of His Spirit, baptized by Him through the sending of
the Spirit they became eminently qualified for witnessing by their
lives. They had the power of untiring zeal. Never did they declare
they had done enough for Christ or were unfit to do more for Him.
They were true, faithful and zealous right on to the end, many of
them sealing their witness with their blood. They became living
sacrifices — passing through perils of all sorts and sufferings untold,
yet their zeal burned within them. Not till God's work for them on
earth was done did He take from them that immortality which He
gives unto His own while He needs them on earth, and even then,
they did not cease to labour and witness because their zeal had failed »
but because God's work for them on . earth was done and their zeal
was needful for the praises and the service of another world.
Power such as this we require, and it we may expect when we wait
for the promise of the Father. The discouragements which rise before
us, and the difficuities which surround us in witnessing for Christ arc
not more terrible than those which surrounded the tollowers of the
Lord when they, a little band of faithful and devoted ones, first set
out to win the world for Christ, relying on the word, " Not by might
nor by power, but by My Spirit."
If they accomplished much for Christ why may not we ? if they
were those who earned at last " Well done " for their well doing, why
may may not wel If they were faithful witnesses in the midst of a
perverse generation, why may not we, who serve the same Master, do
the same work and have promise of the same power % The fact is
that the world is to be won for Christ according to that arrange-
ment which He himself has planned, viz., that they who would witness
for Him be first of all consecrated to Him and filled with His Spirit.
A holy church is a conquering church. A faithful witness is — must
be — a successful witness, even though to the eyes of the world the re-
verse may appear. " And he that reapeth receiveth wages and
gathereth fruit unto eternal life that both he that soweth and he that
reapeth may rejoice together." (John iv. 36, 37.)
** Whate*ermay die or be forgot,
Work done for God, it dieth not.
Let us rejoice that it is so, and humbly thank God that He Whose
the Church is, Whose the truth is, and Whose the world is, has so
arranged matters that in no way but His own can His work ever be
POWER FROM ON HIGH. 39 1
accomplished. This divine arraDgemeut, and certainty of acccm-
plishment of the Divine purpose, is not to circumscribe or supersede
our own exertions. The gracious influences of the Spirit and His
power descend not to make us idle any more than the breeze blows
to send the sailor to his hammock, or rock him in the cradle of the
deep. The freshening breeze rouses the seaman's activity, makes
him shake out every yard of canvas, and crowd all sail upon the
bending mast, that he may gain the full advantage of the propitious
gale. It ought to he so with us. The Lord grant it may be so. The
fuller the promise of blessing and power the busier we onght to be,
diligent in the use of all those means which the Head of the Church
has promised to bless for the furtherance of His Work. This does
not mean that we ard to be tied down in our efforts to the ordinary
routine work — shall I say " rut " work of others. If there be room
for the exercise of individuality in every other sphere, there must be
the same — nay, more — in the sphere of Ciiristian activity. Do not
misunderstand me — I do not mean that all zeal is wise, that all
manner of service pleasing to us must be pleasing to the Most High,
jet I hold that there must be room for individual action and sancti-
fied energy for God. In Science the greatest discoveries have not
been made by the investigations of learned societies, but by an indi-
vidual devotion to some one object — every part of the person's being
devoted to its attainment. The greatest works that have ever been
done have been the work of individuals. It is the units — the single
individuals that are the power and might. Take any church, even
numbering its hundreds or thousands, and it will be found that a few
individuals do the whole work — and the remainder form bulk. The
whole history of God's Church and people goes to prove this, that in-
dividual effort is the grand thing. Separate men — Davids — with sling
and stones, have done what armies could not accomplish. If there
had been more earnest desire amongst all those called Christians —
and members of the Church — to do something for Christ, we cannot
doubt but that the Gospel long ere this had been brought to every
people under heaven.
It is often painful in the extreme to hear people cry, " My lean-
ness, my leanness," when all the time their cry should be, " My lazi-
ness, my laziness."
If there were more wrestling with God and pleading with Him on
the part of individuals in the Church, less of that fashionable religion
which bows its head while the minister prays, caring little for what
is asked, and less whether it be received, more waiting for the power
from on high, more consecration of power and talent already given
by God, there would be more fatness in our souls, in our congrega-
tions, and in the whole Chui:ch of God.
Oh that we ministers, elders, members, and adherents of the Church
—for I would speak to ourselves — would learn how great things God
can do by those who are wholly surrendered to Him and who evidence
their surrender by the earnestness which God implanted, burns with-
in ihem to do.
392 POWER FROM ON HIGH.
'* Before High Heaveu the beat they can
For the great reward and the good of mao,
For the Kingdom and Crown of God."
III. The Consequence. " Ye shall be witnesses unto me." There is
evidence of deadness even midst all the activity of present^ay
Christianity, because so many who in the pulpit and pew ought to
witness unto Christ, are witnesses^of almost anything rather than
Christ. The grand doctrine of the Atonement, the Story of the
Cross, the account of Christ's work as the Representative and Sub-
stitute of His people, the priest^ and the sacrifice in the room and
stead of sinners, the need of the regenerating influences of the Holy
Spirit — all this is too much ignored if not altogether disbelieved.
Or again even in many cases there is an endless talking about the
name Jesus which seems to have an awfully deadening effect. We
hear sermons about the Saviour, and after service is over we go from
church out into the world, and what do we 6nd ? That there is a
reality about all in the world which we do not find in the statements
to which we had been listening about Jesus Christ. How real we
say, the world, its bustle, cares, and unending wants of every
moment ! And how much of a sham and unreality has the service
seemed to be, if not been ! Why so ? Either because the Jesus of
whom we heard was only a name, not a living present Saviour to him
who spoke of Him, or because he knew not that the Gospel must be
presented as a living power to give strength for daily conflict. If
religion is to have any power at all it is by its being a testimony unto
Christ, and we, witnesses unto Him, as the Apostles were. Then
how real a presence is that of the. Lord Jesus — Yea real, the only
unchanging reality in the world's unreality.
It is the work of the Holy Spirit to reveal Jesus Christ unto us
exactly as we need to know Him, and our work when filled with the
Spirit, must be to witness unto Christ, telling of Him as God's
greatest gift to the world. We are to go forth, and through us the
Spirit is to reveal the gift, and all its excellencies. To this end we
have ourselves been brought to a knowledge of the truth, that
through us the world may know the things that are freely given us
of God. For this work it is not splendid gifts that are needed, but
the unreserved surrender of ourselves to this purpose, and the
baptism of the Holy Spirit to accomplish it. In all our work as
Christian ministers and ambassadors for Christ, we ought to re-
member that we are errand bearers, not inventors, and are sent with
a very definite and precise message ; and if we would deliver that
message, we must firat comprehend what it is, who sent it, for whom
it is intended, to what end it is sent, and in what tone and spirit it
must be proclaimed.
Never can we explain all that is involved in the Cross of Christ —
the Atonement — or exhaust its fulness, and whenever any man feels
that he can say no more about the Cross of Christ, it is his bounden
duty to leave the pulp t of Christ.
The cry of to-day, within the Church at least, is for originality —
'* preaching to the times" (advanced, of course, and broad), sensa-
POWER FROM ON HIGH. 39
tionalism, aud intellectual ism. What are the times? and who is he
that preaches to the times ? Is it he who can say the smartest things
to provoke laughter, and as one of the leading Roman Catholic
*' Fathers'' has said, make his pulpit into a theatrical stage because
he has nothing definite to bring before the people I Is it he who can
tell us all about the last fledged heresy, or write the most severe
criticism upon any part of God's word, causing many to say '' Have
we any Word of God 1 " Is it he who can lead his hearers into the
labyrinth ic mazes of science and philosophy ? We maintain it is not.
He alone keeps abreajst of the age or preaches to the times who preaches
for eternity — tliat covers all times — who speaks to broken and
burdened hearts. He is the preacher for all time who comes with
Christ's words on his lips, " Come unto me all ye that labour and are
heavy laden and I will give you rest," preaching to sin-burdened,
perishing ones, bringing the remedy for all sin, anxiety, weariness,
bereavement, loneliness and sorrow, bringing in short a panacea for a
world's woes. Witnessing for Christ is the very widest sphere in
which we can move, and to preach as we have indicated is not ^' to
harp on one string," for there is nothing so wide as the love of God,
and no need in any heart whatsoever which the love of God will not
satisfy.
I have no desire to be fault-finding or censorious, but is there not
reason to fear that the Church of Christ is being swallowed up of
Infidelity, Rationalism, Intellectualism, Pharisaism and Laodiceanism?
We should like to see the more earnest ministers in all the churches
deal with this. Some do speak out manfully, and at least give their
testimony against prevailing corruptions, but many by their silence
condone evils which in their hearts they must deplore. The result is
that those who call for a return to Scriptural lines are judged as dis-
turbers of the peace, obstructionists, and unwelcome fault-finders.
But when God needs more witnesses for His truth, if men will be
silent the very stones will cry out.
Even amongst those who are seeking to witness faithfully for
Christ, is there hot a vast amount of abominable selfishness, which
makes them too little solicitous about the spiritual and eternal well-
being of others who are perishing around them 1 I have known
men who have been so very selfish that because they had the pure.
Gospel made known to them were absolutely unwilling to move hand
or foot to take it to or provide for it being taken to others. I speak
this to the shame of those who calling themselves witnesses for
Christ manifest too little of His self-sacrificing love, sympathy aud
compassion for them that are out of the way.
Idolatry of talent is working sad havoc within the Church, making
the Cross of Christ of none effect. Can it be otherwise if minister
and people alike turn aside from Him to philosophy and eloquence
about Him ? ''Of all destruction it is surely the worst to destroy
the Gospel by preaching it." And what is it but doing this when
we cannot see the Christ for the preacher, the treasure for the carv-
ing and the polish on the vessel 1 Christ is hidden, the Cross is
made of none effect.
2 D
394 POWER FROM ON HIGH
Never should we be afraid to trust the simplicity of the Gospel,
but rather preach it not with wisdom of words lest the Cross be
made of none effect. But let us not make it powerless by want of
wisdom, for though souls are to be won by the foolishness of preach-
ing, yet not by foolish preaching. We must not suppose that there
is no room for the exercise of all talent and intellectual power in
Christianity. It invites and consecrates every talent, every gift of
Crod to man. Nowhere can talent find " so sublime an inspiration "
as in Christ's service, nor eloquence such room for expression as in
speaking of Christ. Yet not in the consciousness of talent possessed,
but in the consecration of all to God, being sanctified by the Hdy
Spirit, lies the secret of availing power. Without the power of the
Holy Spirit applying the Word eflPectually our preaching is vain.
Many a humble follower of God, desirous of witnessing for Christ,
has groaned deeply in spirit, when (all too well aware of the fact)
some one has mocked or laughed with covert sneer at his want of
genius, and slowness of intellect, and the groan has burst itself with
the expression, " Would to God I had been clever ! " To God that
groan was music's sweetest strain. It was confession of inability
and at the needed time the needed power was given — power, I say,
not talent. Does not He who has ascended up on high and received
gifts for men know what gifts are ever required ? Whenever the
Spirit of God thrusts any one forth with burning desire to witness
for Christ and to save souls, depend upon it, there is work for that
one to do. The wisdom of the world must be prepared to stand
aside for the foolishness of the Word — the power of God unto salva-
tion, that our faith may not stand in the wisdom of man, but in the
power of God.
But we err if we think of all those upon whom the power came
acting as preachers, or as even doing very definite work. Yet all were
acting as witnesses for Christ. The world was to be won for Christ
by Christ-like living, and Christianity is surely Christ-likeness, or it
is nothing better than vile Pharisaism. How are we to meet all the
evil in the world if it be not by those called Christians setting them-
selves resolutely, for His sake, by whose name they are called to be
Christ-like, striving ever to let men see the reality of their religion,
and the beauty of Jesus Christ, knowing that the power to accom-
plish this is promised to those who will accept of it ?
This keeps religion alive at the present day, for the life of every
believer is a constant testimony to the value and efficacy of the aton-
ing blood of the Redeemer ; a voice against the evil reigning in the
world, and an evidence of the power that can make men what they
ought to be — witnesses unto Christ. If our religion fail in this it is
a failure. The very end of our redemption is that we may be
<< conformed to the image of His dear Son.'' If we have not His
Spirit we are none of His, all our pretensions to religion are empty
and vain, and our doom will at last be, '* Ye have not been witnesses
unto Me, I never knew you." Our religion is a mockery if we do
not resemble in some measure, at least., Him, *' who being Incarnate
God was incarnate goodness." Happy would it be for us, and for the
THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS. 395
world, if, like that bold scientist who with too much zeal in his
iovestigations looked upou the suu with his naked eye and had its
impression so made upon his sight that everywhere he turned was
bUD, brilliant suu, we would but turn our ejes more full upon Christ
and wait until by the pouring of His Spirit upon us, the glory of
the Sun of Righteousness were impressed upon our eye of faith that
we never again could forget Him. Ever seeing Him we should ever
love Him, and so ever witness unto Him. With Paul we would
joyiuUy exclaim, '^ The love of Christ constraineth us, because we
thus judge that if oue died for all then were all dead, and that He
died for all, that they who live should not henceforth live unto
themselves but unto Him who died for them and rose again 1 ''
As a parting word let me urge the advantage and need of improv-
ing to the utmost every season of Divine presence and blessing.
What moi-e fitting — to man's eye at least —than that we should go
from this assembly endued with power from on High, baptized with
the Holy Ghost, and under its influence become the channels of
Divine blessing to our congregations, and they in turn unto the
world. It is not for us to know times and seasons, nor to command
the influences of heaven, but it is ours to wait for and expect the
promised Divine assistance and power ; ours to use the gentle gales
of the Divine Spirit when they blow ; to embrace every opportunity
of doing good and witnessing unto Christ. Whatsoever our hand
fiuds to do doing it with our might ; ours to be too active to stag-
nate, too busy to freeze ; ours to strike the iron not only when 'tis
hot, but to make it hot by striking; ours to be like the dying
missionary, who said, ''If there be happiness on earth it is in labour-
ing in the service of Christ," like the blessed Redeemer whose meat
and drink it was to do His Father's will ; ours to be faithful in the
discharge of present duty even though to the eye of man we be not
successful in bringing back many souls to Christ ; ours to be wit-
nesses unto Christ, and to preach Him not of strife, of contention, of
envy but of love ; ours to glory in the Cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ ; to look for the promised blessing upon work conscientiously
done unto the Lord, to pray for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit
upon ourselves and others, that they and we receiving power may be
witnesses unto Christ. To Him be all the glory and the honour as
we work and pray, and ours will be the reward.
THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS.
Br A Highland Minister.
XIII.
Returning to the " Brodie Diary,'' we find soon after the Lethen Fast
the Diarist recording : " 19th April 1655. The Laird of Park (John
Hay of Park and Lochloy, brother-in-law of Thomas Hog), came to
me, and spent this afternoon with me to my great refreshment. He
39^ THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS.
made some acknowledgment of' his soul's condition, and prayed. I
did stir up and exhort, as the Lord gave utterance, and he resolyed
to engage and give up himself wholly to the Lord, both soul and
body, and to bind himself to be the Lord's to his last breath. Oh !
that the Lord may accept, and seal his acceptance on the soul of his
poor creature.
" Ist May, 1655. O Lord ! be Thou my witness and my help, that
this day I have made it my earnest, humble, sincere request and
prayer that Thou wouldst guard me against that sin specially of
covetousness and desire of riches ; that Thou wouldst grant a
moderate, sober, contented mind, and a right use of what Thou
givest ; that I may die to the world and have unholy desires morti-
fied. Now 0 Lord ! put me not back : these desires and thoughts
will break in upon me even like water and overwhelm.
" I spoke this afternoon to my son. I examined, and asked him
whether would he choose to have his heart torn out at his side, or
be separated from God, and sin willingly against Him. He said it
were better to endure the pulling out of his heart. I desired him to
examine if that was the answer of his heart, or the tongue only, and
advised him to compare that answer with his conversation, and see
how they agreed. I warned him that if he would not serve the
Lord, God would cast him out of this place that we dwell in. I had
seen men flourish like a green tree, and lo ! I looked and iu a moment
the place could not be seen where they were. * All they that for-
sake him shall perish.' I assured him, in the name of the Lord,
there were many sad aflBictions before him. His corruption would
draw sore strokes from God sometime or other, luiless He purposed
to destroy him. I therefore exhorted him to meet the Lord and
repent."
On the following Sabbath he writes : " 0 ! my heart was much
distempered in the evening secret prayer with many vain thoughts.
I never found the actual working of sinful imaginations more strongly
than at this time, and desired to be humbled under it. I wondered
not to see the men of the world taken away with projects, covelons,
ambitious, vain, carnal designs, affections, and enterprises, for no
heart or head is more full of them than mine." Then in his distress
he wrestles with God for deliverance. He appeals to him as His love^
joy, happiness, wealth, children, his all in all. " Then do not forsake,,
nor let me fc'rsake Thee. Let no idol or fancy creep in, or be enter-
tained, lodged, or embraced. None but Christ and His word and
law to lie betwixt my breasts ; to be written on my forehead ; to
call, command, and guide my spirit, will, and inclinations. Even so
be it. Oh Lord ! So be it to me ! "
There are many entries iu this year (1655) regarding a poor
married woman, Catherine Hendrie, who lived, it would seem, in the
neighbourhood of Brodie Castle, and who was in sore soul distress
and temptation bordering on distraction. Lord Brodie had passed
through deep valleys of sore spiritual conflict himself, and was ever
ready to bear the burdens of others similarly exercised. In Hendrie's
afflicted case he took a deep inteiest. One day she calls, and he
THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS. 397
notes down : " The poor woman, Catherine, was with me this afi^-
noon. She spoke and prayed, and I catechised and prayed with her."
A fortnight after there is the entry : '^ I was much puzzled with the
poor woman, Catherine Hendrie, her disquiet ; and could not know
the causes of it. That her mind should be burdened with sin, and
grieved and dejected is no marvel to me, but matter of hope and joy,
and supplication and praise. Only the apprehensions of external
violence which she feels ; sometimes of a fowl on her breast, some-
times of a hound at her back, a hand, and words uttered to persuade
her to blaspheme. I desired to inquire and consider what may be
from ordinary natural causes, or what may be from extraordinary,
unknown, spiritual causes; what is from a troubled imagination,
fancy, and melancholy; or what may be external from Satan.
Whatever it be, I have desired to lay it before the Lord, to teach
her, and to teach us ... . She prayed, and I did concur and join
with her in prayer with all my heart." On another occasion, soon
after, he writes : " I conferred with the poor woman, C. Hendrie, and
made supplication with, her to God ; and observed that the Lord had
rid her for some days past of the external exercise she apprehended
of violence ; only now groaned under an apprehension of fear and
God^s anger, and want of Christ in the heart, and desertion . . .
That she found it easier to win to repentance than to win to faith ;
and found a greater want of the one than of the other. This I
cannot say of myself ; for sound repentance and due sense of sin is
that which I miss ofteuest and can least be without." Catherine
continues in tribulation more or less severe throughout the summer
and autumn. Occasionally there are hints of ^^ the Lord's dealing
more comfortably and kindly with her," with darkness succeeding.
Then there is the following interesting entry : ** 1st November, 1655
—Was appointed to be a solemn day of humiliation at Brodie, on
behalf of the poor afflicted woman Catherine Hendrie. We spent
tiiis day in making prayer and supplication to God for ourselves, and
for that poor woman and her husband. They engaged themselves to
the Lord this day, and disowned Satan and all his works, and desired
to resign themselves to be the Lord's, and to be gathered in among
them that believed on the Lord Jesus, rather than to be freed of
their trouble. After Mr. Harry, Mr. Joseph, Mr. Thomas Hog, Mr.
John M*Killigan, and Mr. William Ross had exercised, I found myself
cold in all, only in Mr. William Ross' prayer the heart, joined most."
What a conference of pious divines ! Mr. Harry Forbes had just
b^'en called from Wick to Auldearn to the great joy of Lord Brodie,
His uncle, Mr. Joseph Brodie, now approaching the end of an hon-
oured ministry, had come from Forres. Of Messrs. Hog & M*Killi-
gan and their skill in cases of conscience, no further notice is necessary.
Mr. William Rosa was a worthy Highland probationer, acting as
chaplain or tutor in the district. He is often honourably mentioned
by Brodie, who, along with Samuel Rutherford, was anxious at this
time that he should accept a call to Islay. Two years before this he
had signed the following covenant which is preserved in the Diary :
''This night Mr. W^illiam Ross, after serious consideration of the
39^ THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS.
necessity and usefulness of the duty, did freely desire to renounce
himself, and to give up himself, soul, mind, body, spirit, parts,
abilities, learning, and all he had or should attain unto, to the Lord ;
and consecrated, vowed, and bound himself to the Lord for all his
lifetime ; and in the faith of the Lord's strength and grace, did roll
over his case on God, and besought the Lord only to accept, and to
put to His seal, and to become his God, his all-sufficient God ; and
did take the Lord witness hereof before me, and subscribed this with
his heart and hand.''
Three weeks after, Brodie purposed to afflict and humble his soul
before the Lord on behalf of William Innes, Christian Russel, and
Catherine Hendrie, as being under extraordinary assaults of Satan.
On the 3rd Jan., 1656, he goes to Auldearn, and mentions to Mr.
Harry and Mr. Joseph the distressed state of Catherine Hendrie and
her husband. "Satan took advantage of their fearfulness and timor-
ousness." This is the last refere'nce to the sorely "afflicted and
terrified woman," so that we conclude her case was an illustration of
" Satau raging because he knoweth that he hath but a short time."
After such cries from ** the depths," the Hendries were brought to
sing of " plenteous redemption."
Brodie's parish minister, Mr. William Falconer of Dyke, is frequently
and unfavourably mentioned. His long, unfruitful, and time-serving
ministry was a sore trial to the Diarist. On returning from church,
one Sabbath, he writes : " Oh ! I found how mean a gift of edifying
Mr. William (Falconer) had on Matth. xix., and I thought it my duty
to confer with him, and to warn and admonish him, and stir him up:
1. That he would labour rather to work- on the affections of this
people than on their judgments. 2. That he would study to deliver
truths tending to salvation, rather than natural or moral truths,
which heathens might know, and perish. 3. That he would be more
in setting forth Christ, discovering deceit of heart, formality, hypo-
crisy, and spiritual evils, which may lie under a fair profession. 4.
Giving marks to know our estate, whether we be in Christ or not,
and whether the promises belong to us or not, would rouse up sinners
and waken them, and tell them of their danger, and how many thou-
sands deceive their own souls. Moral honesty, and righteousness,
and moderation in the world, and to live discreetly among men, are
not saving grace : men may have these and go to hell. 5. That he
would not preach a doctrine, a use, a mark, a sign of trial, but first
labour to have the sense and experience of it in his own heart ; and
would speak and deliver to us as being exercised with the same
things himself. 6. That he would not rest in discovering gross mon-
strous sins, but descend into the secret of the heart, and search out
spiritual sins that are more hidden, which light of nature cannot
take up nor see. 7. That he would acquaint himself with the
methods and workings of Satau and his wiles. 8. That he would
labour to study and know in himself, and make us to know the
mystery of godliness ; the ends, use, worth, and effect of Christ's
birth, sufferings, obedience, death, victory, ascension, and mediation
with the Father. 9. To give marks to know saving grace from
THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS. 399
counterfeit, and natural virtues and moral ; and to try our spiritual
growth in grace, or if we be decaying. 10. To see how his ministry
prospers, how many souls are sick for. Christ, or sick of sin and
wounded.
*' 0 Lord ! if it be my duty, or if it be Thy will to me, to serve
Thee in this matter towards tiiis man, grant freedom, light, strength,
confidence, humbleness, singleness, opportunity, and a blessing."
A high standard verily the Diarist sets up, and yet it was a
standard to which the best of our Highland ministers in better days
than these fully attained. Could we have such preaching every-
where in Scotland now it might solve the problem of the lapsed
masses ; and there would be no need for flashy " attractive services,"
which are screens between the soul and a knowledge of sin and of a
Saviour.
For long years Brodie firmly refused to accept office under Crom-
well. At length, ** after much resistance and reluctancy," he con-
sented to accept office again as one of the judges, and took his seat
on the bench as Lord Brodie on the 3rd December, 1658.
After the Restoration he was superseded. How greatly he be-
friended the outed ministers we Have alluded to in former papers.
In 1676 a commission court against conventicles was appointed to bo
held in Elgin. Brodie, expecting to be called to atiswer for hearing
so seldom the conformed ministers, enters in the "Diary" his rej\sons :
" 1. Because their ministry is not lively, and others I find more lively
on my heart. 2. I have a dislike and am stumbled greatly at their
entry and admission and acting, seeing their constitution is not in
accordance with the rules and precepts of Scripture, atid the Apostles.
3. This very thing, civil places and dignifies of Churchmen, which
we call Prelacy, as it is a human sinful device of man, without war-
rant in the Word of God, so it has been abjured solemnly in these
ages past, by the consent of Kings and their Parliaments. ... The
oath being on a matter lawful, and enjoined by the Kings of this
Realm, ratified and consented to, and the people and I having takeu
this engagement, I dare not so far defy God a» to violate His oath ;
nor can a thousand Parliaments, and Emperors, and Popes, absolve
from it, or dispense with a lawful oath made to God."
He died in peace on the 17th April, 1680, having, in the words of
Dr. Laing, " the peculiar satisfaction of witnessing his son and grand-
children, the objects of his dearest sympathy and of many fervent
prayera, taking upon themselves the same covenant engagements to
a life of faith and hope, of which he had set such a consistent
example. '' The son, James Brodie of Brodie, inherited very largely
the devout character and devotional spirit of his father. He con-
tinued to make entries in the " Diary " similar to those of his father,
for five years. After noticing an Episcopal induction at Forres, he
writes : '' Oh ! for the plague the land lies under of such teachers . . .
Ob, Lord ! forgive and reform and send out a Gospel ministry. *'
The ^' Diary " closes with some account of a Court held at Elgin
by the Earl of Errol, the Earl of Kintore, and Sir George Munro, who
had been appointed and commibsioned by the Privy Council at a
400 THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS.
meeting )ield at Edinburgh on the 30tb Dec, 1684, " to prosecute all
])ersons guilty of Church disorders and other crimes in all the bounds
betwixt Spej and Ness, including Strathspey and Abemethy, and
their first meeting to be at Elgin the 22nd January following." The
Bishop of Moray (Falconer) received a letter from the Ear] of Perth,
Chancellor, recommending " his lordship to advertise all his ministers
within the bounds foresaid, to attend the said Commissioners, and to
bring with them their elders, and lists of persons guilty of church
disorders, or suspect of disaffection to the present Established Grovem
ment in Church or State, whereupon they are to depone." The
Council order Lord Duffus with the militia troop to attend the Com-
missioners. On the 9th January their Commission is extended to
Inverness, Ross, Cromarty, and Sutherland. " As soon as the Com-
missioners reached Elgin they caused erect a new gallows dd. terrorem.
Most of the Presbyterians (in the districts mentioned) were summoned
before them, though they had no crimes to charge them with, but
absence from the Kirk, and being at Conventicles." The Minutes of
Proceedings are preserved in the General Register House, and from
the extracts given by Dr. David Laing in the I'reface to " Brodie's
Diaries " we quote : " The Lords of the Committee of His Majesty's
Privy Coimcil, in regard the Lady Grant confesses two years and a
half withdrawing from ordinances, having and keeping an unlicensid
chaplain, hearing outed ministers preach several times, and that the
Lnird of Grant confesses the keepmg of the said unlicensed minister
in his family, and hearing an outed minister preach and pray several
times, — They therefore fine and amerciate the Laird of Grant for his
own and his Lady's delinquencies, irregularities, and disorders, in the
sum of £45,000 Scots money.
" And, likewise, having considered the depositions of Alexander
Brodie of Lethen, whereby he confesses nine house Conventicles, and
two years and more withdrawing, and entertaining vagrant preachers,
— They therefore fine and amerciate him in the sum of £40,000
Scots,
" And also having considered the depositions of the Laird of Brt^die,
whereby he confesses half a year's withdrawing, and keeping an un-
licensed chaplain (Mr. Alexander Dunbar), and the Lady Brodie's
deposition, whereby she confesses three years' withdrawing, and more
after old Brodie's death, at which time they became heritors and
mailera of their own family, — They therefore fine and amerciate him
in the sum of £24,000 Scots.
" The Lords having considered the deposition of Francis Brodie of
Milton, whereby he confesses constant withdrawing from the ordin-
ances since the Indemnity, except three Sabbath days, and several
house Conventicles, — They therefore fine and amerciate him in the
sum of £10,000 Scots.
" The Lords having considered the deposition of Francis Brodie of
Windihills, whereby he confesses three house Conventicles, and three
years' withdrawing, and the deposition of Margaret Brodie, his wife,
whereby she confesses withdrawing and Conventicles, — They there-
fore fine and americate the said Francis Brodie for bis own and bis
THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS. 40I
wife's delinquencies, disorder, and irregularities in the sum of 5,060
nierks Scots money.
" The Lords having considered the deposition of Mr. James Brodie,
in Kinloss, and Anua Forret, his spouse, whereby they confess hear-
ing of Conventicles, and in regard they were formerly fined and are
no heritors, — They fine the said Mr. James for his own and his wife's
delinquencies and disorders in the sum of 200 merks h'cots money.
" And ordain them to make payment of the said respective fines to
his Majesty's Cash-keeper betwixt this and the first day of May next,
to come under the penalty of being liable to a fifth part more than
the said respective fines."
David Brodie of Pitgounie was severely fined and imprisoned in
Blackness for fourteen months ; and then liberated " upon caution
under the penalty of £3,000 sterling to compear before the Council
when ca.led." Messrs. Jolin Stewart, James Urquhart, Alexander
Dunbar and George Meldrum of Crombie, ministers, w^ere banished
his Majesty's dominions, and ordained " to be transported prisoners
to the Tolbooth of Edinburgh, there to remain till occasion be had for
their transportation.'' Stewart and Bunbar were sent to the Bass
instead of being banished, and Urquhart and Meldrum were im-
prisoned In Blackness Castle. Alexander and Mark Mavers, portiuners
of Urquhart, Donald and Andrew Munro of Elgin, Alexander Munro,
some time of Main, Jean Taylor, and Mrs. Campbell of Torrich (her
husband escaped to Sutherlandshire and Ireland) were also sentenced
to banishment.
Wodrow (History iv. 19?, ff.) gives the Commissioners' Report to
the Council, which is dated 2ud March (1685), after six weeks hard
hut congenial labour in taking down depositions, fining, and threat-
ening and extorting promises from terrified multitudes that they
would henceforth attend the hated services of the curates. The
Commissioners report to the Privy Council that on their ** arrival in
Moray they issued forth precepts for citing such disorderly persons
within the shires of Banff, Uoss, Sutherland, as being most remote as
were given them in their instructions, and whereof they had got
information ; and commanded the respective Sheriffs to cause
fiunamon all the other disorderly persons within these shires to appear
at a certain day." . . They discharged any to go out of the district
without their license, and ordained all who came into the district from
the South, to appear before them and produce their letters and papers,
and be examined. They caused make up complete lists of all the
heritors, life-renters, and wadsetters within the district. . . The
heritors, likewise, and burghs within the district, did all sign a bond
for securing the public peace, and for their regular living. The heritors
also and burgesses did take and swear the Test and Oath of Allegiance,
and asserted his Majesty's prerogatives except a few heritors to whom
the Lords thought fit not to tender the same at that time. . . The
Lords did very strictly examine all the ministers and elders within
the district, with several persons of honour and loyalty, anent the
condition and state of the country, and the disaffected and disorderly
persons therein, and libelled all persons delated, banished some, fined
402 THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHIJINDS.
others and remitted a few to the Council. The Lords were at much
pains, and took great trial aneut James Nimmo, Mr. Aobert Martin^
pitgounie, and Hay of Park, and anent the plot, and contrihating
money and doing favours to rebels. The Lords order to imprison
the Laird of Fowlis, elder (a disorderly person not able to travel) at
Tain, and the Laird of Fowlis, younger, at Inverness, in case he
refused the bond of peace ; and gave orders to apprehend, and send
Mr. William Mackay, a vagrant preacher in Sutherland, prisoner to
Edinburgh. The Lords cleansed the country of all outed ministere
and vagrant preachers, and banished four of them for not taking the
oath of allegiance, keeping Conventicles and refusing to keep the
Kirk, and fined one of them, being a heritor, in 10,000 nierks, and
ordered them to be transported prisoners to Edinburgh. The Lords
ordered to apprehend the few delinquents that were absent, and
to commit them to prison till they should sign the bond of peace and
regularity, and engage to keep the Kirk in time coming. There
being a good many Commons, and very mean people, delated and
libelled for church disorders and irregularities, and being all formerly
fined, and almost all of them since regular, and the few who had not
been so, having sworn to keep the Kirk, and their masters and
husbands having engaged for them, the Lords assoilzied them, and left
orders with the respective Sheriflfs to put the law vigorously to
execution against all church dissenters, and especially against such as
were formerly disorderly, and were now engaged to live regularly,
and to report their diligence to tiie Council. The militia regiment
and troop did attend the Lords, whom they did view, and caused to
put in order. The bishop and clergy of the diocese of Moray at-
tended the Lords in a body, and gave them their hearty thanks for
the great pains and diligence they had used to the good and en-
couragement of the Church and clergy in that place, and begged the
Lords would allow them to represent their sense and gratitude thereof,
to the Lords of his Majesty's most Honourable Privy Council. This
document shows clearly how systematically and eflfectively the
tyrannical Commissioners went to work. What terror spread over
the Nortiiem counties ! Doubtless many were prevailed upon to
promise to " keep the Kirk " for fear of the '* newly erected gallows.'*^
The Lords of the Privy Council were delighted with the zeal and
enei^y displayed, and with the near prospect of ^^ fines amounting to-
129,933 pounds Scots." They "declare that they are very well
satisfied with the procedure and diligence, and return their hearty
thanks to the Earl of Kintore for himself and the other Com>
missioners." Archbishop Sharp had, of course, long since ceased from
troubling, but had he been alive, with what keen satisfaction he
would have perused the lengthy Report.
In the " Brodie Diary," there are repeated references to his annoy-
ance that severer methods had not been taken with the old Laird of
Brodie. He would now, had he been in the flesh have had a Haman's joy
in thinking that not only the Diarist's son, but a host of his relatives
had been entangled in the Bishops' Dragnet. But what words of
scorn are strong enough for the bishop and clergy of Moray, for
THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS. 403
" their hearty thanks for the great pains and diligence " of the
comuiissioners? There was Bishop Colin Falconer, in the 62ud year
of his age, who in the days of the Covenant had been minister of
Essil (or Speymouth) for some years, and in 1658 Was translated to
Forres, and, of course, he repeatedly subscribed the Covenants.
From Forres hcwas promoted to be Bishop of Argyll in 1679, and
in the following spring, he was translated to the See of Moray, where
he was soon zealously employed in forcing all to take the obnoxious
Test, which involved an abjumtion of the Covenants. Here he is
uow with his curates and lists of those who " kept not the Kirk '*
dancing attendance on the persecuting Commissioners, and begging
them " to represent his own and his clergy's sense of gratitude " to
the Lords of Privy Council. The Commissioners, by " cleansing the
country of all outed ministers," ^^ created a solitude and called it
peace."
Ludovick Grant of Grant was married to Janet Brodie, the only
child of Alexander Brodie, younger of Lethen, on the 26th December
1671. His marriage and frequent visits to Morayshire are referred to
in the " Brodie Diary." The severity of his fine " for withdrawing
from ordinances, and keeping an unlicensed chaplain," (Mr. Alexander
Eraser, the outed minister of Daviot), made him petition the Council
to reconsider his sentence. He represented to the Lords — that he
was charged by letters of horning to make payment of ^42,500 Scots
within fifteen days. That the decreet was founded upon his
wife's confession of two-and-a-half years withdrawing from ordinances,
the keeping an unlicensed chaplain, and hearing an outed minister
preach once. He begs humbly for reconsideration of the decreet on
the following grounds : "1. That by no former law was a husband
liable for his wife's withdrawing. 2. That the parish church of
Cromdale was vacant for a year and a half of the time libelled, and
the next parish' kirk was six or seven miles distant, and the
petitioner's wife was for the most part of the remaining time vale-
tudinary and given over by the physicians. 3. His wife expressly
declared that her abstaining from hearing was not from any disloyalty,
disrespect, or disaffection to the Government. 4. No conventicle was
held in any house or fields belonging to the petitioner, and his own
and his wife's hearing of an outed minister was in the house of
Lethen, when her mother-in-law was on her death-bed. 6. That
Alexander Fraser was an actual minister under bishops, having
heen instituted by Bishop Murdo Mackenzie into the church of
Daviot. That he was really a tenant, having been removed from
Castle Grant before the proclamation of 1683, discharging chaplains
in any family without license from the Ordinary . . . And the
petitioner is willing to give all evidence of loyalty and affection to
the Government." This petition was read by the Lords of Council
on the 16th April 1685, and referred to a committee of their number.
The committee, after hearing the Earls of En*ol and Kin tore, and the
Laird of Grant and his advocates, gave in their report two days after,
when His Majesty's High Commissioner and Lords of Privy Council,
''find that the Lords Commissioners of the district of Moray, have
404 PAGES FOR THE YOUNG.
proceeded legally and conform to their commission in fining the
Laird of Grant £42^500, ordain the same to be put to further
execution, conform the tenor thereof, ay and till the said fine be
fully satisfied and paid."
After the Be volution the Laird of Grant seems to have been
active in promoting the interests of Presbyterian ism^ then at a low
ebb in Strathspey. The ministers of Cronidale (Mr. John Stewart),
Abemethy (Mr. James Grant), Duthil (Mr. Sweton Grant), Kirk-
michael (Mr. Colin Nicolson), were deprived by the Privy Council,
7th November, 1689, " on their acknowledgment of not reading
the Proclamation issued by the Estates, and not praying for King
William and Qcieen Mary.'* The " vagrant preacher in Sutherland,"
Mr. William Mackay, ordered by the Commissioners to be sent
prisoner to Edinburgh, was after the Revolution settled minister of
Dornoch. He was the only son of Mr. John Mackay of the family
of Achness, Sutherlandshire. He was appointed by the General
Assembly one of the visitors for the north side of the Tay, and was
translated to Cromdale in 1694, where he died in 1700. It was
probably through his influence that Mr. Donald Mackintosh was
translated in 1695 from the Parish of Farr, in Sutherlandshire,
to Duthil.
Seemingly the Laird of Grant was powerful enough to put off
pavment of his fine until the Revolution rendered him no longer
liable. " James Brodie of Brodie went up to Loudon to get if
possible some reasonable composition made for his fine. After much
paius and expense he was forced to give bond for 22,000 merks to
one Colonel Maxwell, a Papist, to whom that sum was paid, and the
ColoneFs acknowledgment is yet among the Brodie papers," or was
in the days of Wodrow. Alexander Brodie of Letben's fine was
gifted to the Popish (Scotch) College of Douay. It is believed that
a receipt for £30,000 Scots of the fine, paid to the Earl of Perth,
is among the Lcthen papers.
Perhaps some of our readers may ask what was the use of the
^Mievv gallows" erected at Elgin 1 An answer may be given in the
words of Shaw, the painstaking historian of the Province of Moray :
'Mt is probable that to please the Court and Bishops some execu-
tions would have been made if the King's death had not prevented
it." Similarly King, "Covenanters," in describing the proceedings
of the Commissioners, states : " Many of both sexes lay in jail.
Multitudes were fined ; more were under citation when the death
of the King raised the Court, and probably preserved the galUnes
unfleshed"
Pages for the Sauitg.
BIBLE QUESTIONS.
This is the last time I shall meet with my Bible Class this year, and I am glad
to see so many. It seems to me that the answers are improving in their quality,
au<l that the interest in our Bible studies is growing in those who have perse-
PAGES FOR THE YOUNG. 405
rered The way in which the little ones have put down in writing the old
Btory of Gain and Ahel, indicates a good understanding of its meaning. I have
been very much interested in the answers of a little boy of Thurso, just six
years of age, prepared, I am told, in a note, with almost no help. I give them
jost as they are sent me, only wishing I could have placed the hand-writing
before my readers. His motto Is, " Wee Laddie."
Cain aod Abel were sons of Adam and Eve. Cain was bad, and killed good
Abel. God punished Cain, and sent him away from his home.
Good answers have been received from : Aberdeen — Primrose ; Ayr — Obedi-
ence, Truth, Onward ; Goupar- Angus — Maggie, Deo ; Edinburgh — Youth,
OliTe Leaf ; Glasgow, Mains Street — Perseverance ; Kirkcaldy — Try ; Paisley
—Ada ; Perth — Excelsior, Violet ; Stranraer — Hope, Gentleness, Boyd ;
Tharso — Pansy.
The answers to the questions on the Life of Moses are not so numerous as
they have sometimes been, but the most of them are exceedingly good. We
give those of " Fides," Stranraer.
1. (a) The Lord my banner.
(&) In the land of Bephedim.
2. When the people saw that Moses was staying a long time on the mount,
they came unto Aaron and said, *' Make us gods, so tliat we may worship
them.** Aaron said unto them, *' Break off all your earrings and bring them
unto me." llie people obeyed, and Aaron made the golden calf and the people
worahippe<l it.
2. They had seen idols made in the form of oxen worshipped in Egypt.
3. (a) The tabernacle.
(6) It was divided into two parts, the "Holy Place,** and the "Moat
Holy Place.**
4. Numbers x. 35. Dent. i. 10 ; vii 6. ; viii. 2 ; ix, 26 ; xxvi. 18 ; xxxU. 9.
5. Kxodus xxxii. 30 to end. Numbers xiv. 15.
Correct answers have been received from Ayr — Sunrise ; Carluke — Violet ;
Carnoustie — Hopeful ; Goupar- Angus — Annie ; Edinburgh — Sincerity ; Glas-
gow—Hope ; Stranraer — Maggie, Mona, Noiram, Fides ; I'hurso— Persevere,
Primulae.
The senior portion of the Bible Class is in great force this month, numeri-
cally and intellectually. Instead of giving any one set of answers, I would
mention a few things which an examinati'in of the papers brought before my
mind. In the lists of the Parables the four that give the most are ** My
Helper," Ayr, with 54, "Consider the Lilies," Birsay, with 51, " Domine da
lucem,** Kirkcaldy, with 41, " Ecolier,** Ayr, with 38. There are one or two
references in the list given by ** My Helper ** which do not point really to
Parables such as *' Meats defiling not, Matthew xv. 10-15,*' and ** Chief seats
m a feast, Luke xiv. 7-11," but, leaving these out, the list is a remarkably full
and exhaustive one. That of "Ecolier** is admirably drawn up, giving in
colnnms that run down the side of the page the gospels in which each Parable
in contained. In answering the question, which of the Parables they like best,
there is, as we expected, difference of opinion, and good reasons given by many
for the preference. Fourteen express their preference for the Parable of the
Prodigal Son, three for that of the Lost' Sheep, two for that of the Vine and
its Branches, and two for that of the Good Shepherd, and one for each of these
other Ptoables, the Pearl of Great Price, the Good Samaritan, the Ten Virgins»
4o6
PAGES FOR THE YOUNG
and the Parable spoken when Jesus took children np in His arms and blessed
them, " Of such is the Kingdom of Qod." It is " Deua est Amor," Stnmraer,
who expresses his preference for the last Parable, and his reasons are, " the
simplicity and sweetness of the words used, and the strong love ol Jesus for
ittle children revealed in it."
Capital answers to all the questions have been received from : Aberdeen-
Fidelity ; Ayr — Daily Improving, Ecolier, Excelsior, My Helper, Rose ; Bir-
say— Consider the Lilies ; Carluke — W. J. ; Dundee — Labor vincit omDia,
Love; Dromore — Faith; Edinburgh — Lamb, Teach Me; Glasgow, Main Street
— Matthew vi. 33, Long-Sufferiog, Veritas ; Hamilton — For Christ's Crown
and Covenant ; Kirkcaldy — Domine da lucem ; Olrig — Thought Employed ;
Perth — Snowdrop ; Pollockshaws — Tertius ; Thurso — Hope ; Stranraer — Deus
est Amor, God is Love, Love ; Toberdoney — ^Beciuus Communis.
*' Love," Dundee, asks me if I arrange the mottoes in the order of merit. I
have not attempted this. They have just been grouped under the different
places from which they have come, and the places themselves have been
arranged alphabetically. In grouping them in this way I have not sought to
indicate merit by this order. This would be an extremely difficult task, for
most of the answers have been exceedingly good. I have examined during the
year 294 papers sent in from 110 different correspondents, and I do not rt-
member coming across one stupid or foolish answer. I subjoin a list of those
who have answered four times during the year, and shown intelligence in their
answers — indicating by an asterisk those who have never failed to answer—
who have sent in four papers. I can only give the " mottoes," but I have to
ask those who have used them to send in their names to me, and to change
their ** mottoes" for the ensuing year. 1 am afraid some mistakes may have
been made by the same person changing their motto during the year. But we
shall get to understand matters better by-and-bye, and all such mistakes will
be avoided.
Those under 13.
Ayr, Sunrise,*
Obedience,*
Truth,*
Upward.
Cupar- Angus, Annie.*
Carluke, Violet.
Carnoustie, Hopeful.
Perth, Excelsior,*
Violet,*
A Little One.
Stranraer, Fides,
Those over 13.
Aberdeen, Fidelity.
Ayr, My Helper,*
Ecolier,*
Daily Improving.*
Birsay, Consider the Lilies.
Carluke, W. J.*
Dundee, Labor vincit omnia,*
Love.*
Glasgow, Veritas,*
Matthew vi. 33.*
Hamilton, For Christ's Crown and
Covenant.*
Kirkcaldy, Domine da lucem.*
Olrig, Thought Employed.*
Perth, Zurushaddai.
Stranraer, Deus est Amor,
Love,
God is Love.
Toberdoney, Recinas Commonis.*
It will be seen that Ayr stands highest. The members of the classes there
have been very persevering. This will gladden the heart of the esteemed Either
of the Synod, who has always taken the liveliest interest in the lambs of his
flock. I trust that it may provoke others to a friendly rivalry during next year.
Maggi
Boyd.
PAGES FOR THE YOUNG. 407
There is a good deal of labour involved in examining the papers, but I will be
glad should the labour be greatly increased. I do think that if ministers, and
parents, and Sabbath-School teachers would interest themselves in the scheme,
there is not a congregation which would not be well represented.
The following are the Questions for December. Answers to be addressed
"0. S. Magazine, The Rev. R. Morton, 23 James Street, Perth."
Under 10.
Tell the following things about Samson :
1. Name three of his great feats of strength.
2. Where did his great strength lie ?
3. Which nation was he sent to punish ?
4. How did he lose his strength ?
0. When did he get it back ?
Undeb 13.
1. Describe Moses in his old a;;^.
2. Tell what you know about his death and burial.
3. Show from the New Testament that he had been faithful in his duty.
4 What special work of Moses does Christ refer to as being like His Own
work ?
5. In what circumstances was Moses seen long after his death ?
Above 13.
Luke X. 30-37.
1. To whom was this parable addressed ? and why ?
2. What was surprising in the conduct of the Priest and of the Levite ?
S. Prove from Scripture that a Samaritan was not likely to have pity on the
wounded traveller.
4. Of what value were the " pence " spoken of in verse 35 ?
5. Which precept of the Sermon on the Mount do you think the Good
Samaritan specially complied with ?
SERMON TO THE CHILDREN.
The Eaqle and her Young. Deuteronomy xxzii.-ll.
The leflsons for as in this verse are lessons from nature. This is a common
mode of teaching in the Bible. Moses is led to use a little bit of ornithology
or bird life to illustrate God's dealings with His children. Repeated allusions
to the eagle occur in Scripture. It is looked upon as the king of birds. The
largest known is about three and a half feet from the tip of its bill to the end
of its tail ; while its wings stretch out eight feet. No bird soars so high as
the eagle. Its home is among the rocks and crags of mountains. It is re-
markable for the great distance it can see, and its rapid flight. So surprisingly
vigorous Is it after moulting that it is said to become young again ; and be-
lievers, richly blessed of God, are described as renewing their youth like the
eagle.
" Bird of the broad snd sweeping wing.
Thy home is high in heaven."
Thoe are valuable lessons in this picture for old and young. Let us look
iimat
4o8 PAGES FOR THE YOUNG.
THE TOUKO BIBDS IN THE NEST.
We have to rise very high to see this. The boys and. girls who would
venture up here would almost need a balloon. The nest is on a projecting rock,
on a very high mountain. Around are the peaks of other mountains. It feels
dizzy like to look down into the great chasm beneath. But the old eagle aits
on the edge of the rock at that altitude with perfect composure. The little
birds are in the nest. Two things we learn about them. One is, that in their
in/ant condition, be/ore their feathers are grown, they are a picture of helpUii-
nea8. They can do little but lie in the nest. The old eagle, generally speak-
ing, must do everything for them — ^procure them food, feefl them, keep them
warm, protect them. These little birds cannot rise out of their nest, nor look
for their own food, much less help to provide food for others. How helpless
too we are naturally to rise heavenward, to go forth on a life of faith. We
cling to earthly things as the little birds cling to the nest. Till we become
like the Lord Jesus in our nature and disposition, we cannot rise to the con-
templation and enjoyment of heavenly things, as the real Christian can do,
just as the eaglets cannot lise and do what the mother bird does. Until one
believes in the Saviour he is without strength. Very much do we need God's
pity grace and care that strength may come into our souls.
Another thing we notice about the young birds is, that when their fecUkerA
are grown they acquire power to do an the mother bird does — tJuzt is, to fly. It is
similar with us when we believe in Jesus. Then we get power through the
Holy Spirit's influence to be like Christ, and to do as other Christians do. Vie
may not be able to fly so far nor rise so high as others can, but we have the
power to go in the same direction. It is a great event among the young
eagles when they begin to leave the nest*, and to fly away among the clou<ia.
It is no less important an event when we are led to live a life of faith and
heavenly-mindedness. With practice the young birds grow more confident,
rise higher, fly longer, and become more serviceable in their own sphere.
So is it with Christians. We gain facility in our endeavoui-s to live a life of
faith : wo look more steadily toward the Sun of righteousness ; and we rise
nearer to God in our spirit and character. Next notice
WHAT THE MOTHER BIRD IS ANXIOUS TO TEACH HER TOUNO.
Her great lesson is, to fly. It is not to fly down into the valleys or plains
to be captured and destroyed, but like herself to fly towards heaven. Is not
this the great lesson God is teaching us ? " Lay not up for yourselves trea-
sures upon earth, where moth and rust doth cormpt, and where thieves break
through and steal : but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, wher«
neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through
nor steal : for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Thii
world is not our rest, any more than the nest is the eagle's home ; so that thf
great lesson of the Bible and providences is, to rise heavenward. Many)
forget this and cling to earthly things as the young birds cling to their nests*
May we learn to rise upon the wings of faith and hope. Again, the mothef
bird in teaching her young to fly has in view the making of than
in life. She does not mean them to be always fed and protected by her : th
must become in turn feeders and protectors of others. They must learn
fulfil the end of an eagle's life. She does not mean them to continue nestli
in their present home, feeding and indulging themselves, and doing nothii
for the good of the universe. She will not have spoilt children, kept at hoi
PAGES FOR THE YOUNG. 409
doing nothing. BSagles must learu to soar in the air, be on the wing, and
Among the cloads. In like manner all who would be God's children must
learn to be serviceable. We must do something more in the werld than
simply attend to our own wants, lie up in our nest, watch the movements of
others, and pick all the faults we can in their flight. God means us all to be
of use. He will have no spoilt children any more than the eagle. '* Whatso-
ever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might."
BTTT HOW DOBS THE EAGLE TRAIN HBB YOUNO ?
To fulfil the end of their life jS^^e siira up her nest. The young birds at
first are very loath to leave the nest. They shrink from the venturesome
flights of their mother. They are best acquainted with the nest, and are con-
tent to remain there. But the mother bird is too wise and too true to their
interests to allow this. She must get them out, and they must learn to fly.
So the ea&;le stirs np the nest, plucks out the feathers, the bits of graas, the
Boft linings, and makes the nest very rough and uncomfortable. We have no
doubt the young eagles make a great ado about this procedure, uttering in
their own way great protestations, thinking it is a very hard thing to see their
own mother destroying their nest in this manner. But by this piece of bird-
craft the eagle compels her young to get out of the nest, and learn to fly.
Now this was what God did with the children of Israel. They had at first a
very comfortable nest in the land of Goshen where they were in danger of
settling down into forgetfulness of God. But Jehovah had another purpose
for them to fulfil. They must take possession of the Land of Promise, become
a great people, and serve God. The same Heavenly Friend deals in a similar
way with others when He wants to detach them from earthly things. He
makes their nest uncomfortable. An aged couple once remarked, ** When we
were well to do in our young days, and never had to trouble about to-morrow's
need, we didn't like it at all when God put poverty into our cup. But John,"
said the wife to her husband, " wasn't that the first thing that made us think
about laying up treasure in heaven ? " Young eagles that would lie always in
their nest would never become true eagles, fulfilling the end of their being :
nor will we be true Christians save as we rise in nearness to Christ in our
life.
Further, it is noticeable, that the eagle flutters over her young. This move-
ment is to teach the young how to fly, and induce them to fly. The young
eagles sec the mother bird with her wings spread out, as much as to say, that
is the way to fly. God teaches us also how to live a life of faith and to rise
heavenward by the example of Christ. The young birds all look to their
mother for lessons in flying ; we must look to the Saviour for all lessons re-
garding the Christian life.
That fiuUering too taught the young birds that flying was a possibility to
them. Their mother could do it : they too might do it. So are we taught by
the life of our Lortl Jesus, and of those, who have followed Him that the
Christian life is a possibility to us. In our own strength this is impossible.
Bat like an Apostle we may say, *'I can do all things through Christ who
strengtbeneth me."
One other thought is, the eagle taken her young upon her wings and heareth
them. By this means she accustoms them to flight, and learns them to expand
their own wings, while she rests them in their infant attempts at flight. It is
but little they can accomplish to begin with, and need much sympathy and
2 E
4 TO PAGES FOR THE YOUNG.
oare. This ia what God does for at. And the younger and feebler we are the
more does He care for and help ns. Speaking to the children of Israel, He
says, '* I bore you as on eagles* wings.*' He bore them on the broad wings o!
His promises. And just as the help of the mother bird comes to the young eagles
through her wings, so God's help comes to us through His promises. Believe
thus in the love and care of God, and make your home in the sky.
WHAT MR. MARK GUY PEARSE TOLD US.
We were on a holiday, my friend and I ; and we saw it announced that the
great Wesleyan preacher was to lecture on " The Old Folks at home **— the
Methodists of his native Cornwall and their * *■ religious notions. " The girls and
boys who read the Magazine surely know something about Daniel Quorm—
there is a delightful talk of his to the lambs which they should not miss ; and
they will understand why we wished so much to see and hear the man of
genius and the man of God who called Daniel into being.
It was a wonderful lecture. Jt set these quaint and tender and godly
Cornish people before us with such clearness that we seemed to have known
them all our days. Often the speaker made us laugh, and he went very
near sometimes to making us cry ; he tuned his harp to many strings, and
there was music in them all. But I want to tell you a little about fonr
pictures which he painted for us — four of the dear ** old folks " to whom he
introduced us. Each picture has a lesson to convey to yon and me.
HOW THE WEAKEST OK OOD's SAINTS CAN HELP ON HIS CAUSE : —
That will be the first lesson ; and the teacher is Old Rosie. Mr. Pearse
called her his " right reverend mother in God,*' for it was really she who had
made him a minister. He did not know her name, and he was not anxious to
find out ; all he knew was the name they had called her by when they were
children, ** Old Rosie,'* because of the bright fresh colour in her cheeks to the
last. She was a hundred-and-five years of age, and she had trusted Jesus
from the time when she was a little maid of eleven. She was stiff with
rheumatism now — so stiff and bent that she had to sit in bed night and day,
never able to lie down and rest. And she was very poor ; she lived in the
tiniest cottage in the village. But there was nobody so cheery and happy ; her
mind and heart were kept in perfect peace. How he loved her ! Every Sabbath
his father used to take him and his sisters to see her ; and they joined together,
she and they, in worshipping God. The girls might sit anywhere, for there
were three of them ; but the little lad had to get a place close up to the bedside,
that Old Rosie might put her hand on the curly head, and might breathe her
blessing over it. First they had a hymn — always the same hymn, " Rock of
Ages, *' to the same tune * ' Rousseau's Dream, ** because the children knew it so well ;
then a chapter was read ; then fiis father would lead them in prayer. An<l at
PAGES FOR THE YOUNG. 4II
the end came Ol<l Rosie's prayer. He did not like her prayer for a while— it
was the only bit of her that he wished different. This was what siie said :
" O Lord, bless the little lad — bless him, and make him a minister, for Jesns'
sake." He did not want to be a minister ; ministers were so glum, and, what
was worse, ministers were so poor. He wanted to be a doctor, and to ride
aboat the country, cutting off arms and legs, and doing other grand things.
But the time came when he could say Amen to Bosie's prayer. The gold
fever had broken out, and the Cornish miners were going away to make their
fortunes in the distant laud. Soon there was no one left to atteni to the
lonely woman ; and it was decided that she must be taken to the work-house^ —
the work-honse which looked so blue and cold. He would have given her his
own little crib, if that had been possible ; he haled the thought of Old Rosie
living in such a cheerless place. But there was no help for it. At last the
day came when she must be removed ; and at school he had to repeat his
Latin grammar — Rosa, a rose ; rosae, of a rase — as if there were any roses in
the wide world that he cared for, but one alone. He rushed home when
lessons were over, and broke into his father s room. ** Have they taken her
away ?" he cried, terribly impatient. ''Hush, my boy," his father answered
gently, ''God has sent His angels, and they have taken her home." That
morning, when they called her, she did not answer ; they found her dead. O
how he loved God for taking Old Rosie home ! And then it was that he said
to his father, " I will be a preacher because it will make her happy."
So you see, children, what great things God's little ones — girls and boys,
and poor old people — can do for Him.
HOW HIS SERVANTS SHOULD SHOW THE SHIWING LIGHT I—
That will be the second lesson ; and the teacher this time is Anthony the
miner. Anthony told Mr. Pearse his own story in his own words ; and you
wookl need to hear it, as we did, repeated in the strange and beautiful
Cornish dialect, to feel all its graphicness and force. But this was the
substance of it. In his old days he had been a very wild man, strong as a
lion, fierce and passionate. But the grace of God touched him and transformed
him altogether. About the same time the Holy Ghost seemed to be striving
with Susan his wife ; but one part of her went one way and the other part
went another. She halted between two opinions, and at last she refused to let
the blessed Spirit win the victory. She was angry at the change on her
husband, and she set herself to annoy him as much as ever she could. When
he knelt down to pray, she would come sweeping and dusting all about, telling
him not to throw the whole work of the household into confusion. " It was
modt agrovokin', Mr, Pearse," poor Anthony said. He wondered how
he cx>ald gain her to the side of God and Christ. He asked his Father in
heaven about it. " O Lord," he prayed, " show the woman what Thy grace
can do. '* And an answer seemed to come. He thought that he ought to get
up in the morning and light the fire for his wife. So he rose early each day,
and kindled the kitchen tire, pleading that the fire of heaven might begin to
glow and bum in Susan's heart, and then slipping out of the house once the
work was done ih order that the bright and cheerful flame might speak for
itself. Bat the effect of this wore off after a while. Again he had to present
his prayer, *' O Lord, show the woman what Thy grace can do. " And now he
dioaght that he should, brush the boots* And this was done, with the entreaty
412 PAGES FOR THE YOUNG.
that the guilt and stain of sin might be cleansed away from Susan's soul ; and
the boots were left to tell their own story. But by-and-by his wife grew
familiar with the new kindness. The old prayer had to go up afresh, "0
Lord, show the woman what Thy grace can do." And this was the answer,
" Take the pitcher to the well, and fill it, and bring it home." So the pitcher
was filled, .Anthony crying to God that the water which Jesus gives might be
in Susan's heart a well springing up into everlasting life. That was " firstly,
secondly, thirdly," now ; and still his wife was unmoved. But he did not lose
patience ; his Lord helped him to bear and forbear. His next service was the
preparation of the breakfast every morning. And yet the change did not
come ; the vision tarried. But the end was near at hand. One night, he bad
been out late at a religious service. When he came home, he found the door
barred against him, and the house dark, and Susan gone to bed. It was a
Bore temptation. His first impulse was to break the door in ; but the verse
came to him straight from the skies, '* He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause
his voice to be heard in the streets." He went and lay down under the
churchyard wall. Twelve o'clock struck from the church tower, and one
o'clock, and two ; he scarcely knew the time passing ; his Lord was making
him so comfortable, and was holding such sweet communion with him. Then,
a little after two, he saw something white coming to him. It might be a
ghost, but he felt no fear ; the Good Shepherd was with him. But it was no
ghost ; it was Susan, broken down with grief. " What has happened to yon,
Anthony ?" she sobbed, ** why do you never beat me now ? Why do you not
scold me as you used to do ?" ** I can't help it, Susan," he siid. **It isn't
me ; it's the love Christ has put into my heart ; it's the grace of Grod in me."
And they went home together ; and that night Susan gave herself to
Anthony's Saviour and Friend.
Has it not a wonderful influence — a Christian life ? I was reading the other
day some beautiful letters, sent home by a young lady who has gone as a
missionary to China. I was touched by one passage. Here it is : *' Many of
our passengers are changing here at Hong-Kong for other steamers. One has
just come up to say good-bye to us. We spoke a few words to him about going
on to know the Lord, and His being to us the Light of Life, and parted, our
friend saying most earnestly as he grasped my hand, ' Thank you very much
for showing that Shining Light.' " ** Showing that Shining Light " — there is
no sermon so quick and powerful, *' so living and active," as that. God help
you and me to preach it, dear children, every day and everywhere.
HOW LOVE IS LORD OF ALL : —
That will be the third lesson ; and our new teacher is Moses the fisherman—
the fisherman " whose religion is not so much a creed as a rapture." Once
Moses was far away from Cornwall, fishing off Sunderland. And the next
boat to his out on the fishing-grounds belonged to a very bad man. He did
Moses all the harm he could. He ran foal of his nets and destroyed them.
Yet Moses, like his Master, answered him never a word. The only thing he
did reprove him for was his terrible habit of swearing ; that cut him to the
quick. But one day there was a great storm; none of the boats could venture
out. Yes, there was one. Moses saw it from the shore, in danger every
moment of being dashed on the rocks. At the risk of his own life he put ont
from the harbour and saved it. Happily there was nobody in it ; but it was
PAGES FOR THE YOUNG. 413
very valuable itself, and ita nets and tackle. And whose boat do yon think it
was ? That of the man who had been so cruel. Out he came when he heard it,
penitent and weeping. '* YouVe saved my boat, Moses," he said, "but you've
broken my heart. What do yon call yourself, Moses?" '*I call myself a
Christian," the answer was. '* A Christian ! I never saw one before. I have
aeen Episcopalians and Presbyterians and Methoilists, but you are the first
Christian I ever saw. " It was the dawn of the new day on that poor darkened
heart. And now, Mr. Pearse said, there is no godlier fisherman sailing out
from Sunderland pier.
Yes, that is how we are to conquer stony hearts and win them for Jesus —
by loving them with all our might. '* Moses had a wonderful eye for anybody
in trouble," his friends said, even for enemies in trouble. If we have that
«ye — if we forgive one another, as God for Christ's sake has forgiven us —
we cannot tell what good we may do ; only the day when all secrets are re-
Tealed will disclose it.
»»
HOW THE KINO WILL CROWN HIS SKRVANTS IN THE END : —
That is the last lesson, and the teacher this time is Preacher Joe. In Com
wall there are many who proclaim, ** the old, old story of Jesus and His love,
though they have not been taught and ordained like ministers. '* They know
the path through walking in it," as the miller said whose words Mr. Pearse
<inoted, and they cannot help trying to guide erring feet into the Way of
Peace. Joe was one of these. It was in a little room, crowded to overflow-
ing, that Mr. Pearse heard this simple man preach the grandest sermon he
ever listened to. The text was : " To him that overcometh will I grant to
sit with iMe on My throne." Let me tell you a little of what Joe said.
First, he bade his hearers note who gave this promise. It was the Lord
Jesus ; and His promises were always kept — they never failed. Often men's
were forgotten. There was King Saul ; he promised that whoever killed
Goliath should have his daughter in marriage. And little David had looked
at the young woman, and had seen that she was pleasant and fair. ** Please
your Majesty," he said, ** I will fight Goliath." •* You, little David ! " Saul
•exclaimed, **you could never do it." **0h yes, your Majesty," the boy
answered, **once I killed a lion." "Tell the truth, David," and Saul shook
his finger solemnly at the lad, ** tell the truth ; how could you face and fight
and kill the lion?" "And a bear, too," David replied, **for, you see, my
Fatlier helped me." " Yonr father ! " the king said, " is he not Jesse, the
shepherd, down in Bethlehem?" " Yes, but I mean my other Father," the
boy explained, " the Lord up in heaven ; and He will give me strength to fight
the giant." So with his sling and his stone the brave lad triumphed. But
Saul refused to carry out his promise ; he did not give David his daughter.
Many a time men break their word ; Jesus never does.
Then Joe spoke of those to whom the promise was made. " To him that
overcometh," to all who were faithful unto death. " You have seen a recruit
ing sergeant," he said. " There he goes, enlisting soldiers for the Queen's
Army. But one man is too stout, and another is too thin ; and as for the
^romen and the old people and the little children — he will not look at them.
Ah, it is so different with the Lord. His promise is for everybody. ' To him
tliat overcometh,' whoever he be. I have heard tell of the Duke of Welling-
414 PAGES FOR THE YOUNG.
ton — ^not that I knew him myself ; but I have heard that every year, when
the day of the battle of Waterloo came round, he made a great feast, and in-
vited hia generals and his captains and his lieutenants and his ensigns to sapper
with him. But he never asked the corporals and the sergeants, and he nerer
thought of telling any of the privates to come. O no, they were not good
enough for the Duke of Wellington. But Jesus will have the privates, as well
as the generals, to sap with Him. His reward is for all, big and little, weak
and strong. ' To him that overcometh.* "
And then Joe had something to say about the weapon we are to use in fight-
ing the battle. It is Love — love to Him who first loved us. The thought of
(rod*s great kindness should make us strong and holy. How wonderfully He
has loved us ! Joe called out the cry which one Cornish fisherman addresses
to another when he wants to gain his attention : called it out to Abel up in glory
— Abel who had been so long in the happy land and should know so much
about God. And Abel came to the gate of Paradise to learn what he wanted ;
and he asked him to send down from heaven a rope, the longest rope in all
the glorious country, that he might measure the love of God with it. Bat
Abel answered that he could not do that ; that Joe — poor, simple Joe — had
the best rope in his possession already. " What," Joe said, " the rope that
will measure the breadth and length and depth and height of the love of
God ? " *' Yes," Abel replied, *' it is John Third and Sixteenth— God «o loved
you that He gave His only begotten Son that you should not perish. Indeed
there is no love-token like that ; and the thought of it, the experience of it,
should make us brave to tight the good fight."
And, once more, Joe spoke about what Jesus is going to bring us to. "To
Bit with Me on My throne." Is it not an exceeding precious promise? If the
Lord had said : " Only be faithful, and I will let you stand at the pearly gate
and look in on the glory," that would have gladdened Joe's heart. And if He
had said : " I will let you in to walk in the streets of gold," that would have
been better still. And if He had said : " I am keeping a place for you on the
lowest step of My throne," how could he ever have thanked Him for that?
But this was what He said : '* You will sit with Me on My throne, side by side
with Myself, at My right hand." How great was His goodness, and how great
was His mercy ! " Suppose," Joe went on, " suppose that I went to America,
and made some money, and built a little house, and sent home for my wife.
Do you think that, when she came, I would keep her standing outside the
door ? O no, I love her too much. And do you think that I would have her
stay in the porch ? Far from that, I love her too much. I would bring her
into the best room, and I would put her in the best chair, and I would sit
down at her side, my hand in hers. Just so it is with the Lord. He will not
let us remain at the pearly gate, nor in the golden street, nor on the lowest
step of His throne. O no. He loves us too much. He will say, ' Friend, come
up higher,* and we shall sit down with Him on His throne.'
It is a blessed promise, an overflowing reward. May it be ours, dear chil-
ren, when the battle is over and we come to the palace of the King.
LITERATURE. 415
ICiteratitre.
About three years ago "The Scottish History Society " was started,
umler the presidency of the Earl of Rosebery, for the special purpose
of discovering and printing unpublished documents illustrative of
the civil, religious, and social history of Scotland. The number of
members is limited to four hundred, the annual subscription being
one guinea, for which they are promised two goodly octavo volumes
of between three and four hundred pages each. All who are inter-
ested in the further elucidation of our country's history must rejoice
in the formation of such a, society, exclusive though it be, and
wish it all success in carrying out its praiseworthy objects. Al-
ready some half-dozen volumes have been issued, and among
these a high place must be assigned to the important work which
has been taken in hand by our esteemed contributor, Mr. D. Hay
Fleming, the first part of which appeared some months ago, entitled,
" Renter of the Ministers^ Elders, and Deacons of the Christian Con-
gregaiion of St. Andrews, comprising the proceedings of the Kirk
Session and of the Court of the Superintendent of Fife, Fotbrik, and
Stratheam. 1559-1600. Part First: 1559-1582. Transcribed and
edited from the Original Manuscript, with Preface and Notes by
David Hay Fleming. (Edinburgh, Printed at the University Press,
by T. & A. Constable for the Scottish History Society, 1889)." The
issues of the Society being confined to members, the general pub-
lic cannot procure any of them, however desirous to do so, and
we are indebted therefore to our good friend the Editor, for the
volnme that now lies before us, and some account of which we wish
to e;ive to our readers.
No more competent hand could hfive been found for the work of
transcribing and editing such a formidable document, and the manner
in which Mr. Fleming has thus far performed his herculean task re-
flects upon him the highest credit, and cannot fail to secure the
grateful approbation of the great body of his favoured fellow-members.
The following is his description of the unique manuscript from which
he has presented us with this handsome volume of nearly five hun-
dred pages, to be followed by another of like proportions.
"The original Register is a foolscap folio containing 300 leaves,
but four of the pages are blank. The 27th of October, 1559, is the
earliest date prefixed to an entry, and the last is the 7th October,
1600. David Spens had boldly written the title high on the first
page, the list of office-bearears of 1559 on the second page, and then
passed on to the third page. The space, which he reserved under
the title for some preliminary entry, has been utilised by a later
clerk. This part embraces the first 309 pages. The handwriting
varies very much, some of the clerks writing a clear bold hand,
others preferring letters almost microscopically small ; some have
written very carefully, others very hurriedly. Few have made the
slightest attempt at punctuation, and capitals are used in the most
4l6 LITERATURE.
arbitrary manner. Some of the earlier scribes have tried to keep all
the entries on each case together. Like many similar volumes it
was long given up as lost, and it still bears traces of the neglect and
bad usage to which it had been subjected, but is now safely preserved
in the University Library/' Then in regard to the internal character
of this Register, Mr. Fleming points out that ** among the surviving
Registers of Kirk Sessions this one is entitled to a prominent place
because of the early period it covers and the district with which it
is connected. It contains two documents of considerable interest
relating to pre-Refurmation times : it emphasises the fact that the
yoke of the Papacy was cast off in this country at an earlier date
than is usually imagined ; it embodies the recantations of many of
the old clergy, while their former faith was still nominally the
established religion of the nation ; it reveals the deplorable state into
which the people had been allowed to sink, and the earnest and un-
flagging efforts of the Reformers to cure the festering sores ; and
altogether it presents a faithful picture of the inner workings of the
new Church during the first forty years of its existence. In one
respect, perhaps, this Register stands alone. For eleven years after
Wynram's appointment as Superintendent of Fife, it preserves the
record of his Court as well as of the Kirk Session, and consequently
embraces transactions concerning people and places far beyond the
bounds of the parish of St. Andrews."
We have had the privilege of looking into the original venerable
tome, and we arc at a loss which to admii-e most, the courage and
perseverance of the man who could face the task of deciphering and
transcribing it, or the laborious research and painstaking care which
everywhere mark the no less onerous task of editing it. That the
editor has gone ubout his w*ork con avwre is very evident, for nobody
but an enthusiast in the study of our ecclesiastical annals would have
dreamt of venturing single-handed upon such an undertaking. The
book is indeed a valuable one in many wajs, particularly as giving
us, so to speak, *' a peep behind the scenes," showing, as it does, the
actual working of the new order which the Reformation introduced.
It sheds importmt light upon the moral and spiritual condition of
the people at that period, and confirms what historians like M Crie
tell us of the baneful influence of that iniquitous system of Romish
superstition and corruption which had for generations reigned supreme
in our land. It shows that it was verily no easy task the first
Reformers were called to grapple with, for more difficult and un-
promising material to operate upon could not well be conceived. Yet,
conscious of being divinely summoned to the work, they manfully
faced it, and were enabled by God's grace to persevere and gradually
to effect a loudly-called-for change in the state of the community,
socially, morally, and religiously.
The value of the volume has been greatly enhanced, especially to
readers unlearned iu the Scotch tongue, by an elaborate preface,
written in the editor's well-known graphic style. In this, after a
brief account of the state of things prior to the Reformation with
which the Reformed Kirk-Session was called to deal, a full and inte-
LITERATURE. 4^7
resting description i» given of the general contents of the volume.
The more prominent subjects and outstanding typical cases are re-
ferred to — such as the election of elders and deacons — the character
of the Session's procedure — marriage — divorce — Sabbath-breaking,
and other forms of evil for ivhich discipline was administered — and
the seveml forms such discipline assumed. As might be anticipated,
there is a good deal of not very savoury reading throughout the
record, for immorality and crime, the natural fruits of the corrupt
religious system that had so long debased the people, sadly prevailed,
aud the evil-doers were not spared but faithfully dealt with. In
regard to the Kirk Session's plans and modes of procedure, Mr.
Fleming in his preface remarks — " Some of these, it must be con-
fessed, seem har8b^hl the light of the nineteenth century, and they were
doubtless felt to be\o by those who had been so long accustomed to an
easy laxity of manners. Indeed, obstinate sinners occasionally re-
fused to comply with them, but in the end they had to submit. The
apparent harehness can only be justified by the necessity of the
times. Aud the perusal of the BegUter is far from leaving the
impression that the office-bearers meant to be cruel. Although de-
termined to put down sin, tenderness was often shown for the feelings
of the transgressor, and a manifest reluctance to proceed to extremi-
ties is not rarely revealed. In the words of a citation issued against
A notorious offender, the Session was ' willing to wyn synneris wyth
i)ttietne8 rather nor sevirite to repentans, evir hoping from day to day
willing obedience and satisfaction.' ''
Throughout the volume there is a profusion of most interesting and
valuable notes, biographical and historical, which, perhaps, more than
anything else indicate the editor's wide research and the fulness and
accuracy of his knowledge. He generously acknowledges liis obliga-
tions to several learned gentlemen for assistance rendered, but we are
sure they will be the first to recognise the vastness of the labour he
himself has expended on the work, and the eminent satisfactoriness
of the result. We understand that the second volume is well ad-
vanced, and when completed the whole will be a monument of
untiring industry and of devotion to a noble pursuit, which will
do lasting honour to the hand th^it raised it, and that must be grate-
fully received by those who take an interest in that blessed work of
Reformation by which our land was so signally delivered from Popish
darkness and tyranny, and brought to the enjoyment of the light and
liberty of the glorious Gospel.
In the series of Handbooks for bible classes and private students,
the preparation of a commentary on the Gospel according to John
vas eutruMted to the Kev. George Reith, M.A., Glasgow. The result
of his labours has now been published in two volumes : St, JohrCs
Goi^ with Introduction and Notts (Edinburgh : T. ib T. Clark).
Tbe task was not one without difficulty, but it has been well managed.
In the introduction we have, first of all, a very interesting and sug-
gestive sketch of the life and character of the Apostle John, and then
41 8 LITERATURE.
a careful outline of the defence of the Johannine authorship of the
Fourth Crospel, which the writer cordially accepts. He thus disposes
of one main objection to the position adopted by him. " It has
been alleged that the Galilean fisherman was incapable of producing
such a writing, because it implies a familiarity with Greek philosophy
inconceivable in his case. The point of this objection lies, in fact, in
his application of the term Logos to the Son of God. But it may be
said generally that on the supposition of John being resident in
Ephesus for some considerable time, and becoming more or less
acquainted with the religious and philosophic speculations which were
rife in that world, there appears to be every reason why we might
expect him to meet the demands and questionings of the Greeks —
believing and unbelieving — with the presentation of his Lord as being
that perfect utterance of God which the human mind w^as craving for.
More than this implies of knowledge of the Alexandrian gnosis the
Gospel of John does not contain. It is saturated with the thought
of the Old Testament, only illumined by the Spirit of the Lord Jesus
Christ." After a well-informed and concise discussion as to the place
and date of the composition of this Gospel, he deals no less ably and
suggestively with the object and scope of the Gospel. It is shown
that a doctrinal purpose runs through his whole work, guiding tlie
choice of incidents in the life of our Lord, and the way in which they
are treated. '' The Gospel is, in short, a theological treatise, founded
on historical facts no doubt, yet to all intents and purposes a doctri-
nal work, in the course of which we are never permitted to be out of
sight of the main scope of the writer. The ^rst three evangelists
simply state the incidents, allowing them to convey their own im-
pression. John has fused together incidents and inferences, facts
and doctrines ; so that, in place of having merely the history, you
have the history and something more — ^the deep, spiritual significance
of the history." A recent writer has used this didactic aim to throw
doubt upon its historical accuracy, but Mr. Keith has no sympathy
with such a view. Perhaps he goes far enough in making light of
the verbal accuracy of the reports of our Lord's sublime discourse
found in this Gospel. It may be true that " what is important is not
the literal report of every word used, or nothing except the words
used by the Lord in His discourse ; but the faithful impression con-
veyed of the truths taught by Him, of the thoughts which He meant
to become the possession of mankind," that " it is only a summary of
His discourses that we have"; but it is difficult to believe that some
of the sublime words put into onr Lord's lips were not actually
uttered by Him. This, indeed, is granted, but we do not see what
end is gained in calling in question even the substantial verbal accu*
racy of what is reported. As serving this purpose, the Fourth Gospel
is complementary to the others, and it needs all the four to give
an adequate representation of Christ's many-sided character and
work. " Doubtless John's record is an advance on the others ; it
presupposes the others (just as Paul's doctrine of Christ is an advance,
and presupposes more of dogmatic fulness than is explicitly contained
in these) ; but it is not truer than the others, and cannot supersede
LITERATURE. 4I9
them. Without the first three we should have in John a spiritual,
sublime sketch, lifting us out of life's common conditions; deep-sighted
views of Christ's office and essential nature. But we should feel that
we needed something to go before — something showing us a little more
of the actual touching of the ladder stretched down from heaven on
the Son of Man with our earth. Without John we should feel that
there were Teachings out beyond what we had in these three records,
that something was needed to follow from it all, the end of the ladder
being lost in the clouds, rather than the clear vision of the Father
standing at the top of it." After a survey of the steps of proof by
which John establishes his doctrinal position — that Jesus is both the
(Jhrist and the Son of God — a suinrey in which the contents of the
Gospel are summarised— the able introduction ends with the mention
of some of its general characteristics. The Notes are very numerous,
and, so far as we have been able to examine them, very helpful to a
ng;ht understanding of the text. This is a very valuable addition to
this admirable series of handbooks.
Professor Salmond has completed his exposition of the Shorter
Catechism in the issue of a third Bible Class Primer dealing with
this subject. An Exposition of the Shorter Catechism (Edinburgh :
T. & T. Clark). It is the exhibition of the way of life — of ** what
redemption implies on our side, and on what the possession of it
depends," contained in the concluding part of the Catechism, from
question 82ud to the end, that is treated. It is well said in the short
but admirable preface, that this section '* puts the crown upon the
teaching of the Catechism by its exposition of the way of life which
(jod has set before us in the Gospel, explaining both the conditions
which He attaches to it, and the means which He has provided with
A view to our attaining to it and advancing in it." The exposition
of this section, like that of former sections, is characterised by great
insight and lucidity, and will prove an excellent and suggestive guide
to teachers.
If present controversies lead to a study of the Westminster Con-
fession of Faith on the part of the people, they will issue in good. It
is to be feared that a great many who cry out against this document
know very little about it. A cheap edition of it has been published
by Mr. James Gemmell, Edinburgh, giving not only the text, but
also the texts of Scripture on which its various doctrinal statements
are based. A short preface, giving reasons why we should circulate
and study this Confession at the present time, is written by Dr. Moir
PorteoQB, of Edinburgh.
420 NOTES BY THE WAY.
iXottfi bg tije SSia5«
Dr. Marcus Dod&
If the hope was cherished by any that the responsibilities of office
would baye a sobering and steadying effect upon Dr. Marcus Dods
his conduct since his induction into his chair must have greatly dis-
appointed them. When recently preaching before a gathering of
young meu in St. Giles, Edinburgh, he reproduced a sermon which
led to very serious questionings when it was delivered on former
occasions. His subject was, what was essential to being a Christian,
and he reduced this simply to a belief that Christ was able to unite
us to God. Every one who had this belief was entitled to be re-
ceived as a Christian, eveu though he might reject all doctrines about
Atonement, the Godhead of Jesus, and the supremacy and in-
tegrity of Holy Scripture. He guarded his position by saying that
mature Christians would have a knowledge and faith about these
things. Still a man might be a Christian and yet be without them.
What is the use of thus trying to minimise the amount of belief
necessary to being a Christian f His friends say that he is endeavouring
to retain on the Christian side those attached to it by a slender thread,
so that the strength of that thread may be increased. We question
very much if such an end will be attained by such tactics. I'he
times which have been most characterised by spiritual conquests
have not been those of a weak faith, but of a faith which has been
strong and full. Paul did not win his moral and spiritual victories by
carefully explaining to men how little they might believe, and yet
come uithin the fold of the Gospel. His words glowed with his own
bunting conviction of the reality of unseen things, and they produced
conviction in them that heard him. '^ We believe, and therefore
speak," was the principle upon which he acted. We notice that Dr.
Pentecost has been uttering some seasonable and weighty words on
this very subject '* The business of the preacher of the Gospel is not
so much to keep abreast of the times, as to do all in his might to
keep the times abreast with the Gospel. If Jesus Christ was the
Son of (^od in the first century. He is the Son of God to-day. If His
death was sacrificial, and of the nature of an expiation of sin, offered
up to God, because of the eternal law of righteousness, in the first
century, the nature of that offering has not been changed in the
nineteenth century. If Jesus Christ did rise from the dead, a real
though glorified Man, having 'fiesh and bones,' and so pass into
Heaven, to take His seat at the right hand of God, then that is the
fact to-day. If these three great facts — not the theories concerning
them — were the essentials of the Christian faith, and so essential to
saving faith, in the first century, then they are the essentials of
saving faith to-day."
" No preacher of the Gospel has any more right to teach that a
man may believe less than these, than he has a right to deny any
one of them. If Christ was not the Son of God (in the sense undei^
N01*ES BY THE WAY. 42 1
Stood by evangelical theologians) their belief in the divinity of Christ
is not essential to salvation ; but if He is the Son of God, declared to
be BO by Incarnation and Resurrection, their belief in Him, as such,
is essential to salvation, both for young converts and mature
Christians, and to teach that one may believe less than this, is to
teach what God has given no man warrant for so doing. If Christ's
death was an expiation for sin offered up to God (not a mere sub-
jective manifestation of the love of God to man, and His hatred of
sin) on account of which He can and does justify sinners, and without
wliich He neither does nor can justify them, then a belief in such an
atonement is necessary to salvation. If Cliriat did rise from the
dead, bringing with Him the human body which He received from a
human mother, and in which He was put to death — however, it may
have been changed in resurrection — and if without such a resurrection
our * faith is vain and we are yet in our sins,' their belief in the
resurrection of Christ, in that sense, is essential to salvation, and we
may not modify the doctrine to suit the so claimed inability of men
to believe it, or teach that anything less than such a faith is
essential to salvation." These are well-weighed words, and with the
sentiments expressed in them we express our cordial concurrence.
Dr. Dods' conduct in this matter has been well described in a peri-
odical very friendly to him as a theological Blonditiism which ought
to be discouraged and condemned. Blondin proved that it was pos-
sible to cross Niagara on a tight rope, but the feat is not one to
which people should be invited. And it may be possible to get to
heaven on a very slender thread of faith, but why should the experi-
ment be tried. The danger of all such discussions is very well
illiiBtrated, in suggesting the question, " With how little morality
may a man be a Christian]" If the preacher sliould urge his
hearers ever to strive after a high morality, he ought also to urge
them to strive after a full and cordial belief in the Gospel message.
Dr. Dods, we notice, shelters himself behind the fact that this sermon
four years ago was preached before the General Assembly and allowed
to pass without notice — and that all other writings expressing senti-
ments which his opponents condemn were published when the
Assembly elected him to the chair which he now occupies. It will
not l^ easy to reach him and deal with him after all this has hap-
pened, but if such teaching is sanctioned in the Free Church its title
even to the name evangelical is gone.
GAMBLING.
In the current number of one of our monthlies one of the writers
puts these words into the mouth of one of his characters. " There's
a great deal said about drunkenness being the national sin, but I be-
lieve that it is betting that is at the root of half of the evils of the
day." The prevalence of the betting, gambling spirit is one of the
sad signs of our tiii.es. It is an evil which must be grappled with if
our young men and women are to be saved from ruin. It is one in
relation to which the Church must take up a bolder and more cou-
fiisU»nt attitude than it has yet done, if it is to crush it. We notice
422 NOTES BY THE WAY.
that our esteemed brother at Carnoustie has beeu discussing the sub-
ject of lotteries at church bazaars, and from a notice of the lecture
in a local paper we take the following extract.
'* Scripture shows that the use of the lot is warrantable and bene-
ficial in certain circumstances and mutters. It was had recourse to,
however, only in matters of importance, as in the detection of Achan,
the troubler of Israel, in the division of the land of Canaan among
the twelve tribes, in the choice of Saul as king, and in the election of
Matthias to the apostleship. It was used also when there seemed
no other way of these important matters being satisfactorily deter-
mined in the use of ordinary means. It was gone about in a solemn
and reverent manner, with the exception perhaps of the lottery by
the Roman soldiers at the foot of the cross for the seamless robe of
Christ. And when the decision was given by the lot it was readily
acquiesced in as an expression of the divine will on the matter. But
these features of the approved Scripture lot will be looked for in vain iu
bazaar lotteries and raffles. The very contrary features are conspicuous
in them. The plea> often urged on their behalf are that they are for
gool objects ; that valuable goods could not be otherwise disposed of;
and that they are encouraged and joined in by good people and
persons of standing in the Church and in the community. But
these pleas cannot stand the test of any close and candid examination.
I'he end does not justify the means. And the best of m^n are ofteu
found complying with what has become fashionable without proper
consideration, and even against their inclination and better judgment.
In matters of moral right and wrong we are not to follow blindly the
example or teaching of any person. And whilst the pleas urged on
behalf of bazaar lotteries and raffles are very weak and untenable,
the positive objections to them are numerous and strong. If regarded
as an appeal to God, they encourage irreverence and are a profana-
tion of His nama If not so regarded, they deny and ignore the
divine providence, without which even a sparrow cannot fall to the
ground. Their tendency is to beget and foster a covetous aud
envious and discontented spirit. They are unfriendly to honest in-
dustry, alike in the case of those who win and those who lose. Their
tendency is to make people seek to obtain material good by fortunate
speculation, and to despise and shirk honest patient labour and pains
— labour, which is the ordinary condition of all solid and safe
material prosperity. And, not to mention other evils, they are just
a form of gamblini^ and foster a gambling spirit. Stripped of all
their specious pretences they are gambling pure and simple. Their
avowed aim is to enrich oneself at the expense of another — is to get
possession of the object raffled without giving for it any proper
equivalent. There are other besides bazaar lotteries. Every now
and then, in our large towns and cities, and even in our country
villages, there are lotteries and raffles started for pure gain to their
promoters, which arc winked at by the authorities for a time till they
have done so much harm that the law is put in force to stop them.
Those who would have recoiled from going to such lotteries at first are
being trained to go to them by Church and Christian Association
NOTES BY THE WAY. 423
bazaar lotteries. The young, and older people too, will reason that
if it is right for them to raffle and risk a little for the good of the
Church or a Young Men's Christian Association, it cannot be wrong
to do this to better their own position, and to gain for themselves some
desirable advantage. But lotteries and raffliug are only one form of
gambling, and have an obvious tendency to lead to betting and other
numerous forms which the practice has assumed. And this gambling
is an awful vice. It blunts all the finer feelings and destroys all the
nobler instincts of the soul, and is destructive of all the best interests
of society. It has obtained firm foothold amongst all classes, and
those who have studied the question testify that it is largely on the
iucrease. What a terrible responsibility, then, do those assume who
in the sacred name of religion promote and encourage practices
which are fitted to implant in young and old the beginning of this
vice — fitted to set them agoing on the gambler's slippery incline,
which, if mercy prevent not, ends in perdition. The evil results
which thus flow from these lotteries may greatly counterbalance the
good effected by the churches and institutions in whose interests
they are held. They cannot but lower the Church in the estimation
of the world. It says little for the spiritual life of the Church if her
work cannot be carried on without having recourse to them. And
look at them in what light we may, they cannot be regarded as
honouring to the Church's divine Lord and Master, whose glory
should ever be her chief concern. Consider what has now been
said, and, if convinced that bazaar lotteries are wrong or even
doubtful, refuse in any way to encourage them. Be careful not
to profane the great name of God by word or deed. Should you
appeal to Him in any way appointed in His Word, let this be done
with reverence and solemnity. Do nothing on which you cannot
expect and ask the Divine blessing. Avoid gambling in every form,
in small matters as well as large."
(Ecjclcfiiaetiral intclligciue.
MiDLEM. — At a meeting of this congregation, held on 7th October —
Kev. J. Sturrock presiding — a unanimous aud most cordial call was
given to Mr. James Young, probationer, Perth.
Edinburgh Pkesbytery. — At a meeting of this Presbytery, on 14th
October, a unanimous call from Midlem congregation was laid on the
table, addressed to Mr. James Young, probationer, Perth, which was
cordially sustained. Next meeting was appointed to be held on
Tuesday, the 19th of November, when the call will be presented to
Mr. Young.
Glasgow, ^ridgeton. — Another session of the Home Circle in con-
nection with this congregation was opened on the evening of the 15th
ult. There were about 100 persons present. The president, Mr.
John Allan, opened the meeting with praise and prayer. He then
gave an interesting address, in which he dwelt upon the benefit that
members of the Home Circle had received through its exercises in
previous years ; the similar benefits that others might expect were
424 ECCLKSIASTICAL INTELLIGENCE.
they now to connect themselves with it; and the encouragement
that they received in this and io every other good work from their
pastor, because of the active interest which he took in all their pro-
ceedings. The honorary president, the Rev. John M'Kay, then read
a lengthened, instructive, and interesting lecture on " The National
Covenant of Scotland/' At the close of the lecture a vote of thanka
was awarded to the lecturer, and remarks were made on the bet
means of bringing our excellent principles more fully before the
public. The meeting was closed with the benediction.
Resignation. — At a meeting of the Glasgow Presbytery, on 8th
October hist, the resignation by the Rev. A. Miller of the pastoral
charge of the Kirkintilloch congregation, which had been lying on
the table from a previous meeting, was accepted, and the pastoral
tie between him and the congregation dissolved.
Paislbt. — We are pleased to learn that an esteemed and honoured
member of the congregation here, who has recently passed away, has
bequeathed £800 to the Building Fund, and £400 to the Foreign
Mission Fund of the Church.
Perth and Aberdeen Prrsbytbry. — At a meeting of the Presby-
tery at Arbroath, on the 29th of last month, a unanimous call from
the Kiriiemnir congregation, in favour of Mr. Samuel Walker,
preacher, was laid on the table and sustained. Mr. Walker, who wa»
present, intimated that his mind was made up in reference to the
matter, and his decision was to decline the call. On hearing this,
leave was asked to withdraw the call, and this was granted by the
Presbytery. After the ordinary business, the Presbytery proceede<i
to the church for the ordination of Mr. David Finlayson, preacher,
to the office of the Holy Ministry, and of the Synod's Missionary to
India. A large congregation had assembled. The services were
commenced with praise and prayer, led by the Moderator of Synod,
the Rev. P. M* Vicar. The sermon was preached by the Rev. G.
Anderson, late of Seoui, from Genesis xxii. 18 — ^'In my seed shall
all the nations of the earth be blessed." Mr. Stirling narrated the
steps of procedure, put the questions of the formula to Mr. Fmlay-
son, and offered up the ordination prayer, during which Mr. Finlay-
son was solemnly set apart to the sacred office, to the work of which
he has devoted himself. Mr. Gardiner thereafter suitably and
earnestly addressed the young missionary, basing his remarks upon
Paul's exhortation to Timothy — 2 Tim. iv. 5 — ** Watch thou in all
things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full
proof of thy. ministry." Mr. Hobart addressed the people, and
brought the interesting and solemn services to a closejwith praise and
prayer. We understand that our young brother sails for India in
the course of a week or two. We earnestly commend him to the
prayers of the whole church, that God may bless him in the begin-
ning of his way, and make him a blessing in the dark land to which
he has been sent.
Editorial Note. — The long letter of " Protester " on the question
of the Revision of the Confession of Faith came too late for anything
be ng done with it in this number.
THE
ORIGINAL SECESSION MAGAZINE
JANUARY. 1890.
THE OUTLOOK.
It (iocs not i*equive very keen diBcerument of the signs of the times
to forecast a stirring year as lying b«fore us. We we carrying with
us, from the old year to the new, elements of strife and change in
almost every department of society. There is no feeling of security,
stability, or firmness anywhere in Church or in State. People arc
everywhere asking : Whither ? whither are all these forces of dis-
integration and change so actively at work to lead us ?
The voice of social discontent is growing louder and louder, and is
tioding expression in those strikes, in which the triumph of labour
over capital i8 virtually sought. Nothing will evidently satisfy some
bat that labour shall be allowed to command the market at its own
tcrais. There is no doubt that labour has not always in the past
I'eceived a fair and just share in the profits reaped from it. Colossal
turtuues have often been too quickly raised for much justice to be
(lone to the labour that has had a principal share in building them
up ; and too high interest has been paid on invested capital, for justice,
not to speak of generosity, to be given to thoee whose labour has
been employed by it. The way in which some public companies
treat their employees — depriving them almost altogether of the
Sabbath rest — ^making their working-day of such length that they are
strangers in their own homes, has been such that recent exposures of
it have enlisted wide-spread sympathy on behalf of the latter. The
rights of labour must be far more fully recognised ere the social
organism can be placed on a stable basis. But there is a distinct
danger of the pendulum swaying too far to the other side. All the
more so, since, behind this present-day labour agitation, there is a
force that proclaims war against all capital, and seeks the reconstruct
NO. VII. VOL. XIX. 2 F NEW SERIKS.
426 THK OUTLOOK.
tion of society ou godless and materialistic priuciplcs. Tbe extreme
socialists have come prominently forward in connection with recent
strikes, and will, doubtless, seek to use them to advance their own
theories. It is but too apparent that the conflict between labour and
capital is entering upon a new and more acute stage, and it will
depend upon the manner in which it is guided and controlled as to
the issue. The exercise of capital in the past has been too little
under the control of moral and religious principle, with the result
that it has inflicted great injustice upon the labouring class. But if
labour free itself from all ethical control in its demands even wone
consequences may follow.
In the political sphere, there is increased attention being paid to
social questions. In the recent addresses of the leaders of different
sections they have been discussed from different standpoints. A
great mistake is made when it is imagined that State interference
can heal all social evils. Still there is a great and fruitful work
here for the State to do in the way of making well-doing easy,
and wrong-doing difficult. It will be acknowledged by all who
have looked at the matter from a moral and religious standpoiut,
that labour questions would be much more easily solved were tbe
drinking habits of large masses of the labouring people corrected.
^* A year's remission of our national drink bill," it has been well
said, " would solve every labour question extant." It is by the
sanction of the State, and under its control, that the enormous liquor
traffic — which is so terribly demoralising the people — is carrying oi>
its work. Not until it is earnestly and thoroughly dealt with will
one of the main obstacles to our social progress be removed. So loDfc
as it is allowed the freedom it has, it will defeat every remedy applied
to the healing of social evils, whether sanitary or educational. The
earnest facing of this and other social questions must be reckoned
among the hopeful signs of the times. The purifying of the Augean
stable of politics themselves is a task waiting for some modem
Hercules. In the discussion of political questions it is not, in a great
many cases, the truth that is sought, or the common weal that is the
great concern, but rather the skilful manipulation of facts, or sides of
them, to serve a party purpose. There is so much unreality, insin-
cerity, and underhand dealing, that many feel constrained to stand
aloof altogether, and not soil their fingers with the dirty work. What
is often said or done argues a low moral tone, and an utter lack of
any sense of religious obligation in the matter. And what is most
surprising and astonishing is that many of the men who thus speak
and act are above the suspicion of immorality in their individual
lives. The obligations which they own in their private life seem
THE OUTLOOK. 427
to be thrown aside whenever they enter the arena of public life. The
sincere recognition of God's supremacy over one's public as well as
private life — over nations as well as individuals — and a sense of
accountability to Him, is what is iu*gently needed. Not only would
it purify and elevate our civil and political life, but it would let
needed light in upon vexed questions, and further their satisfactory
settlement. It would regulate that unhealthy desire for change —
constant change — which has palpable dangers.
To the Church the message has been given : — Proclaim among the
liations that God reigns. But here too, there is unrest, and the cry
for change. There is not certainty in its owns consciousness as to the
message divinely given to it. Some, like Dr. Marcus Dods, would
rednce it to a minimum, containing nothing more than the fact that
Christ lives, and this unloaded with any doctrine about His Divinity
or Substitution. They would conciliate the world by eliminating
everything from the Gospel message that would be offensive to it.
Whatever their own beliefs may be, they would carefully conceal
everything which, to their thinking, might possibly give any offence
to those they hoped to win to Christ's side. But as Dr. Watts of
Belfast, in his able pamphlet on the matter, clearly points out, a
distinct message is given to the Gospel minister, and he is bound to
proclaim it whether men will receive it or not. As to the way in
which he presents it, he must take care not to give needless offence,
but as to its substance he is not at liberty to change it or to hide
any part of it. It were a small thing, however, were Dr. Dods the
only one who endorses such views. His position indicates a ten-
dency that is very widely-spread, and which is seeking liberation
from our old and time-honoured creeds. The Westminster Confes-
sion of Faith, which has produced such grand results in the past
liistoiy of the Protestant Church, is being put into the crucible, both
here and in America,' and the desire of those who are promoting this
movement is to obtain freedom from strict adherence to its teaching.
l>r. Schaff of New York, thus states what is desired by many, and it
may be noticed that it is so far on the same lines as Dr. Dods' teach-
ing. *< We need a Theology, we need a Confession that starts, not
from eternal decrees, which transcend the utmost limits of our
thoughts, not from the doctrine of justification by faith, nor from
the Bible principle, nor from any particular doctrine, but from the
living person of Jesus Christ, the God-Man and Saviour of the world.
This is the burden of Peter's confession, the fruitful germ of all
caneeds : this is the central fact and truth on which all true Christians
can agree. We need a Theology and a Confession that is inspired
and controlled, not by the idea of Divine justice, which is a consum-
'4^8 WORDS FOR THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.
ing fire, but by the idea of Divine love, which is life and peace."^
There is truth in the statement that the divine purpose or decree is
the governing principle — the architectonic principle — of the West-
minster Confession. But as another American theologian has
pointed out, if the Westminster divines erred in selecting this as the
ground principle, thfly followed the example of those who framed the
(Ecumenical Creeds of Christendom. "Setting aside the apostle's
creed, which is a liturgical and not a doctrinal document, the re-
sponse of the regenerated heart, and not distinctively of the scientitic
intellect, all of them are like the Westminster Confession, in that
they start with Grod and present revealed truths sub specie etemitatU."'
What the issue of the agitation may be no one can tell, but it is tou
evident that it cannot now be allayed.
Our comfort and hope is, that God is over all, and will make
•every movement directly or indirectly subordinate to the accomplish-
tuent of His great purposes. The regenerjation of society can never
be hopeless, so long as the eye of faith sees Him fighting against the
forces of error and evil. The ultimate conservation of truth — all
truth to a knowledge of which our fathers were led, and which was
embodied by them in the standards which they handed down to tis—
is secured by His gracious and all-wise providence.
God moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform,
He plants His footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.
Deep in unfathomable mines,
Of never-failing skill.
He treasures up His bright designs,
And works His sovereign will.
WORDS FOR THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.
II. — ABOUT THE rBRFKCT SAFETY OP CHRI8T*8 SHEEP.
" Neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand " — John x. 28.
Twice over, in Jerusalem, during the last months of His life, Christ
made use of the allegory of the shepherd and his sheep. Perhaps it
was suggested to Him, on the earlier occasion at least', by the sight
of a sheepfold and of the bleating flocks gathered within it for safety
» " Presbyterian Review," Oct. 1889, p. 552. « Do., p. 572 •
WORDS FOR THE CHRISTIAN L1F£. 429
through the dark and perilous hours of the night. But it is scarcely
ueedful to have recourse to such a supposition. The minds of Jesus
and His disciples were familiar with the thought of the shepherd's
oHico and work. The Old Testament is full of it. The greatest
heroes of Israel — Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David — had all been
shepherds. And there is no more frequent picture of the Messiah in
psalm and prophecy. Over and over again the Lord had been
portrayed as a Shepherd, in whom the strength and wisdom and care
and love symbolised by the name, and found in many who bore it,
were to reach their highest and their best. When the Master spoke
of Himself as the Shepherd, and of His people as the sheep of His
pasture, we may be quite certain that He meant to recall to those
who beard Him these sayings of the Scriptures they held so dear.
Twice over He used the allegory. The first time was at the Feast
of Tabernacles in the October before He died. Then He uttered that
sweet and pregnant discourse which fills the opening verses of this
chapter. He saw with gladness that a little flock was gathering it-
self around Him, coming away from the uubelieviug priests and the
careless people, and boldly taking His part. He spoke of its members
in terms of the highest praise. " These are My sheep," He said,
" who follow Me, for they know My voice." He depicted the happy
and glorious privileges which the flock enjoyed. They were a
community honoured and beloved. " By Me," He declared, " if any
man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find
{aisture. I am come that My sheep may have life, and may have it
abundantly." And, before He had done. He brought out in clear and
touching and fragrant words His great love for the flock, a love that
extended to the sacrifice of Himself. He was no cowardly keeper,
110 hireling who fled when the wolf approached. Nay, He was the
Good Shepherd who was soon to lay down His life for the sheep.
And then, having delivered its gracious message, the voice ceased and
was silent for a while : the voice of Him who spake as never man
spake.
For two months after that He was absent from Jerusalem. It was
DO fitting home for Him in tliose days when Pharisees and rulord
were plotting against Him and planning His death. He could find
ample work to do elsewhere, and hearts to confide in Him, away in
(ralilee among the simple peasants and fisher-folk, but not in the
proud and self-righteous and guilty city. Yet He yearned over it.
He wished with His whole heart that it would consider the things
which belonged to its peace. So in the winter, at the Feast of the
Dedication in December, He came back to it again. And standing in
the Temple, in Solomon's porch. He took up His discourse whore He
43° WORDS FOR THE* CHRISTIAN LIFE.
had left it off eight weeks before. He conti'asted the two classes in*
to which the laud was beginning to be broken up : those who did not
believe in Him and those who did. He described afresh the blessed-
ness of His sheep and their attitude towards Himself. They heard
His voice and obeyed Him, and He rewarded them with sympathy
and love; He knew them individually and well. They followed
Him from stage to stage, and He meant to crown their progress with
eternal life : nothing else and nothing less than that. They had been
saved by Him from perishing, and He had a complete victory in store
for them : " No one shall snatch them out of My hand." " 0,
happy flock," we cannot but exclaim, '' and Shepherd most tendt-r
and strong 1 " Was it not strange that the citizens of Jerusalem
opposed Him so bitterly) To whom ought they to have yielded
themselves with greater readiness and joyi This Feast of the
Dedication celebrated a splendid achievement of the past : the
purifying of the Temple by Judas Maccabaeus from the heathen
worship of the Greeks and Syrians. But Jesus could bestow on them
a better freedom, could be to them a nobler Friend, than Judas the
patriot. They sealed their own doom when they rejected Him.
Let us think for a little of the assurance Christ gives of the perfect
and everlasting safety of His sheep. ** No one," He says, "shall
snatch them out of My hand." Here are two pictures on which we
may look : the sheep and their perils, the Hand and its guardian
care.
I.
Fir sty we are to consider the sheep and their perils.
We must not think that the Master speaks only of human adver-
saries. "Neither shall any man," the Authorised Version reads;
but the Revisers have given us a more accurate translation — " No
one," no spiritual foe of whatever sort. Two months before, Jesus
had painted most graphically the manifold dangers of the flock.
From this side and from that trouble and pain and death might
come. There were the thieves and robbers who climbed over the
fence into the very fold itself. There was the stranger on the road
who sought to lead the sheep away, calling them by their names and
imitating the shepherd's cry. There was the mercenary keeper, the
hireling who had no genuine interest in them, who cared only for his
own wages, who fled in fear whenever there was real hazard, leaving
them to perish. And there were the fierce wolves from the mountain
and the forest, with their sharp teeth and their overmastering strength
and their cruel pitiless hearts. The flock, so simple, so defenceless.
WORDS FOR THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. 43 1
had a hundred perils to face. It was like the Pilgrim in the Valley
of the Shadow of Death. When he sought to shun the ditch on
the one hand, he was ready to fall oyer into the mire on the other.
When he lifted his foot to go forward, he knew not upon what he
should set it next. And there were hideous noises, and rushings to
aud fro, so that sometimes he thought he should be torn to pieces.
And every little while the wicked ones whisperingly suggested grievous
blasphemies to him, which wounded him worst of all. Risks as
numerous and as deadly the sheep might encounter. And all these
Jesus had in mind when He returned to His parable at the later
time : all these He meant to indicate as besetting the flock, hovering
round it, dogging its steps. It walked through the midst of enemies.
Shall we linger over some of the perils to which the sheep of Christ's
pasture are exposed in a world that cares little for them or their
Shepherd ?
There are storms t)iat fall on them, fierce winds that blow, pelting
showers of " arrowy sleet and hail." The people of Christ are opposed,
are hated, are persecuted. The words sound strangely in our ears
perhaps. We are at ease in Zion ; it is plain sailing with us. But
Jesus looked forward a few months, and He beheld Himself climbing
the slope of Calvary; it was December when He spoke, and in April
He endured the cross. And, beyond that, He beheld the stoning of
Stephen, and Herod's kilting of James with the sword. A little
further away, He saw Peter crucified^ and Paul crowning the long
martyrdom of his life with the willing sacrifice of his death. He saw
the rest of the twelve rejoicing that they were counted worthy to
suffer for His sake. He saw the Church, during century after century,
and in land after land, passing through fire and water because of her
fidelity to Him. Was it a wonder that often He told His disciples
•about the tribulations that they were certain to meet 1 No thorough-
going Christian can altogether escape these tribulations. One age
differa from another in the degree of its animosity, but in all ages the
Ciimal heart is enmity against God and against those who are faithful
to God. Every saint should be a "a disturber of Israel," should be
a conscience clothed in flesh and blood. His purity ought to reprove
others ; the gravity of His purposes and aims ought to put to shame
their levity aud their selfishness. And every saint should be an active
and aggressive missionary of Christ, denouncing evil, refusing to let
sinners alone ; a fire to burn up the refuges of lies, a hammer to
hreak the rock in pieces. There is our ideal ; can we be even press-
ing towards it without bringing on ourselves the antagonism of those
whose thoughts and ways are different from ours 1 If we are un»
touched by this antagonism, if we have never to bear any shame or
4 $2 WORDS FOR THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.
any augiiish, we may well fear for ourselves. There is little warmtb
in our consecration, we may be sure, and little boldness in our con-
fession. The storm has been a real dauger in our case ; the dread of
it is making us untrue to our Master.
But the sheep have other foes. There are the wolves, *' red in
tooth and claw," that rend the flock. How shall we interpret theml
Where shall we find the enemy in the spiritual sphere that corre-
sponds with them 1 The Bible gives us more than one hint of the
answer. Jesus spoke, you remember, of '* false prophets " as
'* ravening wolve&" And that day in Miletus, when Paul bade a
final farewell to the elders of Ephesus, weeping with them and pray-
ing for them, he told them of " grievous wolves that would enter ia
among them, not sparing the flock." He was thinking, too, of the
teachers of another gospel, mistaken and misleading, who should
find their way into the little community after ho was gone. The
Church of the early days came to know those prophets and tenchcm
only too well : Gnostics who mixod up the simplicity of Christ with
wild fables and imaginings of their own, £bionites who glorified the
life of the ascetic and hermit, Arians who would have robbed Jesus
of His divine majesty and Sonship. It was not long until the flock
was scattered and wounded by the wolves. And surely the danger
is among us still. Any who would persuade us to abandon or forget
the essential articles of our Christian faith ; any who strive to
weaken our attachment to the Gospel in its fulness, the Gospel so
humbling to us, so honouring to the Lord our Saviour ; any who
would prevent us carrying out in our daily life the precepts of our
Master, telling us that they are antiquated and quixotic and impos-
sible of fulfilment, or influencing us to neglect them by their ex-
ample ; any who alienate us either from truth or from duty through
the deference we pay to them and the fear we have of ofiending them :
they are playing the wolf's part, though they should seem in oar
eyes like angels of light. If we go after them, the little flock will
be rent in twain, for we shall part company from the faithful souls
who refuse to hearken to them. If we give them their way, our own
life will be enfeebled and wasted, torn and spoiled. They will work
us grievous harm.
All the enemies of the sheep are not so easily detected, however.
Here is the stranger by the wayside who seeks to beguile them. He
may be pleasant to look upon. Perhaps he is not unlike the true
Shepherd Himself. A Scottish traveller tells us how he met a shep-
herd one evening under the walls of Jerusalem bringing home his
Jlock, and changed garments with him, and disguised in this way
proceeded to call his sheep. But they were too wise for him. They
WORDS FOR THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. 433[
remamed motionless. And when their own keeper raised his voice,
thej gathered round him in spite of the unfamiliar dress he wore.
Christ's sheep are not always so wary. The stranger entices them,
and they are apt to turn away after him. His name has differed iu
different times ; sometimes one distracting force has proved more
fascinating, sometimes another ; to-day, I think, his name is World-
lincss. The most spiritual of God's people are in danger, in our
time, of being absorbed by what is secular, foi*8aking the love of tho
Father and the love of the Shepherd for the love of tho world,
lliis worldliness may follow prosperity. They say that if you take
the peaches and cherries of Europe to warmer climates they will
j^row luxuriantly, they will become evergreens ; but they will Iomc
their fruitbearing quality. There are Christians about whom that is
true. They are transplanted into circumstances of ease and comfort,
and they lose their spiritual fruitfulness. But those in poverty may
be just as worldly. Iu the mirage of the desert objects are strangely
distorted; a few stunted shrubs will be glorified into a forest of
magnificent trees. There arc poor men and women in whose eyes
the world looks as imposing and desirable. They attach quite au
exaggerated importance to its riches, its praise, its ambition-, its
pleasures. Are we not disposed to obey its maxims? Do we not
yearn after its prizes ? Are not its habits and indulgences sweet to
U8 I The stranger calls us with winning woixls, and we think thero
cau be no great harm in going after him ; it will do us good, wo say,
iustead of hurt and injury. Ah, but he is a thief and a robber. If
we follow him, we shall forfeit much. Our prayers will become few
and hurried and unreal. The house of God will be neglected. The
Bible will lose its charm and relish. Our life will fall into the sere
and yellow leaf.
It must have struck you from what I have been saying that the
sheep may be their own worst enemies. The stonn of persecution
need not make them unfaithful, unless they permit themselves to be
frightened by it. The wolves of false teaching will not wound them,
if they keep hearkening to the Shepherd's voice. The sti*anger called
Worldliness would never prevail over them, if they did not yield to
his blandishments. Poor silly sheep, they have such freedom to
choose, such power of willing and determining, and yet they are no
easily persuaded that the foe is a friend, so glad often to be con-
quered and overcome. There remains in us, even after we are re-
deemed, the disposition to sin and disobey. It is not only without
that the dangers are found ; there are dangers more subtle and
deadly within. There is the wandering will. There is the fire of
passion so readily kindled and burning with so hot a flame. Thero
434 WORDS FOR THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.
are defiling imaginations that are too willingly cherished. There
are desires after things which the Shepherd of our souls cannot
possibly approve. There are dreams of a happiness not to be found
in the way of His comnoandments, of an honour which is not the
honour of the meek and lowly heart. We trifle with our ransomed
souls. We venture them in places where they ought never to be.
We read books which tarnish their lustre and degrade their heavenly
tastes. We indulge in pleasures which spoil their sensitiveness and
impair their health. We do not avoid scrupulously and earnestly
and daily all contact with evil. May not the sheep injure them-
selves most terribly 1
Then, over and above all these perils, there is the adversary who
goeth about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. The
spirit of our age is sceptical of the existence of Satan and his powers
of darkness. We have not our fathers' vivid faith in his personality
as the chief of an empire that is opposed to us. But here it is
infinitely safer to believe than to be incredulous. If there are un-
seen spiritual foes all round us, personal tempters and adversaries who
can impart a fearful strength to our other enemies, they will ply their
work only the more successfully if we are paying no heed to them,
and if we doubt altogether their presence and potency. They will
lead us captive unawares. It will be better for us to feel their near-
ness, their cunning, their might ; how they can steal away our faith
and boldness in the hour of trial, how they can give the false pro-
phets power to lure us after them, how can they invest the world
with glamour and beauty, how can they stir up the sins of our own
hearts. Then we shall at least be forewarned and on our guard.
Then we shall lift our eyes and our souls to the hills whence cometli
our help.
.\re not the perils of Christ's little flock very many, very real, very
awful i It will be a marvel, a miracle, if the sheep that are sur-
rounded by such foes do not perish outright. Or let us change the
illustration. When Judas Maccabaeus with his brave followers
marched into Jerusalem in the winter of the year 165 B.C., they
found the walls of the Temple half overthrown, and its gi*eat stones
blackened by fire. The area within was covered with thistles and
^ild plants. The olives had straggled over the outer court ; the
gates were burnt ; the long creepers hung down from the towers.
The Holy House was a picture of desolation, and a passionate out-
burst of grief came from the liberatora when they saw it. Will it
not be strange if, beset as we are by heathen worse than the Syrians
and Greeks, the temple of our souls does not go to ruin also ) Yes,
undoubtedly it will. And yet —let us bless God — this strange thing
WORDS FOR THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. 435
happens. The miracle I spoke of just now, the miracle of the pre-
servation of the sheep, is taking place year after year and day after
dav in our midst.
II.
.So v!€ are brought to consider tlie Hand and its guardian care.
You must be yery thankful that it is a Hand, a living Hand.
Every night the sheep of an Eastern flock were conducted into the
fold. It was an open space, and round it ran a strong wall or rail-
ing; and through the darkness the door was kept by one of the
under shepherds. It was good for the sheep to dwell in so quiet and
safe a place till the morning broke and they could be led out to the
green pastures again. But our defence is far better. It is not the
strength of walls and doors. It is the Hand of the Great Shepherd
of the sheep. That is what overshadows us, and girds us round, and
keeps us secure. We are under the care of a Person who liveth for
evermore. The Lord thinketh upon us, and undertakes for us. Are
we not happy indeed 1
But let us ponder the message of the Hand. What does it speak
to us about ?
It tells us of the Proprietorship which owns us. It is the Hand of
the Mediator, the Saviour, who has purchased us for Himself. If
voii look well at it, you will see a marvellous thing. There is the
mark of a wound in it. Once the cruel nails disfigured it and pierced
it through. This is the Hand which was fastened to the cross of
Khame. It belongs to Him who loved us so fervently and so mightily,
unworthy as we were, that He ransomed us from our sins with His
own blood. Thus, by the payment of this costly price, He bought
us for His property; He made us the people of His possession. There
is strong consolation in that thought : is there not 1 Christ is our
Owner by a right that cannot be disputed. His exceeding sorrow on
our behalf ; His bearing of our sins in His own body ; the grace that
made Him poor for us ; the love that poured itself out without stint
or grudge for our redemption — by these things, with this silver and
gold of heaven, He has won us for His everlasting inheritance. The
perils will not loom so laige in our view, the enemies will not appear
irresistible, if we remember that we pertain now and forever to
Obrist ; that the Hand which encircles us is that of the Lord our
Master and Proprietor.
It tells us, also, of the Power which protects us. Long ago Isaiah
had something to say about the Hand, and about Him whose it i&
^' He taketh up the isles as a very little thing," he wrote ; '* He hath
436 WORDS FOR TNE CHRISTIAN LIFE-
measured the waters iu the hollow of His hand." Yea, this is our
bulwark and sheepfold : the Hand that fasbioned the heavens and
the earth, that controls all the worlds, that is invested with supreme
dominion. Sometimes those who are anxious enough to succour others
in distress have not been able to do so. They have had to look on
idly and impotently, just as men may be compelled by circumstances
to look on from the shore at a sinking ship, helpless to save their
brothers who were going down to death in the wintry sea. But that
can never be the case with Christ — He is the Mighty God. He is tho
King of kings and the Lord of lords. He can cause deliverance to
come to us from the most unexpected quarters and in the moat sur-
prising ways. The Holy Spirit is His gift, the Spirit to whom all
things are possible. If it is our desire to be faithful to Him, if we
are sheep who would fain follow Hira, let us be certain that there is
nothing He cannot do for us, no adversary from whom He cannot
rescue us, no dark and dreadful peril which He cannot sweep awar.
The Hand is that of the glorious Lord.
It tells us, further, of the Guidance which leads us. He marks
out our course before we enter upon it at all, and it is always an un-
erring wisdom that directs His Hand. Even the dangers that beset
us, all of them save those that spring from our own weakness and
sin, have been planned and arranged by Him. It is His design to
mature our faith, to deepen our religious experience, to increase our
holiness, to prepai*e us for the rest and victory of heaven, by those
trials and temptations. Indeed He will use our very sins for tho
humbling and sanctifying of our chai'acters, though it is never Be
who brings us under their power, though we are wholly to blame
when they gain the mastery over us. 0 ! He is a wise Guide, and
nothing can take Him at unawares : He is never at a loss. To com-
prehend this ; to reflect that the most skilful Hand in heaven and
earth has mapped the path that we are to walk, right on from the
City of Destruction, through the Slough of Despond, and up the Hill
Difficulty, and into the Valley of Humiliation, and across the River^
until the threshold of the Celestial City is reached at last ; to feel
that the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls knows our enemies, and all
tlieir craftiness, and how they can be vanquished, and how peace aud
good are to come to us through our battles with them : that thought^
too, is full of good cheer. It is a fresh proof that His sheep are safe
for time and for eternity.
The Hand tells us, once more, of the Comfort which cherishes us.
It is a Hand through which you can feel the throbbings of the
tenderest Heart in the world, the Heart that was broken on Calvary.
Was I not right when I said that the embrace of such a Hnnd is a
WORDS FOR TH^ CHRISTIAN LIKE. 437
thousand times better than stone walls and iron bars? In our
weakness we' want more than power and wisdom to work out our
deliverance, we want sympathy to compassionate us. In our struggles
and conflicts we yearn not only for an almighty Friend, but for a
Friend who will not upbraid us when He comes to do great things
for us. These desires are met in Jesus. Our feebleness, our inex-
jxjrience, our waywardness : none of them exhausts His patience or
deprives us of His grace. He is very pitiful and of tender mercy.
He is not contented with saving us by the mere exercise of His
omnipotence; He makes His affection plain to us too. He liked to
touch those whom He blessed in the days of His flesh. When the
mothers brought their children to Him, He took them in His arms
and laid His hands on them. When the leper begged Him for clean-
sing, a man who had not known the touch of his fellows for years, He
put forth His hand and touched him. It is just an example of His
way with us continually. It is a sign of His brotherhood, His
graciousness. Thei*e never was a Shepherd so condescending and
kind. " He shall gather the lambs with His arms, and carry them in
His bosom, and shall g(nitly lead those that are with young." There
is a simple and pathetic poem of Miss Kossetti's about a rainy spring
in Westmoreland, the spring of 1860, when the sheep died in hundreds
and their little ones were left hungry and helpless.
*' The lumba athirat for mother'a milk
Filled all the place with piteous sounds :
The mothers' bones made white for miles
The pastureless wet pastare-gronnds."
But the shepherds learned an unusual gentleness that spring-time.
They carried nourishment themselves to the bleating mouths. They
fondled the destitute shivering things. And *' as the days waxed on
to weeks," and the danger passed, and the lambs grew strong, they
»till followed '' the beloved feet that once for them had sought and
found." That is a faint human shadow and emblem of the gentle-
ness of Christ. Ho touches us with His hand. He feeds us, He lifts
uij into safety from every enemy and evil, He clasps us to His heart.
Is there any security like ours f
So we may be confident that no one will snatch us out of the
Lord's Hand. If we will only keep within its shelter, if w^e will only
Uve by faith, Jesus will prevent the thought of persecution from
making ua disloyal to Himself, and will free us from the fascination of
«very false teacher, and will raise us above the allurements of the
world, and will conquer the sin that remains in us, and will bruise
^Uan under our feet shortly. Christ's proprietorship, and power, and
43^ CORNELIUS,
wisdom, and comforting tenderness : there is no sheepfold with wallii
like these. " A safe stronghold our God is still, a trusty shield,"
Let all of us who know Him meditate more on His all-sufficiency and
rejoice more in Him. We speak of the perseverence of the saints ;
but, if we travel further back, we shall be inclined rather to speak of
the perseverance of the Saviour. He never loses His regard for us,
His delight in us : He who is God Most High. And therefore there
shall no evil befall us, there shall no plague come nigh our dwelling :
we shall tread upon the lion and adder, the young lion and the
dragon we shall trample under foot.
But, just because there is such blessedness in the guardian care of
Christ, who will describe the misery and the danger of those who
are far from Him? Ye are sheep without a Shepherd, my brethren ;
and there are enemies around and within you ; and at any niomeut
death, eternal death, may overtake you. Will you not hearken to
the voice of the Good Shepherd ? He has not abaudened you jet,
though you have been so wayward and wilful; He had infinitely
rather not leave you to perish. Listen to Him. This is what He
says to you : " Come unto Me, ye that labour and are heavy-laden,
and I will give you rest. Come and ye shall be rny sheep, and no
one will pluck you out of My Hand.''
CORNELIUS.
By H. K. Wood, " A Glasgow Merchant:'
Though born amidst the darkness of heathenism, Cornelius had been
brought to much knowledge of the true God. The picture we have
of him in Acts x. 2, is enough to crimson with the blush of shame
the faces of many who have been bom and bred under the full light
of the Grospel : — '* A- devout man, and one that feared God with all
his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God
alway."
Most probably he had come to the knowledge of Divine things
through perusal of the Old Testament Scriptures. The God of Israel
he had chosen for his own God, and with his whole heart he sought
the perfect way of truth. *' To him that hath shall be given, while
from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which ho
hath." If we are faithful in walking up to the light we have, and
CORNELIUS. 439
pi-ay for moi-e, the Lord Himself will lead and guide us into the
perfect light of full salvatiou ; but if we neglect acting up to what
we already know, our very knowledge will prove to be to us a curse
and not a blessing.
" Thus saith the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, concerning the work
of My hands, command ye Me." So God speaks to every honest
suppliant, and well, therefore, may the ** heart of every one rejoice
that seeks the Lord." Cornelius proved the truth of the promise.
By an angel he was directed to send to Joppa for Simon Peter,.
" who," said the heavenly messenger, *' shall tell thee words, where-
by thou and all thy house shall be saved^' (Acts xi. 14).
For the work he had to do at Ca)sarea, the apostle was duly pre^
pared by a remarkable vision, three times repeated. Hitherto he bad
been the victim of Jewish prejudices, but while in a trance he was
taught the lesson that he was no longer to consider himself debarred
by the law of Moses from meeting with Gentiles, and telling them of
tbe way of salvation. Christ had removed the middle wall of
partition. All nations, and all conditions of men, were now to be
considered alike. There was to be neither Jew nor Greek, — neither
bond nor free, — ^neither male nor female, — but all were to be one in
Christ Jesus. To Jewish minds it was a very humbling lesson. It
laid in ruins many of their preconceived notions and fancies; and
hence it was very hard to learn.
Many people are inclined to say that if a man deals honestly with
his fellow-creatures, it matters not what are his feelings towards.
Gtid; but the opening of Peter's sermon in the house of the
Centurion makes it clear that more is required of us than attention
to our duties to our neighbours.
Others declare that if a man walks honourably up to his light, he
shall be accepted of God, whether he has an interest in tbe Redeemer
or not It is a sad mistake.
If devoutness of spirit, if noble liberality, if eaniest and constant
prayers and fastings could have saved a soul, Cornelius had no need of
Christ But with all his piety towards God and loving-kindness to-
wards men, he felt still ill at ease. The narrative makes it plain
that he knew himself to be a sinner needing pardon, for he found
no rest of heart till he came to know Him, through whose death
alone transgressoni can be forgiven, and made acceptable to Him
who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity.
The apostloy as the brief outline of his sermon indicates, proclaimed
his Master in all His offices of Prophet, Priesti and King. —
As Prophet, the Incarnate Lord of all had preached peace, for He
taught that " God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten
440 CORNELIUS.
Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have
everlasting life."
As Priest, Jesus had fuliilled all righteousness in our room and
stead, as He went about doing good ; and then He died, bearing our
sins and all their guilt in His own body on the tree.
As King, Jesus is to be judge of all, both living and dead ; and it
was this Jesus that Peter offered as a Saviour to these Gentiles, when
he said, "To Him give all the prophets witness, that through His
name whosoever believeth in Him, shall receive remission of tins.^*
''While Peter yet spake," the Holy Ghost, in His miraculous
presence and power, fell upon each of the audience, just as He had
done on the disciples at the day of Pentecost. This clearly proves
that every heart had welcomed the gladsome news of free and full
salvation, and cordially embraced the offered Saviour. Only they
who thus believe in Jesus receive the gift of the Spirit, in whatever
form the Lord may be pleased to bestow Him. Such is the Diviue
order, as Peter afterwards explained at the Synod in Jerusalem.
^* (iod," he then said, " made choice among us, that the Gentiles bv
my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe : and God,
who knoweth the heaits bare them w^itness, giving them the Holy
Ghost even as He did unto us " (Acts xv. 7, 8).
It was " in the last, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and
cried, saying : ' If any man thirst let him come unto Me, and drink.
He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly
(or heart) shall flow rivers of living water. But this He spake of the
♦Spirit, which they that believe on Him should i-eceive" (John vii. 37-39).
This promise of the Saviour is always fulfilled. It was so very
manifestly in the case before us, for on these Crentiles wore bestowed
not only sanctifying graces, but miraculous gifts, and they spake
with tongues. It is true that the days of such manifest and
miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost are long since past ; but in His
humbling, and sanctifying, and quickening, and refreshing influences
He is ever present in greater or smaller measure with sincere believers.
The fruits of the Spirit, that is, the proofs of His presence in the
heart, are depicted for us to some extent in Galatians v. 22-26.
There we learn that if we have truly accepted Jesus as our own
Redeemer, and become thus the dwelling-place of His Spirit, we shall
then love God and man with a pure heart, — we shall delight ourselves
in our Saviour as the portion of our souls, — we shall have peace in
believing, and be earnest peace-lovers and peace-makers in the earth.
Further, we shall be daily more and more forbearing with the faults
of others, because ourselves forgiven so much. We shall be gentle,
and kind, and trustworthy, and lowly. We shall cultivate the giv-
CORNELIUS. 441
ing of soft answers to hard questions. We shall use the world as
not abusing it. We ghall crucify the flesh with its affections and
lasts, and strive to do in all things the will of our Saviour-King.
Let us search and try ourselves by these tests ; and if, alas ! we
find the Spirit's fruits very small in our case^ if indeed they exist at
all, let us not cast away our confidence. Let us cleave more closely
than ever to Jesus, and entreat Him daily, hourly, to endow us with
His Spirit, so that the proofs of His indwelling may be more and
more manifest in our daily walk. The life-sap of the Spirit can
circulate in and through our souls, to make them fruitful in heavenly
thoughts, and holy words and deeds, only as we cling resolutely with
our hearts to Jesus. Severed from Christ, we can do nothing.
Happy the thought that the same Jesus whom Peter preached to
Cornelius and his friends is offered to every reader of these lines. 'It
is as true to-day as when Peter uttered the words that, " To Him
give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever be-
lieveth in Him shall receive remission of sins"
Whosoever accepts this God-given Saviour as his own is no longer
under condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.
Grasp Jesus with your heart, dear reader, and you too shall be-
come a reconciled child of God, accepted in His Beloved Son.
THE WILDERNESS MADE A GARDEN.
Isaiah describes the transformation that was to be effected by the
Lord's servant, in language borrowed from the reclamation of waste
land. " The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for
them : and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose."
Nothing could more accurately and suggestively describe the change
wrought by the Gospel of God's grace in heathen lands. What was
a moral and spiritual wilderness — utterly barren and waste as re-
gards the fruits of righteousness — becomes a garden of the Lord
filled with trees of righteousness, laden with beautiful and delicious
fruit. Such transformations are brought under our notice in the
New Testament Scriptures. Places like ancient Corinth, Ephesus,
Thessalonica, presented, before the Grospel reached them, nothing but
a spiritual desert. But with the Gospel there came a transformation
which entirely changed the lives of many there, aud introduced a
2 G
442 THE WILDERNESS MADE A GARDEN.
new social order which brought a wondrous renovation with it. It
was in effecting such changes that the Gospel proved itself to be, not
the device of man, but the gift of God, and the instrument for the
manifestation of His mighty power. And similar transformations
have been effected in modern times. The history of the modem
missionary enterprise records a large number, giving the denial in a
most convincing way to the assertion often boldly made, that the
pow^r of the Gospel has spent itself, that Christianity as a system
has become effete, and must be replaced by something better adapted
to modern requirements. Society in many parts of the world has,
within the last fifty yeara, been renewed by the power of the Gospel
in as marvellous a way as in the days of the Apostles of Christ. Au
illustration of this is given to us in the record of the labours of the
Rev. J. G. Paton, in the New Hebrides, contained in the second part
of his autobiography — which is just as replete with interest as the
first. ^
In the first part, we had a thrilling account of his early years — his
training for his life-work, and his unsuccessful attempt to evangelise
the island of Tauua. The narrative was carried to the point, wheu
he and his fellow-labourers were compelled for their safety to leave
the island — leaving the precious dust of dear ones buried there.
Their labour seemed to be in vain, and it was, indeed, a dark hour,
very trying to faith and patience. But in the good providence of
God, this trying reverse turned out rather to the furtherance of the
(lOspel in these benighted regions.
The task now assigned to Mr. Paton was not of labouring directly
amoug the heathen, but of securing what was absolutely necessary
to the continuance and success of operations among them. This con-
sisted of two things : — a Mission Ship that might carry missionaries
and stores from island to island, and an addition to the missionarv
staff. Mr. Paton was urged by his fellow-missionaries to go to
Australia, and endeavour by pleading the cause of the New Hebrides
Mission among the churches there, to obtain, if possible, these things.
He reluctantly consented, for, of course, it involved his absence from
the islands for a considerable time, and his heart was there. How
bare he had been stripped by the disaster in Tanna, is revealed in
the fact that his first occupation when he actually set sail for
Australia, was the making with his own hands, from a piece of cloth ob-
tained in Aneityum, another shirt for his voyage to change with the one
he wore — the only one that had been left to him. In his account of the
' (John G. PatoD, Missionary to the New Hebrides. An Aatobiognphy.
Edited by his brother. Second Part. London, Hodder and Houghton,
1889.)
THE WILDERNESS MADE A GARDEN. 443
Toyage, a glimpse is given us of the horrid Labour traffic by which
poor islanders were snatched away from their homes, and then sold
practically as slaves, and never allowed to retiurn. The captain of
the vessel in which he sailed, was a profane and cruel man, and he
bad some of these islanders on board, whose language no one under-
stood, and who understood nothing of the English language. They
were kept quite naked until the vessel neared Sydney, and they were
made to understand what was expected of them by hard knocks and
blows. When they had any leisure, it was their custom to sit on
<leck gazing intently and imploringly upon the face of the sun — ^and
this to the missionary was a most pathetic spectacle. He says, *' I
wept much to look on them, and not be able to tell them of the Son
of God, the Light of the world, for I know not a word of their lan-
guage." On arriving at Sydney, inquiry was made by the Inspecting
Officer of the Government about the islanders and how they came to
be there, and the captain impudently replying that they were
" passengers," no further question was put. Yet it was well-known
for what purpose they were there, and that they would soon be sold
to the highest bidder. The exposure of this traffic — only equalled
by the slave-traffic of Central Africa — has lead to the adoption of
measni-es for its repression.
The beginning of Mr. Paton's work in the Australian continent was
far from being auspicious. He had, unfortunately, been supplied
with an introduction to a gentleman in Sydney who was at open war
with the churches and ministers, and it not unnaturally followed
that, under such patronage, every one gave him the cold shoulder.
Xo minister offered him his pulpit. Finding out his mistake, he set
himself loose from such entanglement, and threw himself upon the
Lord for guidance. A beginning was made in this remarkable
manner. On the afternoon of his second Sabbath in Sydney, he
went out with a great yearning in his heart to get telling his message
to any soul that would listen. As he passed a church he saw children
flocking into it, and he followed them with his yearning growing
•stronger every moment. After the minister had addressed the
children, he went up and pleaded with him to allow him ten minutes
to speak to them. After some hesitation and consultation, this was
granted, with the result that he was invited to preach in the evening,
and the door into other pulpits gladly opened to him. From Sydney,
he travelled through New South Wales, then he passed to Victoria,
which he also traversed. His success was beyond all his expectations,
and made him aim at a ship three times the size originally pro*
posed. The plan for interesting the children in the undertaking was
very simple, yet very ingenious and attractive. He made them share-
444 I^HE WILDERNESS MADE A GARDEN.
holders in the new mission-ship — each child receiving a printed fomi
in acknowledgment of the number of shares, at sixpence each, of
which he was the owner. Thousands of these shares were taken out
and greatly prized. Money flowed in so freely as the result of his
appeals that, at the close of his tour, the fund had risen to <£5000,
including a special donation, amoimting to £300, for the support
of native teachers. Travelling in Australia in 1862-3 was a much
more difficult thing than it is to-day, and Mr. Patents reminiscences
of his tour contain some amusing and pathetic incidents. We take
one which he styles his " crowning adventure." He had been adver-
tised to preach at a certain place on Sabbath, and at a station on the
way to it on Saturday evening. That station was twenty-two
miles from where he was on the Friday evening, and there was no
regular means of conveyance. A horse was offered him, and, though
shrinking from a mode of travelling with which he was very little
acquainted, he saw no other way of carrying out his plans, and
resolved to risk it. The animal had been bred as a race horse, but
he was assured that if he kept him firmly in hand all would go
smoothly. His road lay through the bush, and he was to guide hiui.
self by the notches that he would observe on the trees. After he
had walked quietly for some distance, amid signs of an advancing
thimder-storm, three gentlemen on horseback overtook him, and
urged him, in view of his long journey and the approaching stornb
to quicken his pace. He told them of his inexperience, and said they
must not wait for him, as they had promised to do, to guide him some
distance. As it was getting darker every minute, thej", after wishing
him a safe journey, started off at a smart pace. To be thus distanced
by competitors was too much for the old race horse, and he darted
off after them at lightning speed, making utterly futile all efforts to
hold him in. " At every turn," says the narrator himself, " I ex-
pected that he would dash himself and me against the great forest
trees ; but instinct rather than my hand guided him miraculously.
Sometimes I had a glimpse of the road, but, as for the notches, I
never saw one of them; we passed them with lightning speed.
Indeed, I did not lift my eyes for one moment from watching the
horse's head and the trees on our track. My high-crowned hat was
drenched and battered out of shape; for whenever we came to a
rather clear space I secured the chance and gave it another knock down
over my head. I was spattered and covered with mud and mire."
When he flew past the three gentlemen who had just parted with
him, they tried for a time to keep within reach, but the sound of
their horses' hoofs only put Are into the blood of Mr. Paton's steed,
and they gave it up. Emerging from the gloom of the forest^ the
THE WILDERNESS MADE A GARDEN. 445
liorse took the straight road to the station, ^dth which he evidently
was well acquaiutedy and would have dashed himself and his rider to
tleath against the wall of the house had it not been for the courage
and skill of a young groom who had seen and been astonished at
their wild flight. The flight had awkward consequences. When Mr.
Paton was helped off^ the horse — the whole household being now
gathered on the verandah of the house — his head went rushing on in
the race, and he staggered and tumbled down in the mud. When he
managed to get up, he had to hold on by the verandah, and his giddi-
ness was so great that his articulation was aficcted by it No wonder
they took him for one who had been indulging too freely in the intoxi-
cating cup. It was difficult to remove their suspicions for all appeal*-
ances were against him, and he was a stranger among them. After
he had exchanged his dripping clothes for a suit of the burly farmer's
— which added to his comfort, but also to the singularity of his appear-
ance— and had come to the tea-table, he saw their suspicions and their
amusement written on their faces, and took speech on hand. He said :
" Dear Friends, I quite understand your feelings ; appearances are
so strongly against me. But I am not drunken as ye suppose. I
have tasted no intoxicating drink, I am a life-long Total Abstainer."
His words had still the thickness of the tippler's utterance, and now
they laughed aloud, looking at each other, and him, as if to say,
** Man^ you're drunk at this very moment." Gradually he recovered,
and after he had addressed the meeting, their suspicions were removed
and their confidence in him restored. He has once or twice
visited the same house since that time, and the lady delights to
describe his comical appearance when first he arrived there.
While conducting this tour in Australia he interested himself much
in the aborigines and conclusively proved that they had a worship of
their own — a thing which had been denied. He had with him some of
the stones worshipped as gods in the New Hebrides, which, along with
other curiosities he exhibited and explained to his audiences, and in
showing them to some of the aborigines, they were strangely
moved. He succeeded at length in getting some of the stones that
were similarly used among themselves. Their capability of coming
under Gospel influences and of being elevated by them — which has
also been denied — is placed beyond a doubt by the interesting facts
adduced.
This Australian tour had been successful beyond all expectation in
raising funds for the Mission Ship, and for carrying on missionary
operations among the islands of the New Hebrides on a larger scale.
The sum of £3000 was what was needed for the building of the
vessel — a business which had been entrusted to the Church in Nova
44^ THE WILDERNESS MADE A GARDEN.
Scotia which had first planted the Gospel in the islands — but, as ve
have already mentioned, £5000 had coiue in as the fruit of Mr.
Paton's tour. There was need for more mission-agents, and he was
urged to go home to Scotland in order to obtain them. His appeals
had brought mouey from the churches in Australia, they might draw
men to the noble work from the churches at home. He yearned to
be back at his work among the heathen, and yet he might be nioro
serviceable to them by undertaking this visit home. He was greatly
perplexed for a time and sought guidance from the Lord by the cast-
ing of the lot. He had done this once before, and had been guided
rightly. " After many prayers and wrestlings and tears, I went alone
before the Lord, and, on my knees, cast lots with a solemn appeal
to God, and the answer came, * Go Home.' In my heart I sincerely
believe that on both these occasions, the Lord condescended to decide
for me the path of duty, otherwise unknown ; and I believe it the
more truly now, in view of the after-come of thirty-years of service to
Christ that flowed out of the steps then deliberately and devoutly
taken. In this, and in many other matters, I am no law to others,
though I obeyed my then highest light. Nor can I refrain from
adding that, for the very reasons indicated above, I regard so-called
' lotteries ' and * raffles ' as a mockery of God, and little, if at all, short
of blasphemy. ' Ye canuot drink at the Lord's table, and at the t-able
of devils.' Thus guided home by a divine hand, that same hand
brought him success in his mission. Not only were the new mission-
aries that he longed for obtained, but one was given to him to take
the place of her, who with her son lay in the grave on dark Tanna,
and has shared the joys and anxieties of his missionary career ever
since. She was the daughter of a minister whose name was made
famQiar by his books of Anecdotes illustrative of the Shorter Catechism
and the Bible. It wsvs in connection with the Reformed Presbyterian
Church that Mr. Paton was labouring, and so it was to its students
and congregations that he specially addressed himself. The results
were the cause of many thanksgiving to God. Four among the
students offered themselves for the arduous and dangerous work, and
it is to the credit of this little church that, with this addition to the
missionary staff, one in every six of its ordained ministei*s, was a
missionary of the Cross among the heathen. The children responded
nobly to his appeal, and by a system soon after established, they
continued for many years to contribute .£250, as their proportion of
the expenses for maintaining the Missionary Ship which received the
appropriate name of the ' Dayspring.' The rest was contributed by
the children of the churches in Nova Scotia and Australia.
His mission, with the good hand of God upon him successfully
THE WILDERNESS MADE A GARDEN. 447
accomplished, his face was again set toward the fair islands of the
aea where he had laboured in the past. His last scene in Scotland
was kneeling at the family altar in the old Sanctuary Cottage at
Torthorwald where he and his partner were commended by his
venerable father to " the care and keeping of the God of the families of
Israel" It was the last time that the well-known accents fell upon
his ear, for shortly after the father and mother, by whom he was
early consecrated to the Lord, and to whom he owed so much, passed
away to the eternal world, leaving a fragrant memory behind
them.
A serious difficulty met him ere he reached his destination, but
acting as he ever did upon the principle that difficulties were given
to us to overcome, it was ere long surmounted. Within an hour of
his landing at Sydney he was informed that the Daysprlng, which
had been doing good work among the islands, was now lying in
Sydney harbour, and that no money could be obtained to pay the
expenses which had been incurred in her voyage. The sailors were
clamouring for their pay, and would not wait any longer. What
was to be done? He gave £50 of his own to meet the present
necessity, and then set about securing what was needful to meet
present liabilities amounting to £700, and what was needful to
defray the expense of another trip to the islands, amounting to a
similar sum. First of all he laid his perplexing circumstances
before Jesus, " spreading out " all the details in his sympathetic
presence, and pleading that the Ship and the new Missionaries were
all His own. He then visited various parts of the colonies, laying
before the Lord's people the facts, and in answer to his appeals he
received in all £1,726, 9s. lOd. **Our Daysjyring once more sailed
free, and our hearts overflowed with gratitude to the Lord and His
stewards." This task done, they went down to the islands with the
DayBpringin 1865, but as it turned out not to remain for any length
of time. At the annual Synod of the missionaries, it was felt that
the support of the Mission Ship must not be left to occasional
appeals, but placed upon some more stable basis. Mr. Paton's
success in former undertakings of this kind led to their choice falling
upon him to visit the colonies and make arrangements of some kind
for a regular income for the sui)port of the Mission vessel that was
an angel of light visiting the various islands. On this visit to
Australia, he was detained some time at Islands under the pro-
tectorate of the French nation, such as Noumea, and he saw the
evil results of the French policy in putting obstacles in the way of
Protestant missionary work. " If there be a God of justice and love,*
is the strong language employed, '' the blight cannot but rest upon
44^ THE WILDERNESS MADE A GARDEN.
a nation whose pathway is stained with corruption, and steeped in
blood, as is undeniably the case with France in the Pacific isles."
Reaching Australia, he found that his presence and voice were
needed to defend the missionaries from false charges that had been
maliciously circulated against them, charges of having united with
the officers of some of Her Majesty's Men-of-War in inflicting great
cruelty upon the natives. The true facts of the incident, on which a
snperstructive of falsehood was built, were laid before the people by
Mr. Paton, and the missionaries were triumphantly vindicated.
Funds were also raised for the continued support of the Mission
Ship. The Mission itself was taken over by the Colonial Church.
It accepted the responsibility for its maintenance.
The way was now open for him to settle down for the direct
evangelisation of the heathen — a work for which, amid all his other
useful labours, he constantly yearned. It was a bitter trial to him
not to be able to return to Tanna — the scene of tenlble experiences
in past years — but if he was to go, he would have to go alone, and
all the other missionaries were opposed to this. He went to Aniwa
(A-ne4-wa), the nearest island to the scene of bis former woes and
^lerils, and he went in the hope that he knight be able ere long to
return to blood-stained Tanna.'^ This hope was not to be realised,
but it was his joy to see God's Kingdom planted by other hands iu
that island, and taking root amongst the once cruel inhabitants. It
was his part to place Aniwa as a jewel in the crown of Jesus, and
divine grace has enabled him to accomplish it. This island is not so
large as some others. " It measures about nine miles by three-and-
a-half, and is everywhere girt round with a belt of coral reef. The
sea breaks thereon heavily, with thundering roar, and the white surf
rolls in furious and far. But there are days of calm, when all the
sea is glass, and the spray on the reef is only a fringe of silver." It
has no mountains to attract and condense the clouds, and so suffers
badly for lack of genial rains. The heavy rains of hurricane and
tempest quickly disappear through the light soil and the porous rock.
The atmosphere is moist, nud the dews heavy, and these keep the
island covered with green. The inhabitants were heathens, and had
been cannibals. The site which they gave to the missionary for the
building of mission premises — a work which was commenced at once
—•was a piece of rising ground near the shore, containing, as was
subsequently learned, the bones and refuse of their cannibal feasts
for ages. It was their malicious hope that their gods would strike
dead those who dared to touch such a place. When no harm befel
the missionary, they evidently began to think that Jehovah, of
whom the missionaries spoke to them, was a stronger god than
THE WILDERNESS MADE A GARDEN. 449
theirs. When two large baskets of human bones had one day been
gathered together, Mr. Paton said to a chief in Tannese :
'* How do these boues come to be here 1 "
And he replied with a shrug worthy of a cynical Frenchman,
" Ab, we are not Tanna men 1 We don't eat the bones 1 "
Their minds were filled with superstitious ideas which it was hard,
hard to eradicate. They expected the missionary's medicine to cure
every disease at once, and when this was not done their childish
hearts became filled with resentment against him. It was a gigantic
task, the saving enlightenment of these savages, but dependence was
placed upon the Omnipotent Spirit, for the accomplishment of it.
Their language had first to be acquired, and this was necessarily a
rather tedious task. Word by word it had to be ascertained in con-
versation w^ith the natives. We are told, " that readers would be
surprised to discover how mucli you can readily learn of any language,
with these two short questions constantly on your lips, and with
people ready at every turn to answer, * What's this 1 ' * What's your
name?' Every word was at once written down, and arranged in
alphabetic order, and a note appended as to the circumstances in
which it was used. By frequent comparison of these notes, and by
careful daily and hourly imitation of all their sounds, we were able
in a measure to understand each other before we had gone far in the
house-building operations, during which some of them were con-
stantly beside me." By and by a little book, containing short
passages of Scripture was printed in Aniwan, and this was the pre-
cursor of a Christian literature in that language which is still
increasing. No opportunity was. lost of instilling Gospel truth into
these dark minds, and showing how opposed it was to many of the
feelings and usages sanctioned in heathenism. This roused resent-
ment in some, and attempts were made more than once upon the
missionary's life ; but gradually the light spread, dispelling the dark-
ness. God turned simple incidents into means of doing great things.
We may be allowed to mention two, the one often narrated before,
the other new. Once while working at his house Mr. Paton required
some nails and tools. He lifted a piece of planed wood and pencilling
a few words on it, requested an old chief, who was standing by, to
oarrv it to Mr«. Paton, and she would send what he wanted. In
blank wonder the chief stared at him, and said, '' But what do you
-want 1 " It was said to him, " The wood will tell her." He looked
rather angry as if he was being befooled, and retorted, " Who ever
heard of wood speaking ? " By hard pleading he was persuaded to
go. He was amazed to see Mrs. Paton looking at the wood, and
then fetching the needed ai-tides. He brought back the bit of wood,
450 THE WILDERNESS MADE A GARDEN.
and eagerly made signs for an explanation. The words written on
wood were read to him, and he was informed that in the same way
God spoke to us through His book. A great desire was awakened
within him to see the Word of God printed in his own language, and
he gave the missionary every assistance that lay in his power. The
other incident was one which in the hand of God broke the back of
heathenism in the island. The lack of good drinking water was
keenly felt by the missionary and his household and he resolved to
attempt the sinking of a well. He trusted to the Divine wisdom
guiding him to a place where there would be some spring beneath
the ground. When he mentioned this to two chiefs, who were now
earnestly inquiring about religion, they looked at him with astonish-
ment and pity, thinking that something had gone wrong with his
head. They said that rain came only from above, and that it was
foolish and mad to expect the island to send up showers of rain from
below. On being told that fresh water does come up from the
ground in other lands, they would not be convinced. When the
work was begun they -sent relays of men to watch the missionary^
lest he should attempt to take away his life or do such things as
madmen are wont to do. It was hard physical toil, digging the well,
under the broiling heat of the sun, and there was the anxiety about
the issue — as to whether fresh water might be found. "I toiled ou,"
he says, " from day to day, my heart almost sinking, sometimes with
the sinking of the well, till we had reached the depth of about thirty
feet. And the phrase, * living water,' * living water ' kept chiming
through my soul like music from God, as I dug and hammered awny.
At this depth the earth and coral began to be soaked with damp. I
felt that we were nearing water. My soul had a faith that God
would open a spring for us ; but side by side with this faith was a
strange terror that the water would be salt. So perplexing and
mixed are even the highest experiences of the soul ; the rose-flower
of a perfect faith, set round and round with prickly thorns."
One evening he said to the old chief who had been so alarmed about
him, that he was to come next morning, and he would show him the
rain coming from below. He went down himself next morning at
daybreak, and dug a narrow hole in the centre about two feet deep
when the water rushed up and filled it. The perspiration broke over
him with uncontrollable excitement and he trembled in every limb.
Muddy though it was he eagerly tasted it, and the little " tinu}* ^
fell from his hand with sheer joy when he found that it was fresh
water, ^' living water from Jehovah's well." He almost fell on his
knees on that muddy bottom to praise the Lord. The chiefs with
their men had assembled near, and when the water was brought to
THE WILDERNESS MADE A GARDEN. 45 r
them they gazed on it in superstitous fear. The old chief first shook
it to see if it would spill, then touched it to see if it felt like water,
and then at last tasted it. Though invited they were afraid to go to
the side and gaase down the well. '* They agreed to take firni hold of
each other by the hand, to place themselves in a long line, the fore-
most man to lean cautiously forward, gaze into the well, and then
pass to the rear, and so on till all had seen ' Jehovah's min from
below.'" On being told that it would continue always springing up
as they had seen it, and that it would be for the use, not of the
missionary only but of the whole community, they at once with
willing hands helped him to build it round with coral blocks. Wheu
it was finished the old chief asked to be allowed next Sabbath to
preach a sermon on the well. The permission was given on condi-
tion that he would try and bring all the people to hear him. There
was a large gathering on the Sabbath, and the substance of the
remarkable address delivered with great animation by the aged chief
was, that the missionary had told them many wonderful things which
they believed to be lies, but nothing more wonderful than that
Jehovah gave rain from below. His words had been proved true,
and so they ought to believe what he told them about Jehovah. The
effect of the sermon was marvellous, constraining the missionary to
say, " This is the Lord's doing, it is marvellous in our eyes." The
|>eople led by the chiefs came in company after company, and laid
their idols down at the feet of the missionary beside the door of his
house. Their old heathen practices were supplanted by distinctively
Christian ones — asking God's blessing upon their daily meals, main-
taining the worship of God in their homes, and sanctifying the
Lord's day. *' All ordinary occupation ceased. Sabbath was spoken
of as the day for Jehovah. Saturday came to be called * Cooking
Day,' referring to the extra preparations for the day of rest and
worship." The social order that obtained under heathenism passed
away, and gave place to one based on Christian principles. The
naked form was clothed, the ignorant mind was educated^ the erring
were not dealt with by club law, but by fine or bonds or lash as
agreed upon by the chiefs and their people. £ver}'thing gradually
became '* new " under the influence of the Gospel. They built a
handsome church with their own hands, every one willingly giving
help. Truly the wilderness was transformed into a giirden. Mr.
Paton with his graphic pen gives us some interesting sketches of men
and women won from heathenism and raised to true nobility by the
power of simple Bible truth, and Mrs. Paton, with a literary gift not
much behind that of her husband's gives us, in a series of extracts
452 CHRISTIAN SOCIALISM.
from letters, most interesting glimpses of life heathen and Christian
on that far-away island.
The concluding chapter of the volume brings us back to our native
shores but we cannot follow Mr. Paton in his noble efforts still
further to perfect the organisation of Christian work in the New
Hebrides, the results of which have already been so remarkable.
Acknowledging God in all His ways — taking no step without seeking
His guidance and help, mountains have been made into a plain, and
empty coffers filled to over-flowing. The record throughout is one
most stimulating to faith, and a triumphant answer to the assertion
that whatever Christianity may have done in the past its power is
now gone. The missionaries in the New Hebrides may well say to
those who make it ** Come and see."
"CHRISTIAN SOCIALISM."
I.
This phrase is employed to indicate a social movement which, within
the present century, has made its appearance on the Continent and
in our own country. It is part of a wider movement, that of Social-
ism itself, and to understand the one we must take a brief survey of
the other.
Socialism may be regarded as a revolt against the extreme length
to which the principle of individualism has been carried in the
social and industrial sphere. It was this principle — of man's in-
dividuality, embracing his moral freedom and responsibility — that
was triumphantly vindicated in the great struggle of the Reformation-
The assertion of it not only broke the spiritual tyranny to which
men had been subjected in the Papal Church, but sounded the death-
knell of the social system, which, previous to that time, had existed
in Europe. " The Mediaeval System," as has been said, " was
characterised by two great institutions — feudalism and the Catholic
Church — and both fell about the same time." The force of this new
principle was too much for the supremacy of either of them. If
each man was related to God, and responsible to Him in the last
instance for his conduct, it was impossible that, with a clear percep-
tion of this, he would continue to regard himself simply as forming
CHRISTIAN SOCIALISM. 453
pai*t of a great machine, whether ecclesiastical or social, that claimed
to direct all his movements, and deprive him of individual freedom.
The fruit of this, in the religious sphere, is found in Protestantism,
and the great work it has accomplished. The fruit of it, in the
poatical sphere, has been the assertion of the right of the people to a
voice in the government of their country. The fruit of it, in the
social sphere — the one to which our attention is now s])ocially called
— has been the overthrow of the feudalism and trade guilds of the
Middle Ages, and the establishment of a new system of land tenure
and industrial activity. Under the feudal system, the serfs, who
were the cultivators of the soil, had a fixed interest in it for which
they paid customary dues. They were regarded as belonging in a
peculiar way to the soil, as well as belonging to their superior — the
feudal lord. Their personal liberty was curtailed and circumscribed ^
but still their interest in the land which they cultivated, and on
which they lived, was recognised. With the emancipation from serf-
dom came, in the case of many, a divorce from the soil, and in the
ease of those who remained upon it, the establishment of an entirely
new relation to it. The latter became either tenants — paying so
much for the right to cultivate the soil — or simply labourers, receiv-
ing so much wages for the labour which they expended. The
modem system of land-tenure was substituted for the medieeval —
that of feudalism. Along with this feudalism in land-tenure trade
was oi^anised in the form of guilds, in which both merchants and
craftsmen combined for the protection and advancement of their
common interests. There was, under this organisation, no such
feature of social and industrial life as the modem division between
capital and labour — between employer and employed. " Apprentice,,
journeyman, and master were, generally speaking, merely three stages
in the career of the worker." But with the new wine, the old bottles,
incapable of expanding to meet its requirements, utterly gave way,,
and had to be replaced by others. Extending markets and plenty
of labour proved too much for these close corporations, and developed
individual enterprise and the spirit of competition. ** After a long
period of preparation and gradual development," writes Mr. Kirkup,.
the author of the article on " Socialism" in the recent edition of the
Encyclopaedia Britannica, '* the forces of change set in with special
rapidity and hitensity about the middle of last century. An iudns-
trial revolution, associated with mechanical invention, with the
application of steam as the motive power, and with the rise of the
factory system, then definitely began, and is still proceeding in
almost every country of the world." The result of the change may
Inquiry into Socialisxn, p. 33.
454 CHRISTIAN SOCIALISM.
be said to be the distinction between the classes and the masses.
The land gut into the hands of a few, and with it a monopoly of
oivil and political power which they used for the advancement of
their own interests. Industries got into the hands of large capitalists,
whose interest it was to reduce the price of labour, so as to keep their
hold upon the market, and prevent others excluding them from it.
The large masses of the people, who lived by the fruits of their toil,
whether devoted to agriculture or industry, were put in a position of
dependence upon landlords and capitalists, and too often not much
consideration shown for their welfare. They were made the instru-
ments for the accumulation of gain, and their condition in many
respects became so bad, that legislative interference was felt to lie
•absolutely necessary for the protection of their rights and interests.
The industrial enterprise, which has unquestionably brought to us
many material advantages, was not at first — nor is it yet to auy
large extent — under the control of moral principle, and the result
has been that while a few have attained the immense wealth which
they sought, large masses of the working people have been impover-
ished and degraded.
Now, it is this blot on our social life — the existence of which noae
will deny — that Socialism seeks to remove. However much we may
be disposed to condemn many of its principles, and many parts of its
policy, it must be freely granted that it has a ** passion for social justice
at the heart of it," and springs from a deep sympathy with social
•distress, and indignation at the selfishness and self-seeking in which
is found the deepest cause of it. Its aim is the amelioration of the
lot of those, who, by reason of an uncontrolled competition, have
their wages reduced to a very low rate, and whose income is not only
4uadequate to a comfortable domestic life, but also very precarious.
'** It means, or wishes to mean,'' to use the words of James Russell
Lowell, "co-operation and community of interests, sympathy, the
giving to the hands, not so large a share as to the brain, but a larger
share than hitherto in the wealth they must combine to produce."
When we come to ask *' How is this aim to be reached 9 How is
this blot on our social life to be removed)" — the answer leads tus
to the heart of the principles advocated in Socialism.
It traces the evils sought to be removed to the working of the
principles underlying the present agricultural and industrial system
— ^the system which came gradually to be established on the break
up of feudalism. There are two principles from which mainly these
ovils are regarded as springing. The one is the right of private
property in land, leading, as it has done, to the divorce of the
large mass of the people from any interest in it. The other is the
CHRISTIAN SOCIALISM. 455
action of free compctitiou as an iudustrial law — leading, as it has doce,
to the divorce of a large mass of the people from capital, and to their
dependence upon a wage, which it is the interest of the large capital-
ists to reduce as much as possible. In the working of these two
principles, it is held, is found the source of the evils that so seriously
clog the onward progress of society. It is thought impossible that
imder their control, even though they may be modified in their
working by counter-acting influences, these evils can ever be com-
pletely removed. " The vices of the system," we are told by Mr.
Kirkup, who is one of the most moderate, as well as one of the best
informed advocates of Socialism, " are inherent in it. They cannot
])e cured by any mere palliative or partial reform, but must be re-
moved through a new transforming principle. So long and so far as
the present competitive system prevails, it must tend to the degrada-
tion of the workers, to social insecurity and disorder."
This new transforming principle — on the basis of which society is
to be reconstinicted — is the substitution of jointrcontrol of land and
capital for individual ownership. " The theory of Socialism therefore
is,'' to use again the words of Mr. Kirkup, " that the present economic
order, in which industry is carried on by private competing capita-
lists, ser/ed by wage labour, must and ought to pass away ; and that
it will give place to an economic sj'stem, in which industry will be
conducted with a collective capital, and by associated labour, with a
view to an equitable system of distribution. It means in short that
the normal and prevalent form of economic organisation will be one
of co-operative industry. It will be a co-operative system perfected
Aud systematised by the experience and progressive activity of men
in harmony with the natural laws of social development." It will be
seen from this description of Socialism, that Mr. Kirkup thinks that
this new transforming principle of social control of capital will
gradually supersede the principle of individual control, and re-create
the social organism, eliminating from it its unhealthy elements.
This is not a view, however, shared in by Socialists in general.
There are some who are prepared to seek the overthrow of all exist-
ing social organisations, and this by means of physical violence, in
onler that their scheme of liberty, equality and fraternity may be
caixied into execution. There are others who would call upon the
existing States, to put their principles into operation, and to advance
the capital necessary for the organisation of labour under social con-
trol. Laveleye, no mean authority, thus defines Socialism. " In the
first place every socialistic doctrine aims at introducing greater
equality in social conditions, and in the second place, at realising
these reforms by the law and by the State." Lasalle, the founder of
45^ CHRISTIAN SOCIALISM.
German Socialism, substituted for the self-help wliich some reformers
had advocated, State-help, which he inHisted was really self-help,
" Who is the State 1 " he asked, and gave the answer : " It is the
people. Is not the State themselves, and Stat^e-help self-help ? What
becomes of the prodigious revenues levied upon consumption of which
the poor contribute the greater part to the support of government ?
They are squandered in dynastic squabbles, or employed to aid the
enterprises of capitalistic classes. Would it not be better to spend
part of this money in guiding and building up productive enterpriser
under State regulation, in which profit sharing should take the place of
wages ? " But to whatever force the Socialists looked for the realisiu';
of these reforms, they placed no reliance upon the force found in the
Christian i*eligion. Many of them regarded it as their enemy. For
two reasons it was viewed as hostile. First, because it was supposed
to draw the attention away from the present life with its evils and
burdens, to a future one in which abundant compensation would be
enjoyed. Its other-worldliness — for this was the character ascribe^l
to it — ^made it, it was thought, indifferent to all social problems.
Everything was overshadowed by the desire to secure safety for the
dim intangible world that lay beyond the present. Second, because
the Church — on which this force was organised — ^gave its support to
the agricultural and industrial system which then prevailed, and
frowned upon every attempt made to overturn it. It ranged itself
on the side of the capitalists, and showed no favour to those whose
sympathy with oppressed and down-trodden people led them to devise
schemes for their elevation and amelioration. For example,
Lamennais in France, when he adopted the economic principles of
the Socialists, and insisted that only the force of Christian love and
unselfishness woidd succeed in putting them into practice, found that
he had alienated the Church from him and exposed himself to its ban.
It is little wonder that the Church came to be regarded as *' one of the
main pillars of the established order of things, and an irreconcilable
obstruction to all Socialist dreams."
The Christian Socialists both in Germany and this country were
convinced that this impression about the Christian religion as foBteriu^^
indifference to man's happiness in this life was unfoimded, and that
the Church's attitude to the Socialistic movement was wrong and miv
chievous. They sought to graft the economic principles of Socialism
on to Christianity, and to show that they were more in harmony with
its teaching than the principles by which our social and industrial
life had been controlled. In the Christian Socialism both of the
Continent and this country, there is condemnation of the individual
control of land and capital, and the adoption of the economic Socia^
CHRISTIAN SOCIALISM. 457
listic platfoim ; but with this similarity between these two schools of
Christian Socialists there are important dlSTerences which must be
carefnlly noted. We may call attention to two points on which
they differ widely. The movement in Germany both in the Roman
Catholic and Protestant Churches was made in the interests of the
Church. They who were its leaders did not conceal the fact that it
was to prevent the Chtirch losing its hold upon the masses of working
people, amongst which the leaders of Socialism had been working
strongly, that they inaugurated and supported the movement. On
the other hand the Christian Socialists of England were moved, not
with a desire merely to exalt the Church, but with an earnest desire
to heal social evils, which were a disgrace and a menace both to
civilination and Christianity. They were Christian social reformers
— ardently desiring the realising of a divine kingdom in the social life
of the country — before being churchmen. They wished the Church
to throw itself into the work of social amelioration, not in its own
interest chiefly, but in the interest of a sound, healthy and pure
social life. A very slight acquaintance with the writings of Fre-
derick Denison Maurice and Charles Kingsley, will place this beyond
a doubt. But^ £^in, the movement in Germany looks to State-
interference and help as the only means by which its ideal can in
any measure be realised. Bishop Ketteler — who was the founder of
the movement in the Roman Catholic Church — at first advanced the
position, that the capital for the establishment of co-operative pro-
ductive associations should be supplied by voluntary contributions,
but later on he advocated, as Lassalle had done, subsidies from the
State. They who have taken up the work begun by him, not only
advocate State-help in this direction, but so long as the present
system lasts, the legislative protection of the rights of labour in the
way of regulating the hours of work, and the rate of payment ; and
the legislative restriction of the use of capital so that it may not act
injuriously against labourers or against co-operative institutions.
All that the Church is called upon to do, is to diffiuse a spirit of love
and justice and fairness among the different classes of society, and to
^show her sympathy actively with the suffering and distressed. The
movement in the Protestant Church which was later in making its
appearance, and with which Stocker, one of the court preachers in
Berlin, has identified himself, also leans on the arm of the civil
power. In its view the social question *'can only be solved by
means of an extensive intervention on the part of a strong and mon-
archial State, aided by the religious factors in the national life." It
is evidently this feature of the Socialism that has appeared in the
church life of Germany, that has led Martensen to describe ethic
2 H
45^ CHRISTIAN SOCIALISM.
Socialism, to which he applies the term Christian, and which he dis*
tin^uishes from that of an Utopian and Revolutionary type — as seek-
ing the amelioration of the outward condition of the working-classes
by means of State assistance, benevolence, and the development of
self-help. In the Christian Socialism of England — as advocated by
the band which the saintly Maurice gathered around him well-nigh
thirty years ago — this element of State help was eliminated. There
are some passages in Kingsley's social novels which have sometimes
been appealed to, as indicating a leaning towards State intervention,
but it is evident from other passages .that he did not place much de-
pendence upon this. His method for improving society is clearly
described in the words put .into the lips of the heroine in " Altoo
Locke."
'' One by one every institution disappointed me. They seemed,
after all, only means for keeping the poor in their degradation by
making it just not intolerable to them — means of enabling Mammoa
to draw fi*esh victims to his den by taking off his hands those
whom he had already worn out into uselessness. Then I tried as-
sociation among my own sex — among the most miserable and de-
gi-aded of them. I simply tried to put them in a position in which
tUcy might work for each other and not for a single tyrant: in
which that tyrant's profits might be divided among the slaves them-
selves. Experienced men warned me that I should fail : that such
a plan would be destroyed by the innate selfishness and rivalry of
liuman nature, that it demanded what was impossible to find — good
faith, fraternal love, over-ruling moral influence. I answered that I
knew that already : that nothing but Christianity alone could
supply that want, but that it would and should supply it ; that I
would teach them to live as sisters by living with them as a sister
myself ... to make my workroom, in a word, not a machinery but
a family. And I have succeeded, as others will succeed, long after
my name, my small endeavours are forgotten, amid the great new
world — New Church, I should have said — of enfranchised and fra-
ternal labour." It was the hope of Kingsley and his fellow-labourers
that the principle of co-operation — of associated labour — would so
commend itself to the minds and hearts of men that it would, with-
out any extraneous aid, speedily win a complete victory. '' I cer-
tainly thought," we find Mr. Hughes writing, *' and for that matter
have never altered my opinion to this day, that here we had found
the solution of the great labour-question ; but I was also convinced
that we had nothing to do but just to announce it, and found an
association or two, in order to convert all England and usher ia the
millennium at once, so plain did the whole thing appear to me."
SABBATH SCHOOL TEACHER AND HIS WORK. 459
They tmsted to the education of the working-classes more than any-
thing else, and so they set themselves to the work of diffusing infor-
mation among them, and establishing co-operative associations which
might have a guiding and educative influence.
THE SABBATH SCHOOL TEACHER AND HIS WORK.
This was the subject discussed at a conference of Sabbath School
teachers and office-bearers held in Mains Street Church, Glasgow, on
the evening o) Monday, November 25th, and which was attended by
about 150 connected with the congi*egations in Glasgow and neighbour-
hood. All the members of the Presbytery were present with the excep-
tion of the Rev. John Ritchie, Shottsbum, from whom an apology was
i-eceived. The Rev. Thomas Hobart M.A., who had been at Kirkin-
tilloch on the previous day was present. After tea had been served
in the liall, the company adjourned to the church, when addresses on
Sabbath School work were delivered. We give the substance of the
addresses delivered.
Professor W. F. Aitken who presided, after stating the object of
the meeting, offered a few remarks on
"christian work."
He had been reading lately with much interest the life of William
Denny the Dumbarton shipbuilder, which was in many respects a
very noble life. He alluded to it now to note the great principle
which Denny was never weary of advocating and enforcing, and by
which his own life and character were moulded — that all that a man
has, the position he occupies in the world, the money . he has ao-
quired, he has, not for his own gratification, but for the benefit of his
fellow-men. Great and noble as this principle was, it was possible to
lay too much stress upon it, and Denny does sometimes seem to
speak of it as if it was the whole of his religion. It is a principle
that is often abused by those who make a great deal of it, and bring
it to the forefront. It is the only article in the so-called religion of
Humanity, which is the fashionable type of infidelity in the present
day — that religion that is advocated by Cotter Morrison in his
** Service of Man^^ and which Robert EUemere^ having abandoned the
creed of his early days, tried to apply in the East End of London.
All the virtue was taken out of the principle, and it was rendered in-
operative, whenever it was made to stand alone, and when divorced
from the other great principle of love to Christ. Our interest in
Christian work will soon wane without an ever-fresh experience of
460 SABBATH SCHOOL TEACHER AND HIS WORK.
the unparalleled grace of the Divine Redeemer. The love of Christ
must constrain us, and if it did so, and in the measure in which it
did so, we would abandon all merely selfish ends in life, and would
regard all our powers, talents, opportunites, possessions as a sacred
trust to be laid out for the advancement of God's Kingdom, and the
good of our fellow-men. Love to Christ and love to men are the twin
principles that must animate all Christian work. " Lovest tht)u Me ? '*
was the question Christ put to the fallen Apostle, and it was not till
he answered it in the affirmative that He gave him the com-
mission " Feed my Lambs." In conclusion, we should have a hope-
ful, cheerful spirit in all out work for Christ. It may no doubt often
be arduous ; we may meet with many difficulties and discouragements
in it ; but Christ never promised his servants that they would have
an easy time — that everything would go smoothly — that their success
would be uninterrupted. He had not an easy time of it Himself.
He was often foot-sore and heart-sore, and looming before Him at the
end of His course was the bitter Cross. It is enough that the disciple
be as H is Master, and the servant as his Lord. But we may be hopeful^
for there are more witli us than all they that be against us. The
Master Himself is with us, and we may count on all the strength
which He can give. " Let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due
season we shall reap, if we faint not."
The Rev. John M'Kay addressed the meeting on
" THE QUALIFICATIONS OF SABBATH SCHOOL TEACHERS,"
and spoke as follows :—
1. The teacher slunild be much given to prayer. — Our first great aim
should be to advance the spiritual welfare of the young people. The
Sabbath school will be of little -use if this be not the chief end we have
in view. But God alone can give them a spiritual blessing, and, there-
fore, it is the duty and privilege of teachers to plead and wrestle with
the Hearer of Prayer that He would bestow upon them that saving
grace without which all teaching will be in vain. AVe should pray
daily for every scholar by name and surname. We should offer
up ejaculatory prayer in their behalf, even while engaged in teaching
tbem.
Prayer has a Avonderful place in the econoniy of grace. Fisher, in
his Catechism, observes that Christ is not now a sacrificing priest, but
that He is, and will be, an interceding priest for ever. " He ever
liveth to make intercession." That Jesus will intercede on behalf of
His people, while any of them remain in this world, will be readily
believed. But it may have occasioned surprise to some, to find it
stated, that He will intercede for ever on behalf of His saints in
heaven. They are now freed from indwelling sin, and from all tempta-
tion, so that there is no possibility of anyone falling away. Why then
will Jesus intercede in their behalf throughout the endless ages of
eternity? Fisher says, He will intercede for evtr for the everlasting
continuation of their happy state. Now, since Jesus will intercede
forever in behalf of His glorified ones, we may see from this the need
of continued supplication on behalf of the young people attending our
SABBATH SCHOOL TEACHER AND HIS WORK. 46 1
respective classes. A pleasing incident illustrative of the benefit of
intercessory prayer on the part of a teacher has often been told.
The superintendent of a Sabbath School observed that every member
of the class of one of the teachers seemed to have undergone a saving
change. After consultation with some of the teachers, he took this
class firom her, and committed another to her care, not one of whom
gave any sign of having felt the power of the grace of God. After a
little time, the same effects were again seen. They all became hope-
fully converted to God. Shortly afterwards she died, and, on examining
her note-book, it was found that she had spent a certain amount of
time in pleading on behalf of each of her scholars at the throne
of grace. We should remember those whom we teach in earnest
prayer.
2. The teacher should cdioays Jiave the lesmn well prepared. — This is
Cisential to success. If we be not well prepared ourselves, we cannot
possibly be interesting to the scholars; but, if we be well prepared, we
can hardly fail to instruct and give them a delight in all the exercises
of the class. We should be able to teach the class, having nothing but
the Bible before iis, nor should we require to look a great deal even
at it. We should be free to look at the whole class, or at any member
of it, and thus show them that they all engage our attention and
make them feel that we engage theirs. When teaching, we should
use illustrations taken fram the "lively oracles," or by suitable
-anecdotes. It would be very profitable were our preparations to be
made as early in the week as possible, that thus we may be familiar
with the lesson and so be able to teach it, both from the Bible and
experience. A lesson so prepai*ed would be interesting to us in teach-
ing it, and to the young people in being taught. Dr. Chalmers at
one time taught a Sabbath class, and even he prepared carefully for
it. Surely then it becomes us to do so also.
3. The teacfier should be pointed in asking questions. — In studying
the lesson, we will necessarily see a number of truths that lie a little
below the surface. And when catechising the scholars, we might ask
<)uestions concerning those truths that lie on the surface, and so lead
them by suggestive questions to the discovery of those truths that are a
little in the depths. Young people like to think ; it is a pleasure to them
to feel that they are able to think; and they are much interested in
discoveiing truths which cannot be seen by merely glancing over the
lesson. When Jesus was leaving the three disciples in Gethsemane,
that He might go a little farther into the garden, He said to them,
** Watch with me." After a little He returned and found them
asleep. He awoke them and said ** Watch and pray that ye enter
not into temptation." These two expressions resemble each other,
arid yet they differ widely. By judicious catechising, the scholars
may be led to discover the difference, and thus to take a deep interest
in the lesson. Atid if we acquaint ourselves with Fisher's Catechism
we will always be able to make the Shorter Catechism instructive
and interesting.
4. The teacher should visit absent scltolars. — This is not always an
easy task. The most of our tci^hers are engaged the whole day in
i)62 SABfiATH SCHOOL TEACHER AND HIS WORK.
work of some kind ; and they are often engaged at night, in conduct-
ing mission meetings, or prayer meetings, or in some other useful
way in connexion with the Church. It is then somewhat difficult for
those who are thus so ahundantly employed, to find time to visit
absentees. Moreover, the more irregular a scholar is, the more
would he then demand of the teacher's time. Yet the devotc<l
teacher sets his heart on the conversion of every scholar, and not-
withstanding the many calls on his time, he will endeavour to do
something in this direction. Or if he cannot visit, he may write an
affectionate letter. And possibly this may be the first letter that he
shall have received, and would be quite an event in his life, nnd
would be remembered, and prized, and have a good effect. We
should remember how often the Holy Spirit called on ub before we
closed with Christ, and we will not be weary in calling on those who
may wander from our classes. We want to win them for heaven.
6. Tke teacher should endeavour to lead his scholars into church vtetn-
bership, — It would be good, were it practicable, for teachers to take
their scholars to the church with themselves. They would thus Ix;
trained in the habit of w^aiting on the means of grace. It is sud to
think that there are in Glasgow about 80,000 young men between
18 and 30 years of age, all of whom have passed through the Sabbnth
School, who go to no place of worship. If they had all been retained
in connexion with the Church, what an influence for good they would
have been ! What an army for Jesus ! But now, alas ! they arc
spending their time, and strength, and means, in tlie service of Satan.
Were all the teachers in Gl.isgow now to make the attempt, and
were Crod to bless them in the effort to retain all their scholars in
connexion with the Church, a pleasing change would soon be seen
and felt in society, and our Sabbath School teachers would be hailed
as an unspeakable blessing. But though they have not been so suc-
cessful as this, yet, because of the self-denying efforts tliey put forth,
they are worthy of all praise. Dr. Talmage says — " I thank God for
such a noble band of teachers as we have. They arc all picked men
and women of our churches. They work the hardest, and they get
the grandest reward. The pastors know where to go when we want
earnest men and women to toil in any department of Christian
labour. They leave their benediction upon this generation, and
their influence will endure through all the ages of time and the
cycles of eternity."
Approved in Clirist ! O what reward,
Can we with this high honour name ?
Lot merchants toil for worldly wealth,
Or scholars strive for worlclly fame.
To win renown by flood and field
Heroic souls no danger shun,
Give me a never-fading crown,
The Lord's approving words " Well done.*'
The Rev. William B. Gardiner gave an address on
**THB SPIRIT IN WHICH THE TBACHKR*S WORK SHOULD BK CARRIED ON,*^
and in the course of his remarks said : —
1. The work should be can'ied on in a S2»irit of self -dental. The
SABBATH SCHOOL ^JX£ACHER AND HIS WORK. 463
devoted and successful U st be prepared to deny himself
for the good of others, and ead j to give up cheerfully a por-
tion of his precious Sabba \nd week-day evenings as well, in
attending to the duties he ntarily engaged to discharge in
connection with the Sabbai The work of the School should
never be allowed to interf< he teacher's regular attendance
on public worship. Some j an excuse for partial attendance
on ordinances that they re< ne for preparing the lesson for the
school, and this they can o on the Sabbath day. Now surely
it would be possible to fin< ir or two on some week night to
look over the lesson and m tful preparation for the work of
teaching without encroachii * Sabbath. And I think you will
agree with me that the sal .ervices are a real stimulus and
encouragement to teachers . «.iie prosecution of their work ; and that
instead of being wearied or exhausted by Church-attendance, their
hearts will be refreshed and quickened, and they will go about their
work all the better in the school through the reviving and stimulating
services in the house of prayer. But is it to practice self-denial to
leave a comfortable home and friends and devote an hour or more on
a Sabbath afternoon or evening to the work of imparting instruction
to the young 1 Granting that it is a sacrifice which has to bo
made, where is there a thoroughly devoted and consecrated follower of
Christ who is not prepared to make this sacrifice for the good of others?
We have yet much to leani of the real import of our Lord's words "If
any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his
cross, and follow me." And oh, when we reflect ou what our Master
had to deny himself for our sakes, will we hesitate for a moment to
practice self-denial for the good of the children who need our assistance
in being taught how to fear and love and serve the Lord.
2. The work should be carried on in an earnest spirit. Many
teachers go about their work in a very perfunctory and half-hearted
way, sorry when the hour arrives for the school to open, and glad
when the hour comes for the school to close. They are present in
body but absent in spirit, and they go throiigh their duties in such a
cold, unimpassionei and mechanical way that their scholars, equally
with others, cannot fail to notice their coldness and indifference. Now
surely work of this sort demands all the earnestness and zeal and
enthusiasm at our command. We go to school to hear the scholars
repeat Psalms and Scripture texts and Catechism ; but we do more,
we go to hear them read a portion of God's word and to help them to
understand it, and surely such work demands the most serious'and earn-
est attention of the teacher. We deal with subjects that have an inti-
mate bearing on the present and future state and destiny of our
scholars, and no one can tell the day or hour when some serious im-
pression may be produced on their minds ; hence the need of being
always in earnest. If we are not in earnest ourselves regarding their
instruction in Divine truth, and their highest welfare, how can we expect
to arouse the attention and earnestness of our scholars. Oh teachers be
in earnest, for the time is short — the business is all-important, the
children may soon be summoned away beyond your reach, and good
464 SABBATH SCHOOL TEACHER AND HIS WORK.
«
impressions may now be produced which will issue in lasting benefit
to not a few. Let jour regular attendance at the hchool, jour familiar
acquaintance with jour scholars, jour intelligent method of impart-
ing instruction, jour general demeanour in the class, and the very
tones of jour voice, all show that jou are in real earnest in dischai*g-
ing the work to which jou have beeu called.
3. The work should be carried on in a loving spirit Love to Christ
aud a burning desire to be instrumental in saving the souls of the
children, should be the grand impelling motives in leading the teaoher
to engage in this work. Thej who reallj love the Lord and seek the
highest welfare of the young people placed providentially under their
care will prosecute their work in a thankful, kindly and loving spirit.
Out of love to their Divine Lord and Master they will strive to do
what lies in their power for the mornl and spiritual benefit of the
children, and they will give evidence of this as their prevailing
motive in the manner in which they engage in this work of faith and
labour of love. Love lightens labour. It will lead the teacher to
put up with many difficulties and discouragements and disappoint-
ments in the oncarrying of the work, and will lend a fresh stimulus
to service. The thought that a word may be spoken which the Holy
Spirit may use for conviction and awakening, and that some soul may
be saved, will lead to loving efforts being put foi*th for their instruc-
tion and salvation.
4. The work should be carried on in a patient spirit. Any one
who has to do with the training of the young must needs be patient
aud persevering. It is out of the question to think that we can force
on the religious education of the children. Our motto must be '* By
little and little." In schools that are purely of a mission kind, and
designed for the children of non-churchgoers, we will meet with much
to tax our patience, when trying to instil into their minds the great
doctrines and duties of God's word. How restless, aud rude, and
thoughtless, and tricky are these cify arabs whom some of you
teach 1 But in schools of a mixed kind, where we have the children
of churchgoing parents alongside of the children of others we will also
find much to try our patience. Carry on your work then patiently
and quietly and perseveringly, always sowing the good seed of the
Kingdom in expectation of a blessed reaping time.
5. The work should be carried on in a pi-ayerful spirit, lliia is
essential if the work is to be crowned with success. It is in vain that
\\ e go to the school and spend the houra with the scholare in going
over the lessons for the day, if we do not begin the work, carry it on,
aud follow it up with earnest, importunate, believing prayer. An
inspired teacher, aud a successful soul-winner says : " I have planted,
Apollo's watered : but God gave the increase." And so we must
look to God for the blessing to attend and accompany all our efforts
in seeking the instruction and enlightenment of the ignorant, and the
salvation of the lost. Every teacher should be concerned to pray
for each scholar individually. Let us be precise and pointed in our
I)rayers. Let us name our scholars before the Lord and lay their case
before Him in prayer, and let us plead with all earnestness and im-
SABBATH SCHOOL TEACHER AND HIS WORK. 465
portunitj for that blessing to alight upon them without which no
Christian work can prosper.
6. l*he work should be carried on in a hopeful spirit. Amid all the
circumstances of a discouraging kind that may be met with in the
prosecution of our work, let the labour be carried on in the faith and
hope that the efforts expended for the benefit of the young will not
be in vain. God has said, ''My word shall not return unto me void,
but it shall accomplish that which I please and it shall prosper in the
things whereto i sent it." Solomon says '' Cast thy bread upon the
waters ; for thou shalt fiud it after many days," and a greater than
Solomon said '* Follow me and I will make you fishers of men." Let
us cling to the hope that labour expended even in circumstances of
the most unfavourable kind will not be in vain ; and let us cherish
the deep conviction that the Lord can make use of us as agents in
His hand in turning some from the error of their ways to the wisdom
of the just. Friends and brethren, fellow-workers in the Lord's great
vineyard " Be not weary in well-doing, and whatever ye do, do it
heartily, as to the Lord and not unto men ; knowing that of the Loixl
ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance ; for ye serve the Lord
Christ."
The Rev. Ebenezer Kitchie delivered an address on
" THE SABBATH 80H00L IN RELATION TO THB CHURCH."
He spoke to the following effect : —
** The question which most of all forces itself upon the earnest con-
gregations in the Church of Christ is ^ How are we to reach the
masses?" but I feel assured that if the Church had long ago
awakened to a sense of her duties in regard to the Sabbath School,
the difficulties of solution for this important work had not now been
so great. The question might never have arisen. The Head of the
ivhurch — even Jesus — while on earth took the greatest possible in-
terest in the young — the very young too — and left with His apostle
the direct command that His lambs should be fed — and this before He
told him of the feeding of the sheep. If the Church is true to her
vocation she must be an imitator of Jesus Christ, and follower of
<iod — a provider for the little ones — and her duty becomes all the
dearer from the fact that the religion of Jesus Christ alone yearns
over them with loving sympathy. It seems to me a dark blot on the
chai-acter of any that they take no interest in the upbringing of the
young in our country. The day is past for needing to speak in
defence of the Sabbath Schools in relation to the Church. We all
know that parents should train their young ones at home, but do
they ? can they f and dare we stand in lazy indolence and cold in-
difference and see these immortal souls perish for lack of know^ledge.
Less blameworthy would he be who saw them drowning in a lake or
burning in a fiery flame and did not try to save them. At a conference
similar to this in which we are now met, a young teacher urging to
more earnestness in the work said, " If the Church will not work for
the children, the devil will." A minister who was there remarked,
I am glad our young brother has recognised how alert the devil is,
4<
466 SABBATH SCHOOL TEACHER AND HIS WORK.
even while the Church slumbers, but we must all learn that if the
Church does work for them the devil will too. He does not allow
every Sabbath scholar to slip so easily from his grasp, or turn his back
upon them.'' Let us realise this (act and know the greatness of our
responsibility.
Many look upon the Sabbath School as a valuable auxiliary to tho
Church, but not thus should we view it, nor as an appendage, but as
an important part and valuable factor.
In fact, so close is the relationship between Chiux^h and Sabbath
School, that the ideal Sabbath School can only be viewed in its
relation to the Church.
It is the Bible School and ought to be viewed as the School of the
Church in the same way as our schools for secular instruction are in-
tended to fit the young for the service of life.
Prominent supervision ought therefore to be given by the Church
to the Sabbath School. Its workers should be regarded as Church
workers and its work as Church work. It is the nursery of the Church,
and as the old shepherd told the young one, that he had a flock of
strong healthy sheep, because he fed and carefully tended the ''yonug
ones," so should we recognise that well-fed children are most likely to bo
strong men and women. Thero is a passage in Coleridge's " Table
Talk " worthy of note, in answer to those who say we have no right
to influence young minds before they can detennine and decide for
themselves. His friend Thelwell thought it very unfair to influence
a child^s mind, and inculcate upon its mind as truths that which it
could only take for granted for many long yenrs to come. Coleridge
showed him his garden and said it was his botanical garden : '' How
sol" said he, "it is all covered with w^eeds." "Oh," he replied,
" that is only because the garden has not yet come to years of discre-
tion and choice. The weeds have taken the liberty to grow, and 1
thought it unfair in me to prejudice the soil toward i*osc8 and straw-
berries."
But more important is the rolationship when we think of tho
Sabbath School as a recruiting station, and a training college for
Christian workera Those who are under Sabbath School instruction
ought themselves to become the future church members and workers.
The whole disposition and talent of a child — a youug person — is
very soon found out in the Sabbath School, and as Andrew of old,
" marked the lad, and saw his basket and what he had," so many a
quick-eyed intelligent teacher has found in the scholars those who
were soon enlisted to the service of Christ, and the help of tho
Apostles.
The whole Church has a parental relationship to the Sabbath
School as that of the commonwealth to each recognised section. It
will provide all that is necessary for the well-being of the child,
workei*s, materials for work and suitable buildings. But if the build-
ings and material be needful, so also are suitable teachers, and I have
a firm conviction that Sabbath School work would be much more
effective could we have some standard of efficiency to which our
teacher should attain, in order that the Church might have full
SABBATH SCHOOL TEACHER AND HIS WORK. 467
command of the itiBtruction given in her schools. One way of solu-
tion which presents itself to me is that all the teachers should
themselves have made public profession of faith in Christ and joined
the membership of the church.
In its parental relationship, the Church will be expectant — looking
for loyal devotion to Christ, to its own laws and welfare ; it will
expect the lambs to be fed with green herbage, and by still waters,
led fzx>m danger to safety^ and to be brought one by one into the
great field of which itself is a part. Its very expectancy will cause
the members to recognise the duties devolving upon them to further
this work amongst the young, by earnest sympathy, liberal support,
hearty encouragement, and persevering fervent prayer.
The duty of the minister is therefore to manifest a deep personal
interest in the work. Its manifestations may be varied. Some
men of robust constitution may with success be present at each
meeting of the School — others may only be there once a month, and
this with an earnest superintendent should be sufficient. Other
ministers may never be able to be present with any measure of
regularity owing to overtaxed energies, for it must be remembered
that the services dunng Sabbath, and preparation for these, tax to
the very utmost the physical powers of brain and nerve, and moro
than all, the spiritual energies of every sincere earnest preacher.
Far be it from me to defend indolence on the part of any miuistoi*,
yet I would urge caution on every teacher of saying, " Our minister
takes no interest in the School." I have known a man of whom thia
was said, who, instead of taking no interest in the work, was one who
spent the whole hour of meeting in earnest prayer on their behalf, because
he was conscious^ that were he to tax himself any further than this, he
would need to leave work undone which no one of his Sabbath
School teachers or workers could do for him. All the other officcra
of the Church — members of session — should make it their duty to
have a representation present at each meeting, and even private
members, might, with good advantage, drop in now and again in
order to show a whole-hearted sympathy with the work. But the
Church has a right to expect that real school work will be done in
the school. It has right to say to all its teachers, '^ We expect you
to teach and not preach.'' The Sabbath School teachers' aim should
ever be to remember that the learners under their care are to be the
future hearers : and with definiteness and precision they should
convey their instructions. An audience would stand aghast and
think the minister was out of his mind were he to stop in the course
of bis sermons and say " Mr. — do you understand me 1 Mrs. — do you
know what I mean ? " He has to take it for granted that they do
understand, but the Sabbath School teacher may — nay he ought
often to ask — scholars, do you clearly understand all I have been
telling you ? By all means let the teacher's work be thorough.
One thing fills us with sorrow. Too great a proportion of Sabbath
School work is not abiding. The Church does not reap a sufficiently
large produce from the fields. May this not arise from the fact that
the teachers are not sufficiently the childrens pnstors? The work
468 THE MISSION FIELD.
during the hour of meeting of the School is not all the duty of a
Sabbath School teacher. The home as well as the class room should
know the teacher. He should follow up his work, and this would
give to the Church great power in the world, and an entrance into
many a hitherto closed door. The grip of personal attachment would
restrain the scholars from straying to the world, would retain many
in the school, and in many cases would be, in the hand of God, the
means of bringing parents to church — and thus all might be saved.
There must be a vast extension of the idea of the importance of
Sabbath School work — both on the part of the Church and the
teachers— of its aims, possibilities, and responsibilities.
Reach the masses by training the future fathers and mothers to
know the Lord, and to this pressing duty let the Church give her
most precious gifts and talents — for the young are the hope, both of
our Church and nation. Rejoice in your labour. Sabbath School
teachei*s. Be strong, and courageous. Fear not Is not yoar
mission great and glorious, to save the children for Christ)
E\it iEtdSton Jfitlb
OUR FOREIGN MISSION.
l^HB ordination services at Arbroath in connection with the setting
apart of Mr. David Finlayson as an ordained Missionary for India,
have already been reported in the pages of the Magazine, The
services were well attended and felt to be both solemn and interest-
ing. After the Rev. George Anderson of Coupar Angus had con-
ducted the closing devotional exercises, the people had the opportun-
ity of congratulating Mr. Finlayson on the honourable position he
now fills, and this they did in a very cordial manner on retiring from
Church. We are glad to learn that a farewell meeting with Mr.
Finlayson was held in Arbroath Church on the evening of Wednesday
6th November. One who was present has sent the following account
of the proceedings : — Addresses bearing on the great subject of Chris-
tian Missions, interesting in themselves and encouarging to our young
Missionary, were delivered by the Rev. Alexander Stirling who
presided, Rev. James Patrick, Carnoustie, and others connected with
the congregation. An interesting feature in the evening's proceed-
ings was the presentation of a valuable collection of theological works
to Mr. Finlayson, including ''Fausset and Jamieson's Critical and
Explanatory Commentary on the Bible,'' " Hodge's Systematic
THE MISSION FIELD. 46^
Theology," and " Geikie's Life and Words of Christ." Mr. Stirling
made over the gift in suitable terms, and Mr. Finlayson in accepting^
spoke of his great interest in the work to which he had devoted
himself, and pled for the sympathy and prayers of those present, and
through them of the Church at large. The meeting was of a most
stimulating character, and has left a deep impression upon the
Secession heart in Arbroath. For all of up, it marks a new era in
the history of our Missionary enterprise. On the Friday evening
following, the members of the Minister's Bible Class were entertained
to tea in the Manse by Mr. and Mrs. Stirling. In the course of the
evening, Mr. Andrew Ellis, in name of the Bible Class, presented Mr.
Finlayson with a handsome writing des]^, bearing a suitable inscrip-
tion, as a mark of the esteem in which he is held by the members,
and a pledge of their interest in his great work. Mr. Finlayson made
a most effective and feeling reply. Rev. James Young, Mr. John
Duncan, Deacon, and the Rev. Mr. Stirling gave short addresses.
bearing on the solemn occasion of the gathering.
On Wednesday 1 3th November, Mr. Finlayson bade farewell to hia
friends in Arbroath and reached Liverpool, accompanied by his father,,
on Thursday morning. The following, is his first letter, written on
board the S. S " Persia," dated 26th November, and posted at Port-
Said :—
'* Oar gallant ship did not leave Liverpool on Tliursday the 14th November
at the specified time, 4 o'clock. In the first place the passengers did not arrive
by the Steam Tender till 5 o'clock, and then the want of water prevented the
ship from proceeding on her voyage. Consequently we dined on board that
night whilst lying in the Mersey. After retiring for the night, balmy sleep
soon charmed away my senses, and I was entirely unconscious of all that w as.
transpiring aroimd me, until I awoke on Friday morning and found myself out
on the open sea, launched on the great enterprise of my life. I believe we left
Liverpool about 11 o'clock at night. Since then we have fared wonderfully
well. On the Friday after we left we had splendid weather. The sea was as
smooth as glass and the ship was as steady as a rock. On Saturday morning
we bade farewell to England, the Scilly Islands being the last we saw of British
soil for many days. On reaching the English channel we experienced very
foggy and sickening weather. There was a heavy ground swell on the sea,
and the ship rolled dreadfully. Nearly all the passengers were sick, myself
among the rest. Soon we reached the dreaded Bay of Biscay. The sky was
clear — the fog had cleared away, but the sea was still very rough. It ^ as
Sabbath, but no Divine Service could be held on board on account of the state
of the weather and the condition of the passengers. There was very little appear*
ance of Sabbath. On Monday morning we sighted the coast of Spain. The
sea was now calm, and we had a most delightful day. On Tuesday we sighted
the cottBt of Portugal and on Wednesday about 1 o'clock in the afternoon we
passed the famous Rock of Gibraltar. On Thursday we sailed along part of
the Mediterranean coast of Spain, with a strong head wind, greatly retardin
470 'rHE ItltSSION FIELD.
our progreis. On this day we made only 190 milu, the onlinar; ran of the
vessel being about 240. On Friday and Saturday we saw a good deal of the
African Coast in most propitious weather. Tlie sea was smooth, but the sun
WHS excessively hot. On Sabbath (tho 24th) we had a charming day. In the
morning we paaaed the Island of Pantellaria — the Italian convict BsttlemenL
In the forenoon we had to bear the inBiction of hearing the English Senice
read. The captain is a rigid Scottish Episcopalian, and in comaqnence mnt
have his [onnof worship observed. It was painful to bear ; but better to b«»t
it than cause unpleasantness. In the evening about 8 o'cloctc we pawed ^e
island of Malta. Very sorry indeod that we only saw its lights. Yesterday we
had beautiful weather, and to-day it is the same. We are now begituiing to
feel that we are uearing warmer climes. On board we have very pleuant
company. The passengers nnmber 37— among whom there atel ministers, 3 oi
them having their wives anil faiiiiliea. Besides these, we have 5 yonng ladia
THOMAS MORLAND.
going out to India as missionaries. Une of the ministers comes from Ireland,
f i-om the Irish Preabyteriun Church, a Mr, Shillidy ; another belongs to the
Congregational Church in America, a Mr. Bruce ; and the other beUmgs tothe
Methodist Church in America, a Mr. Blackstock. Kvery morning at 10 o'clock
we have family warship iu the saloon, euih of the ministers conducting it in
.turn. On Sabbath last Mr. Shillidy read the English Service, whilst Mr.
Brace preached the sermon. Next Sabbath I am expected to preach the
.seruion^but will not have anything to do with the reading of the Service.
" Thursday morning
■■28th Nov. 18119.
"Now 1 must conclude as it is near post time on board ship and we an
near Port Said. This morning the son is very hot. We are to get ourawning
pnt up iu order to screen the heat from us. We eipeot to enter the Snei
'LUnal to-night. — With kiud regards to hIL'
THE MISSION FIELD. 471
We expect boou to hear of Mr. Finlayson's arrival at Bombay, and
irlieu oDoe there he will lose no time in piiBhing on to Nagpore where
lie vill doubtlees meet with a cordial welcome from the Rev. Meesra
Cooper and Whittou whom we hare apprised of his departure for
liidia, and from them he will learn of the anangements made for
his journey through the jungle to Seoni. We can imagine with what
[|«Iight Mr. and Mrs. Blakely will receive the new Missionary, and
heur from his lips the latest tidings from their native land.
Mr. Finlayson takea with him a large nnd mixed aasorttneiit of
clothing, books and toys for the inmates of the Orphanage. These
have been provided by the patrons of some of the children and other
kind friends in Ayr, Alierdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Paisley, Kirkin-
ANDREW THOMSON.
tilloch, Pollokahawa, and other places. Indeed it is believed that
the articles of clothing sent will keep them going for a considerable
tine to come. We regret that some of the warm frieuds of our
Orphans had not heard of the proposal to send out a box in Nov-
ember till it was too late j but another opportunity may be given
them before long of providing articles of dress for the children or
suitable books for their pcnisal.
Mr. and Mrs. Blakely, according to the latest accounts from India,
are in good health. Mr. Blakely sends cheering reports of the good
work in which he is engaged and tells of the dif&culttes with which
tie has to contend. Hundreds of people crowd around him and the
472 THE MISSION FIELD.
Catechist wheu they go out to the public market and fairs to speak
about their Master and entreat the perishing to look to
Christ alone for Salvation. They take with them a number of the
best singing boys, and their singing speedily attracts crowds of people^
and then they read the Scriptures to the wondering multitude and
speak to them earnestly and affectionately about their souls. More
of this kind of work will now be overtaken, and we can but hope and
pray that it will be followed with the best results. Some of the pro-
fessed converts have given Mr. Blakely a great amount of trouble^
and the action of one of the patrons of the orphans, who is resident
in the Central Provinces, has caused both great annoyance and grief
in the attempt made to take from our custody one of the girls. But
such trials are to be expected, and through grace will be overcome-
We are glad to be able to present to our readers the photos of two of the
orphan boys, and we may subsequently be able to give the rest of the
childen, either separately or in a group. Meanwhile we would anev
ask the prayers of all connected with the Church at home on behalf
of our Missionaries, their fellow-workers, and the arduous work iu
which they are engaged. We trust that the year on which we enter
will be a very fruitful oue, and that in that part of our Indian Em.
pire where our Mission is located, the true light may not only
shine out more brightly than ever ; but that many of the perishing
may be rescued and be made partakers of the grace of God. Wheu
William Carey preached the sermon that led to the establishment of
the Society which sent him out to India as its first Missionary, his text
was Isaiah 54. 2-3, and these were the two points on which he in-
sisted, and which we commend to the thoughtful attention of our
readers this New Year in reference to Our Foreign Mission —
1. Expect GREAT things from (tou: 2. Attempt great things foh
God.
A MISSIONARY CHARGE.
(Addressed to Rev. David FiNLAYSONat Arbroath on 29th. October,
1889, by the Rev. William B. Gardiner, Pollokshaws.)
Mt dear Brother. — At the call of the Presbytery here assembled, it
is now my privilege to address to you a few words of brotherly
counsel and encouragement in connection with the great work to
which you have this evening, in the good providence of God, been set
THE MISSION FIELD. 473
aparfc. But before doing this allow me to congratulate you on having
attained the honourable position you now occupy us an ordained
miuister of the (iospel and a fellow-labourer in the Lord's vineyard.
For several years you have been looking forward to such a day as
this with great pleasure, and in view of it you have been prosecuting
your studies diligently and laboriously, anxious for that day to come,
which has at last arrived, when you would be invested with official
authority as a public and accredited servant of Jesus Christ. I am
sure that I interpret aright the feelings of your heart when I say that
you cherish the deepest gratitude to the Lord for having sustained
and directed you hitherto ; and you will most heartily give God the
praise for permitting you to be ordained by the laying on of the hands
of the Presbytery, that you may take part with us in the ministry
of the Word. May your days of active and successful service be
numerous and happy, and your ministerial career be commenced,
carried on, and finished in the spirit of the Apostle who said, " I can
do all things through Christ which streugtheneth me."
But you have been set apart, my brother, to special work in a
foreign land, and on this account I am here, as the Convener of our
Foreign Mission Committee, to offer my warmest congratulations and
bid you God-speed. I feel assured that had the Lord not put it into
your heart to offer yourself for service in a distant heathen country
you would not have volunteered to leave your friends and your native
laud for the purpose of labouring in the midst of a people who know
not God and who are wedded to customs both personal, domestic and
religious of a most humiliating and degrading kind. I believe you
have counted the cost ere offering yourself to the Committee entrusted
with the superintendence of our Foreign Mission work, and I am sure
that when you go you will carry with you the sympathies and
friendly feelings of many who tarry at home, while you will share
in the benefit of many fervent prayers that will ascend to God on your
behalf from many homes and sanctuaries throughout our Church.
What blessings may you not expect to alight on yourself and your
work in answer to such prayers ! You need never despair of success
so long as godly people pray for you, and 1 would have you to believe
that the Lord will do great things through your instrumentality in
answer to prayer.
Instead of speaking in general terms about your work and the
qualifications essential to fit you for its right performance, I design
calling your attention to a few words contained in one of Paul's
pastoral epistles — that which he last wrote to his young friend and
brother Timothy, and when he was within sight of the better land
and the never-fading crown of life. And the words are these^-" But
2 I
474 THE MISSION FIELD.
watch thou in all thiugs, endure afilictious, do the work of an Kvan-
gelist, make full proof of thy ministry.'' This solemn and weighty
charge was addressed to one who itinerated among the churches, and
was well equipped by home-training, education, personal piety and
spiritual gifts for the special work given him to do. And the
language is peculiarly applicable to you, my young friend, when look-
ing forward to eyangelistio and missionary work in a foreign land.
Who could be better qualified for advising and counselling a co-worker
in the Lord's service than the Apostle Paul. Himself a pioneer
missionary and the bearer of the Gospel message to different parts of
the world, and to persons of all i*anks and classes, and one, moreoverr
who had passed through remarkable trials and sufferings in his
Master's service, Paul was well entitled to speak to others in the way
of direction and encouragement. Happy the man who ponders and
acts on the weighty words of such a cotmseller; and you may regard
him as this night speaking to yoii in the language I have quoted.
Here you are called on to display —
I. PEHSONAL WATCHFULNESS.
** But watch thou in all things," or more literally, " Be thou sober
in all things." This does not refer to literal sobriety, for Timothy
did not require to be cautioned on that point, being an abstainer froiu
wine and strong drink, but it refers to sober-mindedness or constant
watchfulness over one's thoughts, feelings, appetites and desir&s. It
comprehends mental clearness and calmness, fixedness of belief, and
moderation in all things. As addressed to the servant of the Lord iu
our day may we not regard it as referring to the following among-
other things — tjcercmng a godly Jealousy over one^s wlf. One who
goes out to engage in work for the Lord must needs exercise a strict
watch over himself. What need of the greatest caution in guarding^
the citadel of the heart, preventing anything finding a resting-place
there that would prove hurtful to the soul or interrupt commuuiou
with God. While we tairy in this world, we will have to lament
with others, over the corruptions that linger within, and which lead to
incessant warfare between the old man and the new; and we must needs,
be on our guard lest any pernicious desire should obtain the mastery
over us. *'Keep thy self pure . . . be thou an example of the belie vent
in word, in conversution, in chai-ity, in spirit, in faith, in purity."
Forget not the language of Paul, ** But I keep under my body, and
bring it into subjection ; lest that by any means, when I have preached
to others, I myself should be a castaway." Tlien there must be
Quick mental discernment. I think this is implied in that sobriety
THE MISSION FIELD. 475
or watchfulness which the Apostle inculcates. There must be a
quickuess on your part to discover opportunities for work, and to im-
prove every opportunity for speaking a word for your Master, and
for dealing faithfully with the souls of men. Be alive to the wants,
and conditions, and circumstances of the people among whom you go
to labour, and adapt your instructious, and even your mode of in-
struction, to meet their case. It is quite obvious that the methods
and habits of a pastor at home would be out of place on the part of a
missionary abroad. Be quick to discern precisely what is needed in
carrying on your labours, and ready to act in adaptation to the
necessities of the people. But there is also implied in this counsel
tjreat presence of mind. In your work in the bazaars and fairs, and
in the midst of the great crowds who may gather around you to hear
what message you have to convey, you may expect to meet with in-
terruptions and opposition, just as others have done. And remember
tiiat for the most part the opponents will be able, clever, bigoted
men, who have strong faith in the views they hold, and in the religious
systems with which they are associated. Now, to meet them success-
fully you must have your own mind and heart firmly settled in the
verities of our most holy religion, and in the power of the truth to
meet and refute all that is erroneous. You must be conversant with
^Scripture and ready to cite such portions as are fitted to expose and
condemn the error advanced. Have great presence of mind in deal-
ing off-hand with your antagonists, and have strong faith in the trutli
of God. Kemember that the truth shall prevail, and call to re-
membrance these words of Paul's, (R.V) "The Lord's servant must
not strive, but be gentle towards all, apt to teach, forbearing, in meek-
ness correcting them that oppose themselves ; if peradventure God
may give them repentance unto the knowledge of the truth, and they
may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, having been
taken captive by the Lord's servant unto the will of God." Once
more here, there must be unceasing care in watching for souls. Never
forget) my brother, that the great mission on which we send you
forth to India is to be a winner of souls, and a fisher of men. Your
commission bears that you are to preach the Gospel to every creature
whom God in His providence may permit you to address. This work
will take up much of your time, engage your most anxious thoughts,
and fill you with deep concern lest your labours should prove unsuc-
cessful Go forth in the spirit of the Apostle who said " I seek not
yours, but you." Study to be the honoured instrument of gathering
many from among the heathen that they may praise the God of
redemption in a triumphant song. Act ever as a watcher for souls
and es one accountable to the Master in whose name we send you far
476 THE MISSION FIELD.
hence to seek and to save lost sinners. Hear your Lord saying,
" Fear not ; from henceforth thou shalt catch men."
ir. PERSONAL COURAGE.
'' Endure afflctions " said Paul to one set apart to ministerial work
by the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery : or, as the words
may be read " suffer hardship.'' This is not the first time that the
Apostle had referred to afflictions and trials when writing to
Timothy, for had he not written thus — "Be thou partaker of the
afflictions of the Gospel according to the power of God,'' and again he
had counselled him thus, " Now therefore endure hardness, as a gotxl
soldier of Jesus Christ." And now to inspire him with faith and
courage he emphatically says, "Endiire afflictions — suffer hardship."
Your patient endurance of all the trials and difficulties to be met
with, and your manly fortitude will be called into exercise at such
seasons as these : — When brought face to face with difficulty. The
difficulties connected with a missionary's life are numerous and
very trying to flesh and blood, and yet they may all be overcome.
But when trial and difficulty meet you in the path of duty think not
tliat some strange thing has happened unto you, for the like trials
and difficulties have been experienced by others. In various respects
your work will present difficulties to which we at home are not sub-
jected, and yet we all have difficulties to meet with of one kind or
other in fulfilling our ministry ; but these very difficulties call into
exercise some of the graces of the Spirit which might otherwise lie
dormant for want of exercise. Add to your faith, virtue or courage,
and through grace helping you stand firm. Again, your courage
will be tested when placed in the midst of danger. The people among
whom your lot will be cast seem from all accounts that reach ua to
be of a quiet and peaceful temperament, and easy-going in their
manner of life. Their wants are few and easily met. Yet I doubt
not there will be found among them those who are disposed to
show a malevolent spirit when goaded on by unprincipled and
wicked men to do bodily injury to those who are striving to advance
their highest welfare. Should you at any time be surrounded by
danger, put your trust in Him who is the unfailing Refuge of his
people and display Christian courage in the face of danger. The
Lord, whose sleepless eye will be upon you, will not suffer you to re-
ceive bodily harm. Remember the word which the Lord addressed
to Joshua, " As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee : I will not
not fail thee nor forsake thee . . Be strong, and of a good courage ;
be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord thy Crod is
THE MISSION FIELD. 477
with thee whithersoever thou goest." Then, display courage when
uueting with disappointment and discouragement. You may expect to
meet with much that will tend to dishearten and discourage you.
The very persons on whom you may think some good impressions
have been produced through the preaching of the Word, may speedily
show that the heart has still continued unchanged. Their persistent
unbelief and hardness of heart will greatly disappoint you. But be
not cast down. The Lord has said, " My word shall not return uuto
Me void." Seek to rise above all discouraging circiuustances and
look up to Him who says. * Be of good cheer : be not afraid.'
III. PERSONAL SBRVIOE.
" Do the work of an Evangelist/' said the Apostle to his friend and
fellow-labourer Timothy — and by so saying he plait: ly and pointedly
referred to the special service required of him as a herald of the cross,
ji preacher of the Gospel, a publisher of the good news of the King-
dom, a proclaimer of the heavenly message of grace and peace among
the children of men. We know that in the early Christian Church,
there was a class of men invested with the ofhce of Evangelist.
These men were the pioneers of the Gospel — broke up new ground —
carried the*glad tidings of salvation where Christ had been unheard-
of and unknown. Their special business was to preach the Gospel,
while the settled pastor watched over, and built up the dififerent
flocks of God's people. Philip was one of this class, and so was
Timothy. And while Timothy had been employed for a time in
nourishing and superintending the Church life of Ephesus, yet he
must not forget the special work to which he had been set apart —
that of evangelising the different parts of the world iuto which he
was sent by his Divine Lord and Master. Now, my brother, you arc
being sent forth to do the work of an Evangelist, You go to labour
among an immense number of people who are outside the visible
Kingdom of Christ, and living without God and without hope in the
world, and Evangelistic work is the very kind of service to which you
are specially called. In speaking to you for a little about the nature
of this service 1 would pronounce it (I) needful. You are to convey
to the perishing multitudes in that part of Central India where our
Mission has obtained a local habitation, the glad tidings of great joy
designed for all people, and you are to do this in the belief that
better tidings you could not tell them than those we commission you
to bear. Tell them of their lost and ruined condition, their estrange-
ment from the God who made them, and their only hope of recovery
thraugh Christ Jesus the Lord. How necessary that they should
47^ THE MISSION FIELD.
know how sinful and guilty they are in God's sight, and the provision
made in Christ for their redemption. Then it is (2) all-important.
The very message you are to carry to the ignorant and perishing
bears on the face of it to be of the highest moment, and essentially
necessary for the heathen to kuow^, and hence we may speak of the
service you are to render them as of supreme importance. You are
sent not simply to educate them in our language, or merely in the
knowledge of salvation ; but to press on their attention the vast im-
portance of being saved from wrath through our Ix)rd Jesus Christ.
You are to speak in no bated breath about their naturally depresscil
and sinful condition, and you are to show them the only way of es-
cape from the wrath to come. Exhibit Christ as the only Deliverer
from the guilt, power and punishment of sin, and repeat again and
iigain His own sublime words '^I am the way, and the truth,
and the life ; no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." Still
further, your work will be (3) laborious. I will not hide from you
the fact that your service will, if carried on as we anticipate, be most
laborious. You will be required to labour early and late, at home
and in the surrounding villages, among young and old ; and this will
entail the most active and untiring effort on your part, and service
of the most incessant and wearisome kind. But you will find that in
going about this service in a nght spirit you will be sustained and
animated by the promises and gracious help of that blessed Lord
whom you serve. Like your brethren at home, you will often have
occasion to deny yourself much ease and comfort, and much of the
time you would like for reading and study, for the good of others.
Your service is no sinecure. You must needs practice the art of self-
denial ; but you cannot do this in a better cause. Grudge not to do
this if you can thereby more efficiently discharge the duty devolving
upon you, and more successfully advance the interests of that King-
dom which is righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
IV. PERSONAL FIDKLITY.
" Make full proof of thy ministry,*' says Paul, or •* Fulfil thy minis-
try." The expression is obviously a metaphorical one, but it is diffi-
cult to tell whether the Apostle had in view the figure of a vessel
speeding on quickly and steadily under full sail, or the figure of a
measure filled up to the brim and running over. Probably the idea
is that Timothy was to discharge his ministry faithfully and earnestly,
giving full and unstinted ministerial labour, and carrying on that
ministry to its completion amid tokens of great and ever-increasin;^
siiccess. Now, if you would make full proof of your ministry then
THE MISSION FIELD. 479
it follo^vs that you must be (I) DUigent in doing tlie work to which
you have been appointed. It is the hand of the diligent that
maketh rich in worldly business ; and it is the diligent servant
of Christ who may expect to have his laboura crowned with
the Divine blessing. The Master whom yon serve calls for diligence.
— " Son, go work to-day in my vineyard." " Go out quickly into the
streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and the maimed
and the halt and the blind." And when you have to carry back to
Him the report, *' Lord, it is done as thon hast commanded, and yet
there is room,^* will He not say without delay, " Go out into the
highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house
may be filled." Then you must be (2) Thoi'oughly earnest in carry-
ing the message mth whicti you are entrusted. If ever a man should
be in thorough earnest it should surely be when delivering the me^s-
sage of the Lord to his fellow-men, and pleading with sinners to be
reconciled to God. Coldness, apathy, pride or levity, sliould never
be noticed about the preacher of the Gospel or the missionary of tijo
Cross. Oh, if' any subject is fitted to fire the soul, and warm the
heart, and set loose the tongue, surely it is that with which you arc
eu trusted. Let your burning earnestness appear in the manner in
which you deliver the Lord's message, in the very tones of your
voice, and in your intense anxiety to lead your hearers to a saving
knowledge of the truth. " If you believe," says an old writer " that
the wicked shall be turned into hell, you cannot preach to them as
if you were telling a tale. They are as 4)rands in the fire, will you
then be so cruel as not to be concerned to pluck them out." But
you must also be (3) Faithful in dealing with the souls of men.
Fidelity to your trust will lead you to act sincerely and honestly
with the people to whom it will be your privilege to speak as the
Ambassador of Christ. You will not shun to declare the whole
counsel of God. Keep back nothing that would be profitable to
your hearers. Speak out the full Gospel, and let it be manifest that
you speak because you believe. Be fired with a holy ambition to
save the souls of your fellow-men, and plead with them to turn imto
the Lord and live. Once more, you should be (4) Ever-conscious of
your responsiblity to the Lord. '^ One is your Master, even Christ,"
and to Him you stand or fall. You are responsible to Him for the
right use of the gifts He has endowed you with, and for the right
improvement you make of the opportunities granted you in the good
providence of God of doing good. When doors of usefulness open
up for you, see that you unhesitatingly enter in, and be sure you
ask the Master to accompany you. Preach and labour in view of
480 THB MISSION FIELD.
that (lay when you must give an account of your, stewardship to
Him in whose name we send you forth to a far-distant land.
And now, my brother, I have done. I have left unsaid much that
might be spoken to advantage on such an occasion as this, and par-
ticularly have I said nothing about prayer. I judge that you will
be impressed with the conviction that you must begin, continue and
finish your work in a spirit of prayer, and you will take time to be
alone with God, telling Him all your sorrows and obtaining from
Him fresh strength for your daily work. And while you plead
yonder, we will study to remember you here, aud in this way strive
to bear up your hands and encourage your heart in the work and
service of our common Lord. Should it please God that you and
we shall never meet again on earth, my prayer is that we may all
meet in the better land, \vhere the faithful worker will enter on his
rest and reward. " The Lord bless thee, aud keep thee ; the Ijord
make His face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee ; the
Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace." And
let all the people say. Amen.
ADDRESS TO THE CONGREGATION.
The Rev. Thomas Hobart, in addressing the people, said : —
Considering the lateness of the hour, and the interesting, instruc-
tive, and important addresses, to which they had listened, it would be
entirely out of place, on his part, to attempt to detain them much
longer. Waiving, therefore, all introductory matters, he would
briefly direct their attention to the saying of our Lord, as recorded
in Acts 20-35. " It is more blessed to give than to receive.'' It
was to encourage the Ephesian elders to labour so as to enable them
to support the weak, that the Apostle reminded them of the precious
words that had been spoken by the Lord. Now Christ, as the God-
Man, was a great Receiver from His Father, in order that He might
bo a great Giver unto us. As the God-Man He became poor, that we
through His poverty might be rich. As poor. He was dependent on
His Father, and received from Him every blessing He required to
qualify Him for the accomplishment of His great work. " It pleased
the Father that in Him, all fulness should dwell." Now, great as
was His joy in receiving. He tells us, He had even greater joy in
giving — that He found it to be more blessed to give than it is to re-
ceive. The joy of the Head, must, in this respect, also, be the joy of
the member. The blessedness in giving, Christ experienced as the
THE MISSION FIELD. 48 1
Head, niust be the blessedness His' people experience in giving as the
merabers.
Love is the giving, faith the receiving grace. It is of the nature
of love to give gifts to the objects loved. It is of the nature of
faith to receive and appropriate as its own, the gifts thus given. It
was because the Father loved sinners, that He gave His only be-
gotten and well-beloved Son to be their Saviour. It was because the
Son loved sinners — the Church, that He gave Himself for it, an offer-
ing and a sacrifice to God, of a sweet smelling savour. Love in us to
God, to His truth, to His people, to our fellow-men, is begun on the
day of our saving union to Christ, and is the same in its nature as
love in the Three-One-God. As love in God gives blessing to us, love
in us gives glory to God, and does good to man. It is because
Christ loves us, that He takes hold of, and gives Himself to us, in
the covenant of grace. It is because we love Him, that we, by faith,
give ourselves to Him, in a covenant of duty, and comply with the
request, "I beseech you, by the means of God, that ye present
your bodies, as a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable, which is your
reasonable service.
It is, we believe, because our young brother " Mr. Fiulavson '' has
been savingly united to Christ, that he has been enabled out of love
to the Lord, to give himself up to His service, and to seek to pro-
mote His glory, in carrying on, along with our young friends already
in India, the great work for which he has been solemnly set apart, by
the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery in your presence this
evening. And in thus giving himself up to seek the glory of God,
and the good of his fellow-men, in a far-off land, and among a people
of a strange tongue, it is surely not merely our duty, but our privil-
c^% to seek that in faithfully and energetically performing his work,
he may find in his sweet experience, that it is even more blessed to
jjrive than it is to receive. In seeking this, we notice — Ist. What
we have to do ; 2nd. How we are to do it. We are to help him —
I. We are to help him with our substance. The Divine command
is, " Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of
all thine increase." To encourage us to obey the command, it is
added, ''so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses
shall burst out with new wine.'' In honouring the Lord, we shall
find that the Lord honours us — that there is that scattereth, and yet
increaseth, while there is that withholdeth more than is meet, and yet
it tendeth to poverty.
Mr. Finlayson goes to India, iu (»iu* name, and pledged to do our
work. We have pledged ourselves to support him in the perform-
auce of that work. His support comes from the Foreign Mission
482 THE MISSION FIELD.
Fund. Hy giving liberally to that fund, we support him with our
substance, and cheer him in his work. By contributing to it, as
unto the Lord, wo are blessed ourselves ; but by having it always
well replenished, we relieve him of all harassing thoughts about
financial matters, and enable him to devote his time, talents, aud
energies to the carrying on of the great work, for which he has been
sent to that benighted land. By thus helping him with our sub-
stance, we place him in a position in which he may have a joy in his
work, he never could otherwise have experienced. May the joy of
the Lord be his strength. And may he yet have to say, " Now
thanks be unto God which always causeth us to triumph in Chirst, aud
maketh manifest the savour of His knowledge by us in every place."
2. We arc to help him with our prayers. When, out of love to
God, you begin to do good, to instruct the ignorant, to arouse the
careless, to arrest the sinful, to reclaim the wandering, to comfort
the mourning — the afflicted — the bereaved, with the comforts where-
with you yourselves have been comforted of God, you find that in
comforting and cheering others, you are to a far greater extent,
comforted, and cheered, and refreshed yourselves. You find that
there is a real luxury in doing good — a luxury in the posseasiou of
which you feel how much more blessed it is to give than it is to
receive. In this way ** let every one of us please his neighbour for
his good, to edificatfon.
The luxury of doing good, we expect our young brother will largely
enjoy. Much opposition in various forms he will have to overcome
in order to its enjoyment. To enable him to overcome, we require
to help him, not merely with our substance, but with our prayers.
Pray for him, then, that he may be enabled to draw, and so to re-
ceive largely out of the fulness that is in Christ everything he requires
to qualify him for the right carrying on of the work, in which he is
to be engaged — that he may have a growing love to, and delight in
its performance — that he may have wisdom to attack the opposition
at the right time, and in the right way — that he may have strength
to oveixjome it — that he may have the power of the l^rd always
present with him to heal — that strengthened with all might by the
Spirit ill the inner man, he may, in fighting the good fight of faith,
out of weakness be made strong, wax valiant in fight, and turn to
flight the armies of the aliens — ^and that in seeking to have God
glorified, in the conversion of sinners, and in the upbuilding of saints,
he may find how much more blessed it is to give than it is to receive.
Give him the benefit, then, of your secret, family, social, and public
prayers. If the Spirit is saying to you, ye that make mention of
the Lord keep not silence, and give Him no rest till He establish and
THK MISSION FIELD. 483
tin He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth, may we not hear Him
saying to ua, as we send oar young brotlier far off to the heathen :
Hold him up before the Lord in prayer. Nay, may we not hear our
brother saying to us himself, Brethren, pray for me, that the Word
t)f the Lord may have free course and be glorified, and that I may be
delivered from unreasonable and wicked men, for all men have not
faith. Remember that the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous
man availeth much. As in the carrying on of his work, he will have
much to annoy and discourage him, sustain and encourage him by
your prayers.
" Wrestling prayer can wonders do,
Bring relief in deepest straits.
Prayer can force a passage throagh
Iron bars, and bi'azen gates. ^'
3. We ai*e to help him with our sympathies. Sympathy has a
powerful effect upon the mind. It tends to raise us up when cast down,
to comfort us, when we mouni, to cheer us when we are desponding.
In Christ we have a kind, sympathizing Friend. We have not an High
Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities ;
but one who was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
In Him compassions flow. Our brother will require our sympathies.
We have no doubt, but that he carefully counted the cost, before he
by faith consecrated himself to the service of the Lord in India. He
knows that he will have hardships to endure and trials to overcome,
that all that will live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution.
He knows also the great promise of the faithful Promiser, Thy shoes
shall be iron and brass, and as thy days so shall thy strength he.
But he knows that he must begin liis work, by parting for a time
with beloved parents, with old friends, and old associations, that the
country and people among whom he is to labour are new, that his
mode of life, his work, his encouragements, his difficulties, his failures
are new, that to him everything is new. He knows that however
wisely, prayerfully, and energetically his work may be begun, he will
make mistakes, and that though to err is human, mistakes tend to
discourage him. Now the conviction that he has your sympathy,
that you will put the best construction on his conduct, will encourage
him to pro6t by his mistakes, to begin his work with renewed vigour,
and as it is, at last crowned with a good measure of success, to find
how much more pleasant it is to give than it is to receive. Sustain
him, then, with your sympathy. Manifest that you have a deep
interest in himself and in his work — that you seek that he may be
long spared to carry it on — that his own soul may be abundantly
484
PAGES FOR THE YOUNG.
refreshed, and that in going forth weeping bearing precious seed ; h&
may come again rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
As to how our work is to be performed, your time will only permit
us to say, that it is to be done regularly— day by day are we to help
him with our substance, prayers, and sympathies. In no other way
can we ourselves know the blessedness of giving. It is also to be
done fervently, cheerfully, wisely, and continuously. In affectionately
saying, Farewell to our brother, and in bidding him God speed on
his journey, seek that to him the promise may be fulfilled, Lo, 1 am
with you always even uuto the end of the world. The grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God tlie Father, and the Communion
of the Holy Ghost be with you all. Amen.
Pagee for the lottno«
BIBLE QUESTIONS.
I HAVis mach pleasure in giving the names of those whose mottoes appeared in
our last number as having answered the questions with greatest intelligence
and regularity during last year. There arc, however, two names awantiug—
that corresponding to " Violet," Carluke ; and ** Veritas," Mains Street^
Glasgow. They have not been sent to me. "Upward," Ayr, should have
the asterisk, and the name it represents will receive it in this list.
Those above 13.
Aberdeen : William Hannan.
Ayr : Vane Jack.
* David J. Cowieson.
*£llen Bryan.
Birsay : Lizzie G. Moar.
Carluke : *T. Weir.
Dundee : •BK)bert M* Vicar.
•Robert G. Burgh.
Glasgow : * William Jack.
Archie Paton.
Hamilton : *Maggie K. W. Martin.
Kirkcaldy : •John Somerville.
Ohrig : *Ellen Calder.
Perth : Jane Graham.
Stranraer : Nathaniel S. Caldwell.
Bessie Hamilton.
Annie S. Crawford.
Toherdoney : *John Chestnut.
At the end of this year I hope to give to the pupils who persevere and do
well some more tangible recognition of their perseverance and diligence. A
Those Under 13.
Ayr : *George Cowieson.
•Annie Bryan.
•Catherine J. Bryan.
•John Robertson Cuthbert,
Coupar- Angus : Maggie B. Irvine.
Carnoustie : Daniel Patrick.
Perth : •David M. Adamson.
•Davina S. Morton.
Alfred Graham.
Stranraer : Robert Caldwell.
Maggie Hamilton.
William Crawford.
PAGES FOR THE YOUNG. 485
warm friend o the Magazine, aud of the childreD, has promised a handsome
Teacher's Bible, as an annnal prize for five years, for answers to questions for
those above 13. It is very, very kind of him to do this, and we trust, that by
other friends following his good example, arrangements may be made for a
prize list next year. I need not ask friends to take the hint.
A good start has been made this year. In the junior class there is a little
diversity of opinion as to what three feats of Samson's strength were the
greatest, but that is not to wondered at. The answers are all good, and the
writing in most cases is so manifestly that of little fingers that it is interesting.
As a sample, we give those of ** Lily»" Dundee :
1. (1) He rent a young lion as he would have rent a kid ; (2) he killed a
thousand Philistines with the jaw-l)one of an ass ; (3) He pulled down a liouse.
2. In the locks of his head.
t The Philistines.
4. He told his wife that if his head was shaven his strength would go from
him.
'). When his hair began to grow.
(Jood answers have been received from Aberdeen, " Purity "; Ayr, ** 2k>ar,"
"Onward,"** Mayflower," "Gowan," "Blythe"; Coupar-Angus, "Rose-bud";
Eiiinburgh, "Youth," "Love"; Kirkcaldy, "Try"; Midlem, "Beginner";
Paisley, "Ada"; Perth, "Rose"; Stranraer, "Blessedness," "Truth,'»
••William"; Thurso, " Wee Laddie," "Lily," "Pansy."
The middle class is well forward this time. Very Interesting answers have
been sent in, showing a careful study of the whole subject. The fourtli
qoestion, about the work of Moses Christ referred to as resembling His own,
has received various replies — his lifting up the serpent in the wilderness— his
giving manna from heaven — and his great work as a prophet. The first is the
most common answer. We give the answers of " Hope," Hamilton :
1. Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died. He retained
Ills faculties in a remarkable degree to the last. We are told that at his
<leath " His eye was not dim. nor his natural force abated."
2. The Lord told Moses to go up to the mountain Abarim, unto Mount
Nebo, in the Land of Moab, and there be gathered to his people. So he died
according to the word of the Lord, and the Lord buried him in a valley in the
Land of Moab, over against Bethpeor. But no man knoweth of his sepulchre
onto this day. And the Children of Israel wept for Moses thirty days.
3. It says in Hebrews iii. 2, '? As also Moses was faithful in all his house ; '*
and also in verse 5, " And Moses verily was faithful in all his house as a
servant."
4. The work of Moses resembling Christ's work was his lifting up the
•Serpent in the winderness. John iii. 14.
5. Moses appeared with Elias at the transfiguration of Christ.
Excellent answers have been sent us from Aberdeen, "Honour"; Ayr,
*• Sincerity," "Sunrise," "Bluebell"; Carnoustie. "Hopeful"; Coupar-
Angus, "Gowan*' ; Dundee, " Lahore et honore *'; Glasgow, " Faith," " Jaco-
bus," "Ina," "Knowledge*'; Midlem, "Endeavour"; Perth, " Mispah,'*
"()zias"; Stranraer, "Fear not," "Obedience," "Marion"; ITiurso, "Per-
J»€vere," "Snowdrop."
The senior class still maintains its number and its intelligence. £ach set of
answers makes plain that the meaning of the parable of the Good Samaritan
has been thoroughly grasped. There are some new faces which we gladly
486 PAGES FOR THE YOUNG.
welcome belonging to congregations that have not hitherto been reprcacnted.
Aa an illustnition we give those of "Ouillot," Stranraer :
1. Christ addressed the parable of the "Good Sainantaii ** to a lawyer,
becaase He wanted the lawyer to attend to the wants of his ueighboar»
whether he were of his own nation and religion or not. He also wanted to
teach him how to obtain eternal life.
2. The Priest and the Levite were men of the Jews own nation and religion,
men whose offices compelled them to be tender and compassionate ; therefore^
their conduct was very surprising.
3. The Samaritans were hated and counted aliens by the Jews. Ezra iv. 1.
John iv. 9. Luke ix. 51-56.
4. Twopence would be about fifteen pence in British money.
0. Blessed are the merciful.
Excellent answers have been received from Aberdeen, **Sapere a-.-def'
Ayr, " Excelsior." "Speedwell," "Ecolier;" Birsay, "Consider the lilies^
"Pro aria et focis;" Carluke, "Winter;" Dromore, "Faith;" Dundee,
**No cross, no crown," "Unity," "V^rit^;" Edinburgh, "L'elcve,"
"Simplicity;" Glasgow, •• Hope," " Matthew \i. 33," "(iraoe;" Hamilton.
"Old Light;" Kirkcaldy, "Signifer," " Lex ;" Midlem, " Hold ou. '
**FaithfulUiess;"01rig. "Pansy; " Perth, "Hope," " Ich Dien ; " Shottsbum,
"Try;" Stranraer, " Jehovah-Nissi," "Sincerity," "James."
I give the questions for February, and I venture to once more to ask the
co-operation of the ministers, office-bearers, parents, and Sabbath school
teachers in the working out of the scheme.
Undkb 10.
Write the story about the people who brought their children to Jesus ; and
tell the following things :-- -
1. Why they brought them.
2. Who wished to send them awav.
3. What did Jesus say ?
4. What did He do ?
5. Write out Luke xviii. 17.
Undkr 13.
1. Who was the king that carried Daniel away from his own country?
2. Name Daniers three youthful companions in captivity, and tell what led
to their being companions.
3. Show that God knew where they were, and was helping them.
4. Why did they refuse to eat the meat from the king's table ?
5. Write a verse that shows we ought to obey God rather than men.
Above 13.
Give one verse from the Bible to prove each of the following things : —
1 . That we ought to obey God's law perfectly.
2. That we have no wish to do so.
3. That we cannot do so.
4. That Jesus Christ did obey perfectly.
5. Name one instance of a man who thought he had kept the law, and show
that he was mistaken.
PAGES FOR THE YOUNG. 487
WINTER.
As JeBQii, on one occasion, came out of the Temple His disciples were admiring
thegrandeur of its buildings. One of them said to Him, * * Master, see wliat manner
of stones and what building are here ! " And Jesus, answering said unto hi^n
" Seest thou these great baildings ? There shall not be left one stone upon
another that shall not be thrown down.'* They walked out of Jerusalem to-
wartls the Mount of Olives, and climbing up its green slope on the side next
Jerusalem, they sat down. They saw the city in all its glory spread out be-
neath them, and, more glorious than all, the Temple they had so lately left.
While they looked upon it they began to wonder what their Master's words
regarding it could mean, and they asked Him to tell them. He told then^
th'it an evil day was coming upon Jerusalem when all its glory would be lai(^
low— when Roman armies would besiege and overthrow the city which now
lay so peacefully before them. Its inhabitants would be put to the sword or
meet with death in its more terrible forms. ** When that day comes, " said Jesus,^
" then let them that are in Jutlea flee to the mountains, and pray that your
flight be not in the winter." In spring, or summer, or autumn the mountains
would be a pleasant as well as a safe place of refuge, but to flee there in winter
—how terrible ! To seek shelter there at that time of year was but to flee
from great danger to certain and lingering death. No wonder that Jesus said
to His disciples *' Pray that your flight be not in the winter."
How fair is the world in which yon live ! You never weary us you gaze
upon its sights — its flowers, its snow, its stars, its streams, and its great and
w4de sea. And how gladsome are its sounds, the humming of its insects, its
strains of music, and the voices of friends ! The longer you gaze, and the
more intently you listen, the more wonderful and fair it all becomes. And
how pleasant your life is ! Think of the kindness of your parents, the love of
your brothers and sisters, the glee and laughter of your playmates, and all the
joys of home and country. Well it is that yon should enjoy all these. God
meant it so. But a time draws near when all must lie destroyed. One by
one, like the stones of a great building as it crumbles in decay, or, it may be^
suddenly and without warning, those sights and sounds, and pleasures will bo
removed and come to naught. Sooner or later you must flee from them all,
*' Flee ? " say you ** Where shall I flee if all these ai-e to disappear ? " Floe to
the Lord. As the mountains are round about Jerusalem so the Lord ia round
i« round about His people, even for ever. Flee to Him then, and yon will be
safe. And pray that your flight be not in the winter. When the Winter of
Old Age is upon yon, or the Winter of Death, with cold, icy breath, overtakes
yoo, it may be too late to flee. Few, very few, have fled to Jesus in Old Age
or when Death was drawing near ; and these few would tell yon if they could ^
how they wished they had fled earlier. And many who have sought to flee in
old age or on a death-bed have found that a sterner winter than these had
come upon them. The Holy Spirit had ceased to strive with them. With
bitter tears they cried for refuge, but there was no shelter for them. These
are they who at last will seek to flee from the dreary eternal Winter that lies
before them. They will vainly flee to the mountains then, crying, ** Fall oi>
ns and hide us." Flee now, for Jesus is still saying to you *' Pray that your
flight be not in the winter."
Mr. Moody was one day preaching in a very large hall in London. During
488 ECCLESIASTICAL INTELLIGENCE.
the service a man came to him in great distress and said, '* I have lost my little
girl in the crowd. Will you tell the people of my loss, and say that she will
find her father here on the platform ? " Mr. Moody did as he was requested,
but the girl could not be found. After all the crowd had gone away the hall-
keeper was going round the empty building putting out the lights. Sitting io
a dark corner and sobbing as if her little heart would break was a little girl.
*' What is the matter ? " said the man, kindly. *< Oh," said the girl " IVc lost
my papa." ** Did you not hear Mr. Moody say you would find your father
on the platform?" "Yes, yes, I heard him." "Why, then, did you not
go ? " '* Oh I did not know I was lost. There were so many kind people, and
the lights were so pretty, and the singing — Oh, dear, I did not know I was lost"
Like the disciples, and like that little girl you are so busy admiring the
wonderful things around you that you do not think of coming danger. Bat
Jesus is even now saying "Seestthou all these? There shall not be left cue
beside another. Flee to the mountains and pray that your flight be not in the
winter." Flee now to Him. Flee ere the evil days come and the years grow
nigh when you shall say " I have no pleasure in them." Flee for refuge to the
Hope that is set before you, and cry earnestly —
'* Rock of Ages cleft for me
Let Qie bid« myself ia Tbee.'
literature.
With the demands upon our space our Literary Notices have been crushed out,
(HimpHts ofChruft by H. K. Wood, a Glasgow merchant (Stirling : Drummond's
Tract Depot), is a delightful little book, breathing a warm spirit of Christian
faith and love. — Dr. Dods' famous St. Giles' sermon is subjected by Dr. Watts
of Belfast to a very trenchant and effective criticism in a sermon published in
pamphlet form (James Gemmell, Edinburgh). — The Church Standing of Ike
Children is an able defence by Dr. Walker of Dysart of the standing of chil-
dren within the Church, and their right to receive recognition of this in
baptism. — With the issue for October, the Presbyterian Revieto^ to the deep
regret of its readers, ceases to be published. The prominent feature of this
last number is the able discussion of the question of Confessional Fevision.
(Bctitstaetual Intelligence.
Bursary Competition.— The First (Dick) Bursary, £S, was gained by Mr.
James Patrick, Carnoustie ; the Second by Mr. James Anderson, Kirkcaldy.
Toberdoney.—In the beginning of December a vigorous Temperance Society
was organised in connection with this congregation. 60 names were put down
in the pledge-book at the first meeting. PollokshawH. — A Literary Society
has been re-organised here, and started work in November with a membership of
over 50. The Rev. W. B. Gardiner delivered the opening lecture on " Self-
Culture."
THE
ORIGINAL SECESSION MAGAZINE
MARCH, 18 90.
WORDS FOR THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.
ill. — ABOUT THE SIXFOLD SONG OF THE BELIEVING SOUL.
«*Bat thanks be to God."— 1 Cor. xv. 57.
There have beea Cliristians who have always lived and moved in an
atmosphere of thankfulness. Very often their lives were not bright
and happy in the world's judgment. They were poor^ afflicted,
persecuted, tossed with tempest. But nothing could rob them of
their inner peace. It was a peace which they frequently found them-
selves unable to conceal. It came to light in their words and in the
very looks of their countenances. I have read of a painting in one
of the German picture-galleries — a painting called '* Cloudland." It
hangs at the end of a long room, and at first sight it appears to be
only a mass of confused colour, without form or comeliness. But as
you walk towards it, the picture begins to take shape. It proves to
be a great crowd of exquisite little cherub faces ; and when you have
drawn quite close, you see only this innumerable company of the
angels. So those lives of which I am speaking may seem confused
and even repulsive to the world, with their broken expectations and
crushed hopes and heavy troubles. But the men and women who
live them have come near to God and have discovered that the clouds
are full of angels of mercy. One of the cherubim has this message
for them : " His grace is sufficient ; His strength is perfected in weak-
ness." And another of the angels says : *' All things work together
fur good to them that love God." And a third teaches them to
repeat from the heart those sweet Old Testament words : " The Lozvl
is my portion, saith my soul, therefore will I hope in Him; the
Lord is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh
Him." And thus there is a bright light in the clouds.
XO. Vlll. VOL. XIX. 2 K i^EW SERIES.
49© WORDS FOR THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.
Kichard Baxter lived one of these lives. He was more or less an
invalid for the greater part of his days. He scarcely knew what
health was. He was persecuted, too, for his religion. For preaching
five sermons he was condemned to imprisonment for five years, and
he escaped only because his physician declared that the execution of
the sentence would be fatal to him. Yet, of all men, he wrote
"The Saint's Rest." And so well did he write that it has appeared
to thousands of readers since that he must have had a foretaste of
the heavenly blessedness itself. Though sorrowful, he was always
rejoicing. Though poor, he has made many rich.
Paul was another of those '^ Christian contradictions." The world
would not call his life happy. He was scourged like a slave. He
was shipwrecked three times. Once he was stoned until ho was left
for dead. He knew what hunger and thirst and cold and nakedness
were. In the city, in the wilderness, on the sea, everywhere, he was
l)eset by dangers. The daily care of churches, whose members were
too careless about themselves, came upon him. And principalities
and powers, spiritual wickednesses, wrestled against him ; he fought
with unseen foes fiercer than the wild beasts of Ephesus. Yet this
is the man who said, " I glory in my infirmities." This is the man
who has told us how precious and blessed life is, and how it is a
^ood fight ; what a desirable thing suffering is ; what a bright crown
is kept for the Christian at last. " Where," a writer of to-day asks,
** where shall we find his peer — his peer in sorrow, his peer in joy 1 "
Paul felt, as Baxter felt, and as every wise Christian feels, that
the believing life, while it is a continual conflict, is a continual
victory too.
No better proof could be had of that gratitude which was the
uppermost emotion of his heart than the thanksgivings which occur
in his Epistles. Again and again we find him ofiering praise. That
saying of the Acts, "He thanked God and took courage," might fairly
be accepted as the watchword of the man ; and he yielded a per-
petual and spontaneous obedience to his own precept, "In everything
give thanks." Sometimes those thanksgivings of his are, more elabo-
rate and formal ; sometimes they are abrupt and unpremeditated and
ejaculatory. Shall we think for a little of these last — of Paul's short
and vigorous outbursts of gratitude 1 There are six of them in all ;
and it is remarkable that you find them in one little group of Epistles
— the two letters to the Corinthians and the letter to the Romans ;
sd^that we shall not need to travel over a wide field to discover those
swift and vivid expressions of thanks. The Apostle wrote the three
Epistles in circumstances of special trial, when he was in anxious
concern about the spiritual welfare of the Churches. And still, you
WORDS FOR THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. 49 1
sec, he found very much to be grateful for. His Psalm of Life was
not one of the Penitential but one of the Hallelujah Psalms.
Every disciple should try to take up the six thanksgivings. They
may be arranged in an orderly and symmetrical series. They begin
at the beginning of the new life, and they go right through to its
close. When we consider them, we see what great reason the believer
has to bless the Lord and to magnify His holy name. They tell us
that our troubles are nothiug in comparison with our joys. They
bid us " Fear not, but be strong and of a good courage."
Let us listen, then, to this soldier of the Cross who sings his song of
jov and triumph even in the midst of the battle.
I.
Hearken, first, to thb sono of thb rbdkemed soul.
^^ Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift:" so the ninth
chapter of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians ends. We cannot
doubt Who and What the gift is. Paul has beeu speaking of the
spirit of benevolence awakened in his converts at Corinth. He has
been treating of the whole subject of Christian giving — ^its ground, its
methods, its arguments, its blessedness. But that is not his theme
now. He has risen from lower mercies to the highest mercy of all,
from man's kindness to God's. Astronomers tell us that the very
centre of the universe, the point round which all the suns and con-
stellations revolve, is the star Alcyone in the cluster of the Pleiades.
The grace of God in Christ filled in the Apostle's mind the place filled
by this star in creation. At some seasons his thoughts might seem
farther away from their centre, just as there are times when the orbits
of the planets lead them to a greater distance from their sun ; but
before long ho was back again under the direct rays of the Sun of
Righteousness. It is quite characteristic of him to begin a chapter
with instructions about the collection of money, and to close it with
a hymn of gratitude to the Lord who sent His Son to die for the
ungodly. And that is how the Christian life begins — with the new
Hong of praise to God for the best gift, the gift whose preciousness
11 > tongue can rightly and fully set forth, the gift of Him who bare
oir sins in His own body on the tree. How can the heart refrain
from singing once it has been freed from the bondage of the curse
and the anger of the broken law, and is washed in the blood of the
Lamb of God, and is loved by the Lord Jesus Christ 1 It dwells on
the unsearchable mysteries of a giuce that is past its finding out. It
ii surprised and gladdened that God, so just and pure, should ransom
it, so hateful and guilty, with the willing payment of such a costly
492 WORDS FOR THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.
price. It muses till the fire burns, and the melody comes forth :
" He took me from a fearful pit and from tlie inirj clay ; " or, " I love
the Lord because my voice and prayers He did hear ; " or,
*' Pock of Ages, cleft for me.
Let me hide myself in Thee ; "
or, " Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift." There are songs
of patriotism, and of home, and of love, and of war and adventure ;
but there is no song like the song of salvation. With it on his lips
the pilgrim starts on his journey to the Celestial City. And have we
learned it '? Are we among the hundred and forty and four thousand
who are redeemed from the earth ? Can we say, with overflowiug
hearts, with joy lul tones. "Jesus, my Lord, I know His name"!
II.
By-and-by the pilgrim, though he never forgets this first song but
returns to it often, adds to it a fresh melody. It is thb soNa of the
OBEDIENT SOUL.
Let us read the 1 7th verse of the sixth chapter of Romans. "But
chanks be to God," it runs in the Revised Version, " that, whereas ye
were servants of sin, ye became obedient from the heart to that form
of teaching whereunto ye were delivered ; and being made free from
sin, ye became servants of righteousness." Paul has been pleading
with all the strength of his nature for holy and consecrated living.
He has been battling against those who argued that the Christian is
emaucipated altogether from the law, and need trouble himself iio
more about its precepts. Certainly, he says, redeemed men aud
women are delivered from the law's sentence and doom, but not from
its government and control ; they have no wish to be loosed from
that And he blesses Grod that his Roman disciples had been sub-
mitting so cheerfully to the declared will of their Master and King —
had been walking and running in the paths of obedience. It never
can be anything but the duty of saints to keep the law of their Lord ;
for them obligation and service still remain. But in their eyes the
duty is exalted and ennobled into a privilege. It is no longer as-
sociated with bondage and terror, but with freedom and delight aud
love. They cannot help obeying the God who cared for them so
fondly as to send them the unspeakable gift, and the Saviour who
died in their stead out in the darkness and shame. They are Christ's
bondslaves, and they are proud to be so j they had rather be captives
under Him than free to do as they list. Every morning it is their
Master who awakens them — the Master who is entitled to order aud
command them through the eutire day ; and often, as the hours go by,
WORDS FOR THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. 493
they remind themselves that hands, and head, and voice, and spirit,
and will are all to be kept at His disposal. Aristotle said of the old
(ireek slave that he was simply "a chattel who lives," "X)ne made to
l>elong to another." And the Christian feels that he is the property
of King Jesus ; he has no independence ; he is not his own ; he loves
'' the good and acceptable and perfect will " of the Lord who has
dealt with him in marvellous mercy, and he renders Him a service
whicii is willing-hearted and ready. I wonder whether these are our
dispositions ; whether the yoke of Christ lies on our shoulders, and
we count it a light and easy yoke ; whether we sing as we go about
His work, so restful and merry our spirits arc. I wonder whether
we have learned to use George Herbert's expressive phrase, and to
speak about "that Oriental fragrancy — My Master." I wonder
whether we are turning Paul's outburst of praise over his Roman
friends into a personal hymn of gratitude, and are saying, " Thanks
be to God that we are made free from sin, and are become the
servants of righteousness."
III.
But it is not all plain sailing with the Christian. " Storms are
sudden and waters deep," and his little boat is in danger through the
winds and waves. We catch the echo and reminiscence of such a
Ktorm in his next song — the song op the struggling and yet pre-
vailing SOUL.
What a wonderful chapter ti)e Seventh of the Romans is ! It
K[)caks of a terrible conflict within the renewed children of God.
They are dead and risen again with Christ, but their sin is not ex-
tirpated yet. It does not reign, but it continues to fight. It stirs
up strife, strife which the completeness of their pardon does not
hinder. It has been said sometimes that a chapter so full of the
contendings of the flesh against the Spirit cannot refer to the saint —
must refer to the sinner before he is fully assured of forgiveness. It
hns been argued that Paul must be going back to the memorable
days of blindness which followed his vision of Christ, and to the
agonies and supplications of that time when the Saviour said about
him, " Behold, he prayeth." From these distresses he had been res-
cued long since ; he had left his Damascus prison rejoicing. But
surely the chapter does not apply to the half-regenerate man ; some
of its verses depict only the feelings of the true Christian. ** I delight
in the law of God :" that is the language of those to whom obedience has
become blessedness, a pleasure, a joy. Yes, it is the saint's sore struggle
airainst sin that is pictured here. He is not one man but two, the
"I'i man seeking to surprise and vanquish the new man of God's
494 WORDS FOR THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.
creating. All believers have been out on this battlefield — Abralisitn
and David and Elijah, Peter and Paul, Augustine and Bunyan. Ail
of them kncAv the meaning of the Apostle's yearning cry : ** O wretche I
man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death 1 '
But there is none of them who does not understand in some measure
the glad and ringing song which follows, " Thanks be to God "—
so it reads in the margin of the new version — " thanks be to God
through Jesus Christ our Lord." The saints of the Old Covenant
could not comprehend it so fully ; they fought their battle in the
mist and twilight ; and yet they felt that a supernatural strengtii
was given them, and they prevailed. But we in the Gospel day have
a clear conception of the preciousness of the song. " Through Jesu^
Christ our Lord." For the motive to persevere in the conflict comes
from the Cross of Him who loved and saved us. And we fight with
heart and soul because we are forgiven through His blood ; an unpar-
doned man has no power nor will nor liberty ; but we ai^e free — we
can serve and work and war. And our Saviour secures for us nn
almighty Helper; He has gone up on high to send us the Holy
Spirit, to whom all things are possible. " Through Christ the Lord '
— ^that is the one way to get the mastery. Old philosophy looke«l
on, and was sorry for the combatants ; but it could suggest no
remedy. Roman Catholicism recommends penances and sacraments
and pilgrimages ; but the ineradicable taint of sin remains. Only he
who starts from the Cross, accepted with God, his iniquities forgiven,
loving his Redeemer, a new life imparted to him, the Holy Spirit
put within him : his victory is sure. The winds stir and ruffle his
soul just now ; but by-and-by there will be perfect peace, like the
peace of the sea when it reflects the blue of the sky and the devioii?^
coast with its woods and clifls, and when you can look down into the
calm waters and see such rare treasures — coral and shells and glitter-
ing fish and glorious blossoms and plants. It may be a long, long
fight, and the archers may wound us, and it may seem a losing
battle; but we shall be more than conquerors through flim who
loved and loves us. Even before night falls and the strife is over, we
may sing with heart and voice, " Thanks be to God — thanks be to
God — through Jesus Christ our Lord."
IV.
Let us listen again to those who cairy music with them through
" this loud stunning tide." They sing the song of the soul that
LIVES FOR Christ's glory alone.
In the second chapter of Second Corinthians we come upon another
WORDS FOR THE CHRISTIAN IJFE. 495
0 Paul's ejaculations of praise. It is a very striking one. Let us
read once more from the Revised Version : " But thanks be unto
God which always leadeth us in triumph after Christ, and maketh
manifest through us the savour of His knowledge in every place."
You see what the Apostle is thinking of — one of the triumphal pro-
cessions of a victorious general which moved sometimes through the
streets of the Imperial City. The standards were there, taken in the
campaign ; and wild beasts from distant lands, and barbaric dresses,
and jewels, and many a curious trophy and prize. There were the
poor prisoners themselves, Indians from the far East with swarthy
skins, or fairhaired Britons from the far West — non Angli $ed angtli.
And in the centre was the chariot of the conqueror, in which he stood
and received the plaudits of the crowd. That is Paul's picture ; only
it is a very different triumph hd sees, not a victory of pride and
ambition, but the advance of the King who rides forth on behalf of
meekness and truth and righteousness, and who humbles the rebels
only to set them with princes. Paul was the King's captive himself,
and yet he felt that he was sharing His triumph. Wherever he
went, he had one purpose — to add to the praises of Jesus, to increase
the lustre of his Captain Christ. It was to diffuse His knowledge
that he had travelled and laboured, spoken and prayed, wept
and suffered. He could sing for very joy because Jesus was
leading him bound behind His chariot, and was using him to
swell His glory. He could wish for nothiug more and nothing
better. Here, indeed,, is the sublimest life ; to seek the honour of
Christ by day and by night, in company and in solitude, through
speech and through example, '^ by pureness, by knowledge, by long-
suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the
word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness
on the right hand and on the left, by evil report and good report."
Our Redeemer and Master is to be made manifest through us. I
can conceive no purer and sweeter joy than that of carrying the
message of His grace to souls that need to hear about Him. And if
they welcome it ; if it lead the ignoiunt into the light, or if it solve
the perplexities of minds in doubt, or if it comfort stricken hearts, or
if it gather into the Shepherd's fold some of His wandering sheep ;
the gladness will be almost more than we can bear. We shall be
ready to cry, with Fletcher of Madeley, ** Lord, stay Thine hand, or
the vessel will break." But even when it fails, when the knowledge
of Christ is not an incense of life but an odour of death, still the
King our Lord has been honoured through us, His power and His
mercy have been set forth, we have been loyal to Him. Is this the
end for which we live ? Are we witnesses sounding forth the praise of
49^ WORDS FOR THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.
JesuB Christ 1 Are we prisoners, willing and cheerful, foUowingthe wheeU
of His chariot 1 Is H is Kingdom dearer to us than anything else ? And
do we sing that old strain, " Thanks be unto God who always leadeth us
in triumph after Christ " ?
V.
But you and I do not pray or follow or labour alone. We are
surrounded by those who are fellow-workers with ourselTcs. TVe
must rejoice in their prosperity. We must sing the song of the
UNSELFISH SOUL.
You will find this song towards the end of the eighth chapter of
Second Corinthians. Paul had learned from sad experience that all
who bore the Christian name were not likerainded with himself;
there were numbers who " sought their own, not the things which are
Jesus Christ's." But there were a few who never failed. About one
of these he speaks now — one whom he commends and exalts as his
own equal in diligence, in love, in zeal. " But thanks be to God,''
he cries, *'Who hath put the same earnest care into the heart of
Titus for you." It is not always easy to feel genuine and un-
mingled gladness at the good work done by another, at the results he
achieves, at the harvest he reaps. We are disposed to grudge him
his gifts and graces, his powers, his victories. We covet his success
for ourselves. But the heart which is ruled by the Holy Ghost
knows no such envious thoughts. It reckons itself of small account.
It is pleased when others accomplish far more than it could do.
Above all, it wants Christ to be magnified, whoever and whatever the
instrument may be which He uses. It does not conceive of all true
religion as moving in one groove of feeling and practice ; it rejoices
in the fact that other men see the truth from points of view to which
it has not access itself, aud are qualified to render its dear Master and
Lord a service for which it has no capacity. Happy are all thev
who possess this love, which seeketh not its own and boasteth not
itself. They are free from the jealousies and strivings which rob the
soul of peace. They dwell in a quiet resting-place. They breathe
the aspiration of Moses, when he heard how Eldad and Medad
prophesied in the camp, " Would God that all the Lord's people were
prophets, and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them ! "
They seek to make their own the splendid saying of John the
Baptist, and to confess their readiness to decrease if the Master
increase, " content to fill a little space if He be glorified." They
thank God with Paul whenever they know of the earnestness and the
prosperity of other workers in the vineyard of the Lord.
WORDS FOR THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. 497
VI.
Thus we come at last to the closing melody of all. It was indeed
the first of the six thanksgivings to be penned by the Apostle. It is
the earliest in chronological order. But it is the latest in Christian
experience, and therefore we have reserved it for the end. It is thk
TRIUMPHANT SONG OF THK DEPARTING SOUL.
At the conclusion of the great resurrection chapter the song strikes
ia. Paul rises, as he does so often^ from argument into doxology and
ecstasy and rapture. You notice how he brings together thcKe three
words that are most terrible to men — "death," and "sin," and "the
law." Each of them is fearful ; but the three, united here as they
are nowhere else — how fearful they are in their combination ! Behind
death stands sin ; it is sin, our guilt and defilement, which makes
death so awful to us. And behind sin stands the law ; it is the lan-'s
restraints which impart vitality and force to sin ; it is the law's con-
demning sentence which renders siu such a dreaded foe. They are
three grim enemies indeed. But Christ has defeated them all. He
has satisfied the law ; He has made an end of sin ; He has conquered
death and robbed it of its sting. For those whose hope is in Him
these devouring adversaries have ceased to be. Paul cannot think of
it without breaking into music and song. He exclaims, in the name
of the whole ransomed Church, "But thanks be to God, who giveth
lis the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
Very many have made his words their own. They have passed one
by one into the Valley of the Shadow of Death in certain hope of the
resurrection to eternal life. We think of them as a glorious and happy
company travelling to the Promised Land rather than as a funeral
procession to the grave. Their deatlis have been joyful and calm and
dear because their trust has been • in Christ — Christ who has spoiled
principalities and powers, who has blotted out as a thick cloud their
transgressions, who is the end of the law for righteousness to them
that believe. John Eliot, the Apostle of the Indians, cried, " Welcome,
joy ! " and so he took his departure. Dr. Payson told those round his
bed, ** If I were to adopt the language of Bunyan, I would date my
letters from the land of Beulah." Our Scottish Haliburton said,
" Pain is without pain ; blessed be the day when I was born into the
world." Christ was in them all the Hope of Glory.
" King and priest, sage and warrior, virgin mild.
And the slave from bonds released, and the mother with the child,
From the greatest to the least, crossed it singing — "
the River which was so dark and terrifying to others.
49^ READINGS IN FIRST SAMUEL.
So we caunot sing the sixth song of the Christian life unless we have
learned the first, " Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift."
Let us be very sure that that melody springs from our lips and hearts.
But if our last end is to be triumphant, much will depend on oar-
selves too. We must be singing the other four songs that lie between :
the song of the obedient soul that runs the way of God's command-
ments ; the song of the soul that struggles daily against the flesh ;
the song of the captive soul, led after Christ's chariot ; the song of
the soul that rejoices unselfishly in the zeal and success of others.
There is what may be called " salvation by fire," and there is " salva-
tion in fulness." If we would have the latter, if we would be found
in honour and glory at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, we must
master all the songs. Wherefore let us give diligence to make our
calling and election sure ; for if we do these things we shall never fall ;
and so an entrance will be ministered to us abundantly into the ever-
lasting kingdom of our Saviour.
And when our feet touch the threshold of that kingdom, the perfect
number will be reached. The seventh, " Thanks be to God " will be put
into our souls and will be proclaimed by our tongues. How it will
run we cannot tell meanwhile. But we shall know hereafter.
READINGS IN FIRST SAMUEL.
By H. K. Wood (" A Glasgow Merchant ").
CHAPTERS I. AND II. — ANSWERED PRAYER.
Elkanah was a pious Levito, who dwelt at Ramathaim-zophim in
Mount Ephraim. We are not informed that he ever discharged any
of the sacred functions which fell specially to the tribe of Levi ;
but he went up to Shiloh, year by year, to worship and to ofier
sacrifice to the Lord of Hosts. It is probable that it was at the feast
of the Passover that he thus appeared at the Tabernacle ; and he
took his whole family with him, that as a household they might
publicly confess their faith in the God of Israel.
In this, and no doubt in other ways, did this good man endeavour
to train up his children in the way they should go. Well would it
bo if parents were ever careful to make the attendance of their off-
spring at the House of God, as I am sure Elkanah did, a matter of joy,
and not of sadness, — a thing of reward, and not of mere compulsion.
Of course the rod must not be unemployed when it is necessaiy, and
READINGS IN FIRST SAMUEL. 499
by some iiatuies it is much required; but children are wonderful
imitators and intensely Bymjathetic. If the Sabbath and tie
Sanctuary are thoroughly enjoyed by the parents, if, on the holy day
and in the holy worship, they find perennial springs of happiness, the
atmosphere of home will be bright and sweet on the first day of the
\reek ; and the children will, by the blessing from above, be attracted
to the times and the services, which fill the heart of father and mother
80 full of heavenly peace, and throw unwontedly wide the flood-gates of
parental afiection.
Polygamy, though tolerated, was, it is believed, not very common
among the Jewish people. By some it is presumed that the reason
why Kllcftnah took a second wife was because the first was childless.
In any case he seems to have cherished a peculiar afiection for
Hannah, which was intensified by the very depth of her grief at the
absence of offspring.
A good deal has been written in the way of condemning Peninnali
for slighting and despising her sister. Of every peace-offering pre-
sented to Jehovah, the greater portion was returned to the offerer to
feast his own family and the poor ; and out of his peace-offering
Elkanah divided to Peuinnah and her children a handsome share. To
Hannah, however, he gave " a worthy portion " — a double portion per-
haps, or more probably a dainty, a choice supply. This, it has been
remarked, roused Peninnahto sneer at Hannah and provoke her ; and
many useful lessons have been drawn on the impropriety of crowing
over our neighbours, casting up to them their sinless imperfections,
and teasing them by jibing words. ** What have I," sny such com-
mentators, " that I have not received ? And why then should I boast
myself about what no merit of mine attained 1 Why should I con-
demn, or despise, or laugh at my human brother or sister for defects
which no creature can help ? If I am to blame any one for them, it
should be the Maker of all ; for He it is who divideth to every person
severally as He will."
These practical inferences are good in themselves, but it is by no
means absolutely certain that we are warranted in charging Peninnah
with such misbehaviour. The word translated " adversary " means
simply "adversity, or affliction," in the original Hebrew, as Dr.
Robert Yoiing explains ; and in this light the passage should be
read — " Her affliction also provoked her sore, for to make her fret . . . .
So it (that is, her affliction) provoked her ; therefore she wept, and
did not eat"
I have no doubt, however, that our " adversary the devil " was
particularly busy with poor Hannah at Shiloh, exhibiting and
exaggerating to her excited mind the shame of her barrenness, and
500 READINGS IN FIRST SAMUEL.
suggesting painful contrasts between the condition of Peninnah and
herself. The great enemy of mankind is, I believe, never so much on
the alert to get occasion against the people of God as at times of
solemn religious ordinance. I have observed strange outbursts of
temper and strife among Christians about Communion seasons which
could hardly be otherwise explained ; and many a one has been
tripped up by his spiritual foes just because of the very elation
which followed some enjoyment at the Table of the Lord.
Whoever may have helped to excite poor Hannah, she was, at the
period before us, overwhelmed with bitter anguish. Not all the loving
tenderness and soothing care of her husband could lighten her
distress. " The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity : but a
wounded spirit who can bear]*'
What did she do? Did she lift her hand against any fellow-
creature 1 Did she curse God, and put an end to her earthly exist-
ence ? Oh, no ! Too pious by far to be guilty of such folly, she
did what every troubled heart should do — she carried her burden to
the J^rd.
On a prominent seat close by the entrance of the Court of the
Tabernacle, sat Eli, the High Priest and Judge of Israel, giving
audience to all who claimed his assistance. Very near to him, with
face bent towards the altar of God, he observed a woman in the
attitude of prayer. Long did she weep and make supplication. He
noticed her lips ever moving, and the intense earnestness of her
desire was manifested in tiie features of her countenauce; but he heard
uot a word. We are, however, permitted to listen to some of her
petitions: — "0 Lord of hosts," she cried, "if Thou wilt Indeed look
on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget
thine handmaid, but will give unto thine handmaid a man-child, then
I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall
no razor come upon his head."
Eli was unaccustomed to such a sight. Her wrestling in prayer,
while not a syllable reached his ear, made him fancy her intoxicated.
He spoke sharply : " How long wilt thou be drunken 1 Put away thy
wine from thee.*'
Her reply was altogether becoming the truly pious lady : " No,
my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit ; I have drunk neither
wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord.
Count not thine handmaid for a wicked woman ; for out of the
abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto."
The old judge was very just and good. When he discovered his
mistake, he changed his tone at once, and for rebuke gave blessing.
"Go in peace," ho said, "and the God of Israel doth give thy peti-
READINGS IN FIRST SAMUEL. 5OI
»
tiou which thou hast asked of Him." So ruu the words in ,the
original. Hannah received them as an answer from Heaven. With a
graceful and grateful word to Eli, she went her way, buoyant with
the hope that had sprung up within her.
We may here learn to be cautious in forming judgments regarding
others. Corrupt human nature is too apt to take the worst view of
what falls under our notice, aod leads ofteu to conclusions altogether
unwarranted. The next best thing to the avoiding of rush and
censorious judgments, is to be' noble enough to correct them, as soon
as we discover our mistake. Very mean it is to adhere to a harsh
opinion, when it has been fairly ]>roved to be erroneous.
When improperly blamed like Hannah, we shall find our profit in
meek and gentle remonstrance and explanation. '^ If when ye do
well and suffer for it^ ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with
God."
The most important practical application of all, however, is that
we should be ** careful for nothing ; but in everything by prayer and
supplication, with thanksgiving, let our requests be made known
unto God."
But wherewith shall we come before the Lord ) Rebels as all of
us are by nature, we cannot count upon Jehovah's friendship to
answer oiu- petitions and bless us until we have accepted His way of
peace. His Son He gave to be the sacrifice for our guilt, and now
He offers us a free pardon in Christ. Jesus is the Father's way to
us, and our way to the Father. Accepting Jesus as our Surety and
Substitute, our Sin-bearer and Kighteousness, our Deliverer from
wrath and all impurity, we become true children of the Father.
Seeing us hiding under the skirt of the Crucified, His face beams on
us with smiles of love divine. Not the love of mere compassion now,
but the love of complacency and delight. Through Jesus we have
access to the throne of grace, and are invited and expected to potir
out our hearts before the Lord — to tell Him what we could not to
father or mother, husband or wife — to consult Him in every diffi-
culty— to commit us to Him in every danger, assured that He will
certainly send an answer in peace.
Consider one or two modem illustrations : —
A worthy couple, who kept a little shop, had taken under their
care a friendless orphan girl. As she grew up she acted as their
little servant, and they had taught her carefully all the elements of
ordinary education which they had themselves acquired. Best of all,
the J trained her to know and to love her Father in Christ. Business
feU slack, and did not yield enough for the limited expenses of the
family. Anxiously did husband and wife consult as to what was to
504 RELIGION AS AN AID TO INTELLECTUAL WORK.
is certain to be most richly requited. It may be ia additions to our
worldly stores ; or, better still, in stronger faith, in brighter hope, iu
fuller and deeper experiences of His love.
** Ah, Lord, if but Thee I have,
Nought of other good I crave :
Bright is even death's dark road,
If but Thou art there, my God ! '*
RELIGION AS AN AID TO INTELLECTUAL WORK.^
When a Christian man speaks of religion, he means the Christian
religion. He does not, of course, ignore the truth, be it much or
little, which he finds in other systems of belief, but he feels that iu
the Christian religion that truth is embodied and purified. By
religion, then, I mean that view of God and man, and of the relation
between God and man which is revealed in the teaching and person
and work of the Lord Jesus, and I wish to show you that when tins
revelation is accepted by a living Christian faith, it gives a powerful
stimulus to the cultivation of the intellect.
(1.) The Christian view of human nature and of the dignity and
destiny of the human mind in particular, furnishes a potent impulse
to intellectual work. We have read our Bible to very little purpose
unless it has taught us that man is separated from all the objects
which surround him on earth by a difference — ^a broad, vital difference
— of nature. Turn to the very first page of Holy Scripture, and you
will find written on it the very striking statement: '* And God said^
let us make man in our image, after our likeness." And so man was
formed in the image of God, and that not simply in respect of moral
disposition. We have no warrant for limiting the statement as we
commonly do to that one point. It applies to our rational nature as
a whole. These intellects of ours are made after the type aud
pattern of the mind of God, and because of this we are able to under-
stand His thoughts and enter into His purposes. Just as the spark
which a dew-drop could quench is of the same nature as the sun —
that ponderous mass of liquid fire around which the planets all
revolve — so the human mind is one in its essential character with the
infinite mind of the Creator. These affections of ours which wc
waste so often on worthless or polluting things — our capacity for love
' An address delivered by Mr. D. Mackinnon, M. A., to the members of the
(rlasgow United Original Secession Church Literary Association on 16th
Jaiuiary, 1890.
RELIGION AS AN AID TO INTELLECTUAL WORK. • 505
and joy, aud grief, and anger — ^these affections have their counter-
part in the nature of God. Above all, that conscience of ours which
speaks of the sacredness of duty and the awfulness of sin in such a
way as to make us feel that its decisions on our conduct are only an
echo of the decisions given forth from the more august tribunal of
the Judge of all — that conscience of ours is a divine thing. Add to
all thisy that man is immortal. Pause over that sublime thought
and try to fathom its depths of meaning. " The things that are
seen are temporal," and the flight of time is bearing them all on-
ward to oblivion just as surely and as swiftly as the arrowy river
carries the twigs that drop 011 its bosom to the ocean. All man's
works, the fairest and the firmest alike, are fast disappearing under
the gnawing tooth of the hurrying years. The everlasting hills shall
lose that proud title by-and-by. The solid earth shall melt. The
heavens with their teeming mass of worlds shall fade. Yes 1 but
the soul of man lives on — lives on for ever. Truly, " in nature there
is nothing great but man.'' Take an infant, and as you look on it in
the light of these truths, you feel that the frail, tiny thing before
you is greater than the whole material universe. You see there a
rational and immortal being — a being made after the likeness of God
and a sharer in His own eternity. Before it lies au indefinite pro-
gress in holiness or sin, an unending future of blessedness or woe.
The earth and all its fulness exist for it, to be its dwelling-place and
school-room. The forces of nature are spent in ministering to its
wants. The seasons come and go to give it sustenance. The beauty
is there only to please it : the difficulty is there only to call forth its
energies, and discipline its character. And when all these ends are
served, the earth's business is done, and the great Father will put it
l)a8t like a nursery toy. But the soul of man lives on— lives on for
ever. It has an immortal youth, it never grows old, it never dies ;
and as we consider its nature and its destiny, it inspires us with a
sense of greatness, and we begin to understand what Jesus meant
when He said : *' What shall it proBt a man though he gain the
whole world and lose his own soul."
"Yes," you say, "a very fine sentiment for poetry, but is it
truth ? Have you forgotten that man is a fallen being 1 Have you
forgotten how foul and sunken human nature for the most part is 1 "
Xo, sirs j I have not forgotten that, and I do not envy the man
who can forget it ; he must have a head of clay or a heart of flint.
Fallen I I have looked into the records of the past, and what do I
find] Its pages are crimsoned with blood and wet with tears, the
sickening fruits of ambition and malice and lust. Sweeping down
the vale of by-gone years a weary moaning reaches us from the
2 L
So6 RELIGION AS AN AID TO INTELLECTUAL WORK.
hearts that have been crushed and broken by the inhumanity of man,
and the stream of time rolls past ns laden with moral and social
wreckage from the centuries above. And with all the triumphs
which the Gospel has won from the first day of its proclamation —
and, thank God, these triumphs have been neither few nor small-
how deplorable is the condition of mankind even now ! Think of the
dense mass of ignorance and pauperism and crime around us. Fix
your thoughts on the debasing vices, the low aims, the hypocrisy,
and worst of all, and at the root of all, the almost universal forget-
fulnesa of God. Oh, we cannot forget the degradation of our race ;
it is too inveterate and patent and appalling to allow us ever to for-
get it. But even in this moral lazar-house, we will cling to oar
conviction regarding the grandeur of man's nature and his powers
and his destiny. He may pervert these powers. He may debase
that nature by living like a beast or acting like a fiend, but he cannot
wholly efface the marks of its inherent worth, and its fitness for a high
calling. Let one fact speak as a witness to this. Have you ever
observed that restlessness, that craving for something more or some>
thing else which often rises within the breast of a man even in the
midst of abundance of wealth, or fame, or pleasure ? What means
that unappeased hunger of the soul? Just that these things are
husks — ^splendid food for swine, but poor stuff for the child who has
known the luxury of a father's house to feed on. Why does the
human spirit turn with an unquenched thirst from the broken
cisterns of mere earthly enjoyment 1
*' Tis the divinity that stirs within us."
There is something of the infinite in man, and you might as well
attempt to make the ocean solid with a grain of sand &s expect to
satisfy with any earthly thing a soul that was formed in the image
of God. It reminds us of the ruins of that vast temple which the
Athenians built and set apart for the worship of all the gods. It is
now desolate and profaned, but we can still trace on its broken
columns the symbols of its consecration to a sacred use. A super-
natural presence seems to haunt it, and as we look upon the fabric,
stately even in its ruins, we are constrained to say, " Surely God was
in this place."
The Christian religion, while by no means ignoring or despising
the body, teaches us to concentrate our interest chiefly upon the
mind. Every wise man attends to the wants of his body, and shuns
all that would injure or weaken it. But the mind is far more worthy
of our care. It is more "fearfully and wonderfully made." It
wields a greater influence upon my happiness. And tlien, while the
RELIGION AS AN AID TO INTELLECTUAL WORK. 507
body is mitie — the soul is me^ mpself in the truest sense of the word.
I do not fully know what changes death will bring when its cold
touch reduces my body to its native dust. I cannot answer the
question of the fool in Corinth : " How are the dead raised, and with
what bodies do they come ? " It doth not yet appear. The clods o^
the valley may clasp for ever to their icy bosom that pampered car-
case which the epicure has made his god. The strength of the athlete's
arms and the fleetness of his limbs may perish in the tomb. I am
confident, however, that death shall make no essential change upon
my soul, and that I shall carry into the unseen world those powers
of thought and feeling and volition which make me what I am. The
grave cannot rob me of the fruits of that care which I have bestowed
upon my mind. The love of truth is no forbidden affection in its
native country, and the increased power of intellect which I have
gained by pursuing it amidst the shadows of the present world shall
abide with me for ever. My present knowledge of the works and
ways of God shall form a stepping-stone to a fuller knowledge in the
life to come, and thus the treasures of my mind, like well-invested
capital, shall enrich me by their returns to all eternity. And because
this is so — ^because the Christian religion bids me cherish these con-
victions, and inspires me with these hopes, it teaches me to reverence
my mind and to ply with earnestness the task of its development.
(2) It may occur to some of you that there is a danger of rousing
the evil spirit of pride within us by dwelling so much upon the great-
ness of the mind. It may be so. But it seems to me that the truth
of a doctrine is the main point ; the tendency of a doctrine is a very
secondary matter. Convince me of its truth, and in spite of its dangers
I shall bid it welcome. And in this case if there is a danger, there is
a safeguard ; in fact, the bane and the antidote grow side by side.
The Christian doctrine of a life to come is fatal to intellectual pride.
Few things are so well fitted to give us a sober estimate of the pre-
sent csLpsuoitj and acquirements of our minds. If we get a right grip
of this doctrine we shall feel that we are only in our mental child-
hood yet. "For now we see through a glass darkly," said the
greatest thinker that the world has seen. Our clearest knowledge here
is only shreds and fragments of truth — little pebbles picked up from
the shore of that ocean on which we shall one day launch our barque.
We speak of these senses of ours as the instruments by which our
knowledge of things is gained, and in one way they are so, but after
all they are rather hindrances than helps. They shut out more of
the sunlight of truth than they let in but before long God will
take off the shutters from the windows of the soul and let us see
things as they really are.
5o8 RELIGION AS AN AID TO INTELLECTUAL WORK.
*' Heaven's light for ever shinea, earth's shadows fly ;
Life, like a dome of many-coloured glass,
Stains the white radiance of eternity
Until Death tramples it to fragments."
Death is not the goal of intellectual progress. It is its real starting-
point, and when I survey that endless course which lies before me, I
am impressed indeed with the grandeur of my mental destiny, but I
feel with no less force, nay, I feel with greater force, the present
immaturity of my mind. I am overwhelmed with a sense of utter
ignorance ; I am prepared to say with the poet :
'' Behold, we know not anything.
it
There can be no better means for producing that reverent
and humble temper of mind which is so needful in the pursuit
of truth, than a real faith in those objects which the Christian
religion sets before us. It is a sad thing that we have so little
faith. To most of us the unseen world is very, very far off, and the
great God who made us is scarcely more than a little word of three
letters. Oh, how seldom we think of the hand which hourly sustains
us, and the eye which sees us evermore ! I am persuaded that the
most urgent, the most crying want of our day in every sphere of
thought and action, is a quickened sense of the tremendous realness
of God. The pride of intellect within us would wither before the
consciousness of an infinite mind. Just think what, that means.
Think of a mind for whose capacity nothing is too vast and nothing
too minute ; a mind which gathers up in cue view the history of an
eternal past and the whole contents of an eternity to come ; a mind
which holds in its intuitive grasp every principle and contingency
and fact of universal truth. Is there no food for humility there ?
AVhy, the very thought is staggering. We feel that the pale, tiny
rushlight of man's profoundest learning is quenched in the blinding
beams of the Divine omniscience.
(3) The Christian religion, by bringing its grand objective facts into
contact with our minds^ humbles them. Yet it helps them, too, and
that mightily. Many of us have found that the strongest stimulus to
mental effort is to form a close acquaintance with a mind greatly
superior to our own. There is a kind of inspiration in the presence
of a really great man ; virtue goes out of him, and you leave his
company with the feeling that somehow or other a cubit has been
added to your intellectual stature. Genius kindles other minds and
makes them glow with a flame akin to its own. This is exactly the
effect which the Christian religion has upon the man who receives it
in its fulness and power. It introduces us into communiou with
RELIGION AS AN AID TO INTELLECTUAL WORK. 509
IJod, the Father of our spirits, the Parent Mind, the Infinite Intelli-
gence. It unites us to Jesus Christ, the light of the world, the
illuminator of human souls. I do not say that faith in Jesus Christ
will transform a clown into a poet or a philosopher. It will not give
a man of feeble intellect the ma^siveness of Bacon or the acuteness
of Hume. But it will refine the clown. It will invigorate the
feeble intellect. I call only one witness, where I might summon a
thousand. Henry Martyn was neither a weakling nor a clown.
He was Senior Wrangler of his year at Cambridge, and had
he not chosen a better part he might easily have been a
British Pascal. Listen, then, to the evidence of this prince of
missionaries, this saintliest of men : " Since I have known God in a
saving manner, painting, and poetry, and music have had charms
unknown to me before ; religion has refined my mind and made it
more susceptible of impressions from the sublime and the beautiful.''
We may differ as to the theory of this, but the fact is beyond dispute.
I shall never forget a most interesting example of it which I saw
with my own eyes. When Mr. Moody of America was in our coun-
try a few years ago, a goodly number of working men in my neigh-
bourhood were converted. I make no more apology to an intelligent
audience for believing in conversion than for believing in gravitation,
for the one fact is just as scientifically true as the other. Many of
the men I speak of were rather poorly educated ; indeed, some of
them did not even know the alphabet. No sooner were they con-
verted, however, than they were seized with a desire to improve
their education, and it would have done any man's heart good to
have seen these men busy at the child's task of learning to read. I
have seen the perspiration standing on a strong man's brow as he
wrestled with the difiiculties of a penny spelling-book. It was a
process worthy of observation, and many a night I left that little
school-room with a glad and grateful heart. No scholar in it learned
so much there as I did, for it taught me more than I had ever known
before, what a mighty power for the elevation of mankind lies in the
simple Gospel of Jesus Christ. I never saw any other cause produc-
ing such results. There is no motive to mental culture which can
for a moment be compared with a personal attachment to our Lord.
It acts like a charm. It strikes from the mind the benumbing fetters
of frivolity and sloth, and the emancipated intellect is quickened
into vigour in the bracing atmosphere of His realised presence.
Jesus Christ strengthens and enriches the iutellect which truly
submits itself to Him. It was ever so. Three years spent in His
company turned a few Jewish workmen into sages and made them
the instructors of mankind. Look at the Gospel according to John.
5IO. RELIGION AS AN AID TO INTELLECTUAL WORK.
Its enemiea being the judges^ no single book has done more to mould
the ideas of Christendom than that book. '' It is that John/' cried
Julian the apostate, '* who has done all the mischief," and many an
apostate since has added a deep " Amen ! " to that uttenince. Place
in one scale of a balance all the volumes which the pagan world has
left us, and place in the other scale the Gospel of John, and I make
bold to say that in the most vital qualities of literature, that one
short treatise fairly outweighs them. Who wrote that book ? Was
it a rabbi from the temple courts, or a student from the shadow of
the great Acropolis ? No such thing. It was a fisherman ; if you
please, a Gralilean fisherman. And if you ask me whence the un-
lettered son of Zebedee drew his jwondrous knowledge, I answer, he
had been with Jesus. That was his school and his college. That
was his inspiration. That was his all, but it was enough, and the
result is that he has left a book which will live and breathe in the
thoughts of men when the eloquence and the wisdom of a pagan
antiquity are alike forgotten.
(4) The Christian religion aids the intellect by shedding fresh
light on the objects with which it deals. Apart from religious faith
a man can see God nowhere. He looks up to the starry heavens and
the most original thought awakened in his mind by that blaze of
glory is expressed in the remark, as I heard my friend, Blakely, say
once, " It's a fine night." He looks abroad on hill and plain and
his greatest wonder is, how much that land is worth per acre. You
could imagine a cow looking on the same landscape with a curiosity
quite as keen and quite as noble. And even when the godless man
has an intelligent and enquiring mind there is at least one feature
in the world which he misses. There is one element in nature hid
from the wise and prudent unbeliever, but revealed even to the
babes in the family of God. Believe me, there is a higher science
than those which deal with matter and force and law, the science,
namely, which sees in these things the mind and the heart and the
will of a living God. This is the element in nature which religion re-
veals, and in revealing it, it clothes the world with a kind of sacred
interest. When the eye is illumined by Christian faith all things
become new. Force is no longer blind. Matter is no longer dead.
Nature becomes an heirloom rich with tender associations and the
afiairs of the world, despite the moral gloom which overshadows
them are redeemed from littleness when we know that their course
is guided not by chance or fate but by the arm of Omnipotence and
the heart of love. The universe grows bright and warm with the
presence of a personal God.
The mind which does not accept this most weighty truth of a
RELIGION AS AN AID TO INTELLECTUAL WORK. 51 1
divine element in things, suffers from a radical defect, and the pro-
ductions of such a mind will inevitably fall short of the highest ex-
cellence. I will best show you what I mean by a reference to the
writing of history. You are aware that the earliest historical works
in almost every language are mere annals of war and political crime.
By-and-by, however, men come to see that there are a few things in
the world after all a little stronger than gnnpowder. The statesman
takes the place of the soldier; and we are taught to believe that the
real secret of power lies in the ballot-box and the Cabinet Council.
The popular mind in our own country is at this crude stage just
now, and you meet with no end of people who fancy that by some
change or other in the outward forms of government they can cure
every social malady that afflicts us. Lazy men are to be made rich,
and greedy men contented, by one or other of the infinite quackeries
of the day. The dark spectres of pauperism and lawlessness are to
vanish before the magic wand of this bill or that. Edmund Burke
in the greatest of his speeches refers to the mysterious virtue of wax
and parchment. No doubt these articles are very useful. But we
must not overrate them. Wax and parchment will not feed a nation
long. Red tape will not keep the earth in its orbit. And yet some
men seem not to know this, for they actually write books of history
full of the miserable delusion.
There is a third kind of history written by men who have a more
intelligent idea of the forces which lie at the roots of national life.
They do not ignore the terrible interest connected with a battlefield.
They are quite alive to the worth of wise laws, and they know the
mischief of bad laws. But they do not confine the attention of their
readers to these points. They lead us to the garret where genius in
other days burned the midnight oil. They pause over the birthplace
of the great thoughts which have stirred and blessed our race, for they
feel that such a spot is hallowed by a deeper pathos than belongs to
the stately sepulchres where conquerors lie, and as they imfold the
8tory of our nation's life we begin to see that she owes far more to her
school-rooms than to her parliaments, and that the best safeguards
of prosperity and freedom are not the bayonets of her soldiers but the
intelligence, and virtue, and public spirit of her citizens.
There is another element in history, however, quite distinct from
all these and infinitely more important. The Lord reignetb ! E^arth's
sovereigns and statesmen are mere puppets in the hand of the King of
Kings. It is He who summons the hosts to war and decides the fate of
empires. All events both great and small are only the expression of
His sovereign will. Yet, strange to say, there are some men of con-
spicuous talents who have looked long and narrowly on human affairs
512 RELIGION AS AN AID TO INTELLECTUAL WORK.
without perceiving this. I could name historical works rich in all
the wealth of research and candour and elegance in which no account
is taken of the agency of God in national life. Now it is simply im-
possible that such a book can contain an adequate and final record of
a nation's career. It has no principle to bind the mass of uncon-
nected details into a coherent organic whole. It leaves them a weary
chaos, and they will remain a chaos until the author's eye discerns
the Providence of God brooding over the apparent disorder, and
forming it into the rich harmony of one consistent purpose.
If an author ignores God in theory and practice his works will be
devoid of abiding interest. No book will retain a lasting hold upon
the attention of mankind which is out of sympathy w^ith the deepest
fact of human nature. Man is a religious beiog. Unconsciously, it
may be, but really his nature craves for communion with God. Nor
will God be always such a stranger to the thoughts and affections of
the human race. A holier day is about to dawn in which the earth
shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord. Every knee shall
bow and every tongue shall confess to God. When that day comes
men will turn with disgust from all books which ignore or dishonour
Him. Depend upon it, the mind that lives in close fellowship with a
holy God will not feel itself at home in the pages of Byron or Bums.
Let no ungodly author say, as Horace did,
" Exegi monumentum aeris."
He shall build no enduring monument I care not with what
beauties of style his pages are adorned ; it is only the draping of a
literary corpse. Posterity will dig its grave. Deep on the nature of
things the finger of God has graven an eternal law that all shall
perish who forget Him, whether they be men or books, and the day is
coming when the thickened dust on the boards of all ungodly
literature will prove that from His judgment seat there can be no ap-
peal. It may float on the surface for a time like a waterlogged ship.
The breezes of a passing popularity 'may fan it. But its fate is
sealed, and the hour is on the wing when it shall sink for over
beneath the deep and silent waters of oblivion.
I am done. I have put before you a few feeble thoughts ou a
great subject. The Christian religion bestows blessings upon us un-
speakably greater than that one of which I have spoken to-night
But this is one of the fragments which I am loath to lose, and it is a
pleasure to lay even a little tribute at our Master's feet. I am
doubly happy if any words of mine should deepen in your hearts the
consciousness of God, or should lead you to prize more highly the
precious heritage of a Christian faith.
THE NEW SCOTCH THEOLOGY. SI3
THOUGHTS ON THE NEW SCOTCH THEOLOGY.
Notes of a Lecture by the Rev. George Anderson, Coupar-Anqus.
I.
A SPIRIT of unbelieving Rationalism is now breathing its baneful in-
fluence over society intellectual and religious. It is tinging with its
pernicious tints much of our most fascinating literature. It.is throw-
ing its pale aud sickly cast over the piety of not a few whom our
Churches number among their brightest ornaments. It is finding
endorsement and advocacy for its dangerous speculations alike among
the self-taught operatives of our city aud village homes, and the
graduates of our philosophical institutes and theological faculties.
It wears the Christian name, and would contest the title of any to
describe it as unchristian, yet it takes its creed entirely from nature.
It is charmed with the beautiful enthusiasms of the Christian life,
but it finds in these only the native outforce of our natural faculties.
It holds to the Christian nomenclature, but it flouts the Christian
theolc^. It uses evangelical terms, like sin, atouement, righteous-
uess, regeneration, and inspiration, but it depletes them of every
trace of miracle or mystery. It talks of the Gospel, but it alters
every ingredient of the grand specific for human sin which bears the
name. It is in a manner polite and complimentary, yet not on that
account less really rejects and repudiates everything essential and
efficacious in our Christianity. It institutes invidious comparisons as
to the relative influence of doctrine and life. It vilifies dogma and
glorifies ezperienc-e. Broad, liberal, and catholic, it pours a lonlly
disdain upon all narrowness and bigotry. The subject-matter of be-
lief it esteems as supremely unimportant, aud loftily looks down upon
even such distinctions as Calviuist and Arminian, Trinitarian and
Unitarian, as alike vexatious and undignified. It frets under the
infliction of formularies, and retains a brief for rendering creeds com-
prehensive by emasculating them of everything destinctive. It
sacrilegiously revises the very conditions of Christian disci pleship,
and reduces the minimum of saving knowledge to the verge of ir-
reducible nothingness. Let us briefly consider a few of the assumptions
and conclusions obtruded on our notice by some of its recent ex-
positors and apologists. We will consider
THEIR treatment OF THE SCRIPTURES.
Many handle God's Holy Word with little reverence, and, in varied
ways and under specious pretexts, take liberties with its character
and claims. They sometimes treat its inspiration as but the natural
514 THE NEW SCOTCH THEOLOGV.
outcome of the gracious exporiences of its human authors. Thej at
other times restrict its inspiration to particular departments of its
contents. They even take occasion to blame our too sedulous in-
sistence upon its full and verbal inspiration with driving thoughtful
souls to scepticism, and bid us bring the doubters back to faith by
enunciating a theory less drastic as to its operation, and less decided
as to its results. We dismiss their insinuation as unwarranted and
unworthy, and disdain their recommendation as vicious and dis-
astrous. Inspiration, in its Bible acceptation, mcikes Scripture an
absolutely accurate and authoritative expression of the Divine fnind.
The term inspiration is indeed at times applied with a lower signi-
ficance. Productions of high literary excellence are applauded as
aglow with genuine inspiration. Inspiration in such a connection is
simply a synonym for genius or peculiar gift, and implies no ex-
emption from imperfection in either the writer or his record. But
inspiration as attaching to even the loftiest and purest productions
of earthly literature, we must ever sharply differentiate from in-
spiration as attaching to the productions of prophets and apostles.
Inspiration so influenced the entire beings of the sacred penmen that,
apart from any conscious effort or constraint they became both as
to thought and expression the very oracles of the only wise God.
They under its stimulus and supervision produced an infallible record
of an infallible revelation, a document both as to form and substance
a perfect directory of faith and practice. David in one of his temple
songs describes it as perfect converting the soul, and as sure instruct-
ing the simple. Paxil in one of his epistles commends it as able to
make wise unto salvation. Christ in His wilderness temptation ap-
peals to it as capable of binding by its decisions both Himself and
Satan. We need no further witness. The Scripture we must accept
as the full and final and authoritative embodiment of the will of God.
Inspiration in its Bible acceptation is supernatural^ and not simplf
gracious. Gracious influence guarantees no infallibility in either
speech or writing, but infallibility, as we have found, characterises all
tliat the subjects of inspiration spoke or wrote in the name of God.
Gmcious influence gifts with no ability to record intelligibly any-
thing more than its possessors apprehend intelligently; but inspired
men recorded intelligibly many things, which, ponder as they might,
continued mysteries dark and deep beyond their comprehension.
They searched diligently, and presumably without success, as to the
manner of the truths and times, which the Spirit of Christ who
stirred them was signifying. And, besides, the number of the human
contributors to Scripture embraced men like Balaam and Caiaphas,
who were not graciously accepted of God at all, and consequently in-
THK NEW SCOTCH THEOLOGY. $1$
nocent of any gracious experience to record. The prophet we must
regard as altogether distinct from the saint, and the gift of inspira-
tion as altogether independent of the gift of grace. Inspiration in
its Bible acceptation is co-extermve with Scripture. The Bible ap-
plication of the term is wholly unrestricted. Scripture knows ab-
solutely nothing of the distinctions fundamental and non-essential,
fact and doctrine, direct revelation and indirect suggestion, and such
like, which the detractors of inspiration have adopted as affording a
basis for the allocation of its influence. To all descriptions of its
contents it indiscriminately accords the designations : *' The Word
of God, " The Oracles of God," " The Scripture." Our Lord and His
apostles unmistakably assume the universality of its inspiration.
The Lord builds conclusions far-reaching and momentous, not merely
upon its broad generalities, but even upon its minute details and in-
cidental expressions, and actually breaks the continuity of one of His
discourses by abruptly interjecting : " The Scripture cannot be
broken." Peter, writing to the circumcision, brackets the command-
ments of the Apostles with the writings of the Prophets as equally ac-
credited sections of a revelation one and indivisible. John in seal-
ing up its sacred utterances dooms to awful loss and trouble any who
shall dare tamper with its integrity. The Scripture we must receive
as inspired throughout, as truly as if paragraph by paragraph it
stood confirmed by the formula : " The mouth of the Lord hath
spoken it." Carrying credentials so unimpeachable, it were treason
to the truth of God and the God of truth to abate by a single jot
our assertion of its claims as the one infallible standard of doctrine
and duty. And treason Godward, it were also ruinous infatuation
manward. There are labyrinths of uncertainty and perplexity
through which an infallible guide alone can lead us to certitude and
peace. There are depths of depravity and despair from which no
calls to repentance and no assurances of forgiveness can lift us, unless
backed by the inspired authority of God. Casting about for rest to
our understandings and consciences, with a Bible anything but
literally and verbally correct and true, we can find nothing definite
to which we may atfix the ** filmy frailty of our faith," and nothing
reliable on which we may repose our hopes for eternity. Baffled, de-
luded, disappointed, we sooner or later must reach the end of all en-
deavour, and in utter weariness surrender ourselves to the apathy of
blankest unbelief. This process of lowering the quality and limiting
the scope of Scripture inspiration is thus banned by its very effects.
It aggravates the evil its advocates design it to abate. The fancied
gain from unbelief is more than balanced by the real loss to faith.
In the interests of God and man alike, let us then recognivse and em-
5l6 THE NEW SCOTCH THEOLOGY.
phasise the facta, that the Bible is in all its parts God-given and not
merely man-given, and that the eyes of its scribes were bent not upon
their own inner experience, but upon the great fountain of uncreated
light as the wellspring of their inspiration. Let us unhesitatingly
believe and uncompromisingly maintain that, reported under God's
unerring oversight, it is a transcript of His mind infallibly correct
and true in all its contents, and to be bowed to, as claiming our re-
verential belief and obedience. Let this be with us the end of the
whole matter: '*God at sundry times and in divers manners spake
unto the fathers by the prophets.'' ** The testimony of Jesus is the
spirit of prophecy." *' All Scripture inspired of God is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
that the mau of God may be perfect." But now let us look at
THEIR TREATMENT OF OUR INNATE DEPRAVITY AND NATIVE INDISPOSITION
TOWARDS HOLINESS.
Many explicitly repudiate and instinctively recoil from what they de-
scribe as this repulsive doctrine. They revel in thought upon the
dignity of humau nature, and break into raptures over what they are
pleased to regard as its splendid possibilities. The tendencies of
humanity they esteem as naturally upward, requiring but the copy
of a worthy ideal and favourable outward conditions to make them
blossom out into all that is honest and pure and lovely and of good re-
port. With eternity in our hearts, a pious upbringing, and Christ as
a pattern of every created excellence, they assure us that there is uo
limit to the attainments of righteousneiss and no bound to the joy of
holiness, which we may realise by the simple exercise of our God-
given and God-like faculties. This representation, though fascinating,
we must discard as totally at variance with the Scripture represeu-
tation of our natural couditiou and capabilities. Scripture exhibits
sin as the unvarying characteristic of our fallen race. It teaches
that we have by transgression sundered ourselves from God, the law
and life of oar being, suffered spiritual decay in all our parts, and
become the prey of vile lusts and morbid vanities. It tells us that
the germs of evil have rooted themselves in the very substance of
our souls, and that by no mere process of education or discipline, by
nothing which can operate only upon our outward conduct, can our
life arise from its corruption and crystallize into a pure transparent
character. Our pride may refuse the imputation, but its coacurreut
testimony concerning us runs : " Every one is gone back, they are
' Hogether become filthy, there is none that doeth good, no not one/'
king backward upon our past lives, looking inward upon our
B, looking upward to the impartial Judge of all, and looking
THE NEW SCOTCH THEOLOGY. 517
iorward to the day of final reckoniDg, we are constrained to confess
that our character is sin and our condition misery. With saddest
appreciation, we are forced to accept the portraiture : " By one man
Hin entered into the world and death by sin, so death passed upon alT
men for that all have sinned." Not even as renewed by grace can we
forget our assimilation to the corrupted mass of nature, or disclaim
the personal application of the words : " You hath He quickened who
were dead in trespasses and sins, and who were by nature the children of
wrath even as others." Naturally we are all spiritually dead and in-
capable of deporting ourselves worthily Godward. We do not, in-
deed, insinuate that we have been incapacitated for exhibiting ex-
cellence in any direction. Our natures^ even in their wildest aberra
tion retain some traces of their divine original, and often express
themselves in conduct naturally pure and true and noble. Unrc-
t^enerated, we may in our earthly relations evince the most tender
love, the most heroic endurance, the most unbending rectitude, and
the most magnificent generosity. We may approve ourselves models
of every social grace and virtue, and entitled to every commendation
raanward. But whatever we may be in our relations manward, our
relations Godward display debilitating sinfulness. The trail of the
serpent is over our most brilliant moralities. Our most splendid
services and sacrifices are, as Augustine phrases it, but ^* splendid
sins." Our natural goodness reacheth not to God. It would flourish
unaffected though God were non-existent, and is tainted with that
sin of sins, apostacy. Destitute of the requisite reference to His
authority and glory, it is dead goodness, the goodness of individuals
dead in trespasses and sins. It is at best but like the fabled flower
which the Rabbis accredit Eve with having plucked as she passed
out of Paradise, severed from its native root, a touching memento of
a lost Eden beautiful but dead. They betray ignorance both of the
Scriptures and their own inner experience who marvel that the
Master has said : ** Ye must be born again." It is of the utmost im-
portance that we should realise our spiritual death and natural un-
doneness. The realisation of these lies at the threshold of all true
relation toward God, and is the basis upon which it is built. Let
others, then, boast of their blamelessness and inborn ability to serve
God in holiness and righteousness, but let us humbly acknowledge
our pollution and helplessness. Let us meekly admit that, betwixt
what we are naturally and what we ought to be, there is a gulf fixed
which we are impotent either to bridge or overleap. Let us gravely
endorse as a relevant indictment and righteous decision the melan-
choly declarations: " The natural man receiveth not the things of the
Spirit of God, neither can he know them, because they are''8piritually
5x8 THE NEW SCOTCH THEOLOGY.
discerned." '* The carnal mind is enmity against God, it is not subject
to the law of God, neither indeed can be." '* They that are in the
flesh cannot please God." Let us now glance at
THEIR TREATMENT OF THE DIVINE HUMAN CHARACTER OF CHRIST.
Unable to understand the union of Grod and man in Christ Jesus,
not a few disaUow the doctrine as a theory unthinkable and incap-
able of certain affirmation. Impiously insulting, they treat the
Saviour as simply a man like themselves. More respectful, they
fawn upon Him as the great spiritual instructor, they extol Him as
the sublime ideal of perfect manhood, they even ascribe to Him a
^' courtesy " type of diviuity, but never in either case do they adore
Him as trnlv divine. Such conduct was wont to be condemned as
wickedness, soul ruining and God dishonouring, but it is now to be con-
doned as weakness, regrettable, yet not irreconcilable with real die-
cipleship. This concession to unbelief and unbelievers can by no
considerations be vindicated. Mystery undoubtedly does attach to
the inter-relation of the divine and human in Christ's one personality,
but that fact furnishes no fatal presumption against their inter-
relation. The presence of both therein may be satisfactorily de-
monstrated, each on the ground of its own appropriate evidence.
Christ became from the beginning and altogether a man. He was
bom at Bethlehem and lived for years in subjection to and in de-
pendence upon, human parents in a human home at Nazareth. He
filled all the moulds of human conduct, and realised all distinctively
human experiences. He experienced privation^ bereavement, tempt-
ation and desertion bitter as any that men are ordinarily bom to.
His hunger. His thirst, His weariness, His sorrow at the death of
friends, His heart^ickness at the sight of sin, the clouding of His
aoul and the cry of His agony, all exhibit Him as human, intensely
human. It behoved Him to be made in all things like unto His
brethren. Very roan of very man, the man Christ Jesus was much
more. To His own consciousness He was more than man, more than
the best of men, more than the man supreme. Ready as He was to
identify Himself with the race of His adoption, there is a relationship
of which He was even more loftily conscious. None of His utterances
are more simple and sublimely unaffected than His references to God
as His heavenly Father. He alludes with rapture to the blessedness
which was His in the bosom of the Father from eternity. He
challenges a joint-propriety in all that the Father possesses, and
quietly declares, " I and My Father are one." The reputed son of
Joseph, He claims to be the real Son of God. This claim He sub-
stantiates by evidence incontestably convincing. By no law of
THE NEW SCOTCH THEOLOGY. 519
natural evolution could the effete stock of fallen humanity give out
a scion in every way so exceptional as Jesus has proved Himself.
He was hungry, and yet He multiplied a few loaves and fishes to the
refreshment of thousands. He was thirsty, and yet He turned water
into wine that the festivities of a marriage ceremonial might not be
wanting. He was tossed upon a wrathful sea, and yet He effectively
rebuked the winds and waves. He was ci*ucified by wicked men as a
blaspheming impostor, and yet He is worshipped by all holy beings
as God's well-beloved Son. Great, truly great is the mystery of
godliness, God manifest in the flesh. Pilate was right when, pointing
to Him in the pretorium, he said to His rabble persecutors, " Behold
the Man." Isaiah was right when, discerning Him afar among the
thronging shadows of the future, he cried unto the cities of Judah,
" Behold your God." The beloved disciple was right when he testi-
fied concerning Him : " The Word was made flesh and dwelt among
us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only Begotten of the
Father." Nor is this all, no qualifications less original and extreme
would serve for His equipment as Captain of our Salvation. He
must as Mediator be able to lay a hand of divinity upon God, and a
hand of humanity upon us. Were He only God, how could He
mediate between God and men ? Were He only man, how could He
mediate between men and God ] Were He only God, how could He
take our place and obey and sufiTer and die in our room ? Were He
only man, how could He work out a righteousness perfect as the law
of righteousness and broad enough to cover the requirements of all
who believe 1 For the re-knitting of our ruptured relations with God
the divine human character of Christ is a first necessity. When men
are setting it at nought to their eternal undoing, it were wildest un-
wisdom and wickedness to leave them to their slumbers of deceptive
repose. It were a veritable tempting the execution of the inviolable
word : " Son of man, when I say unto a wicked man, thou shalt surely
die, if thou warn not that wicked man from his way he shall die in his
inquity, but his blood wOl I require at thine hand." Whatever else may
be incidental in our creed, let us ever view a loving reliance on
Christ as our Brother yet our God as vital. Let us reckon no man
Christian who lightly esteems either the God or man in Christ Jesns.
Let us appraise no man messenger of God who tells us to entrust our
immortal interests unto a Saviour less than our Emmanuel. Let us
fill with our thoughts the Scripture sentences : " Forasmuch as the
children are partakers of flesh and blood. He also Himself likewise
took part of the same ; " " There is one Mediator between God and
men, the man Christ Jesus ; " " He is antichrist that denieth the
Father and the Son."
520 GEORGE WISHART.
MR. ANDREW LANG ON GEORGE WISHART.
It is the fashion at the present time to depreciate the character and
work of our Reformers and Covenanters, and to some the policy ad-
vocated in the old adage, *' as well be out of the world as out of the
fashion," seems to have irresistible attractions. They do not take
the trouble to enquire for themselves about the matter, but are con-
tent to accept what is said in the circle in which they move, or what [%
put down in the one-sided literature with which they are acquainted.
We are firmly convinced that the integrity of the Scottish Reformers
and Ck)venanter^ and the value of the work which they accomplished,
will be established beyond the possibility of a doubt by a searching,
impartial investigation into all the reliable sources of information which
we have about them. The elder Dr. M'Crie, by his painstaking and
invaluable labours, gave incontestable proof that such a searching in-
vestigation only tended to place the worth of these men and their
labours in a clearer light and on a surer foundation. The misrepre-
sentations of them and of their work, that are becoming too wide-
spread among us, are the fruit, not of knowledge, but to a large
extent of ignorance ; not of an impartial investigation into all his-
torical facts bearing on the matter, but of a bias that emphasises the
facts by which it is supported, and ignores or minimises the facts
that, to use an Americanism, antagonise with it. By them, whom
we charge with these misrepresentations, anything that tends in any
way to blacken the character of the Reformers is eagerly laid hold of,
an importance attached to it which it does not merit, and a meaning
often put into it which it cannot legitimately bear. They evidently
imagine that by such a process they will, to some extent, relieve the
darkness with which the character of the Reformers' opponents and
oppressors has been encircled.
The case of George Wishart — the highly-cultured gentleman, and
an eloquent, persuasive, and bold preacher of the Gospel — furnishes
an illustration of what we have been saying. Mr. Patrick Fraser-Tytler
found in some manuscript correspondence of the period during which
Wishart lived, a statement to the effect that " a Scottishman called
Wysshert " was privy to some conspiracy which Henry VIIL,
along with some Scottish noblemen, had made against the life of
Cardinal Beaton of St. Andrews. Immediately he jumped to the
conclusion that this must have been George Wishart the Re-
former, and that here was the explanation of the prophecy re-
garding the assassination of Cardinal Beaton which was ascribed to
this Reformer. The utter insufficiency of the foundation on which
GEORGE WISHART. 52 1
this charge was based, was pointed out at the time. The character
of the Heformer was so ably and triumphantly vindicated, that Mr.
Tytler was compelled to withdraw the charge that Mr. Wishart was
actively engaged in carrying out the plot, although he insinuated that
he must have known of it. ^ Notwithstanding this, the charge came
to be revived by those who sought to depreciate the Reformers, and was
found in a History of St. Andrews, written by the Rev. C. J. Lyon,
of that ancient city. From this it has found its way into an article
on St Andrews, written by a now famous literary Scotchman, Mr.
Andrew lAug, for one of the most widely-circulated of American
periodicals, Harpers* Monthly Magazine. With the parts of the article
that deal with the scenery and life of this sea-washed city where
" each stone you tread on has its history," we do not here concern
ourselves, but only with that part that touches on the history of the
Reformers, and specially of George Wishart. He refers to the
design of Henry VIII. to make the two kingdoms one in the acknow-
ledgment of the Protestant faith, which he, as a matter of policy,
had adopted, a union he sought to seal by the marriage of his
son to the beautiful princess Mary, who would soon be exalted to the
Scottish throne. This was favoured by some of the Protestant
nobility of Scotland, but, of course, fiercely opposed by the Papal
hierarchy, at the head of which was David Beaton, Archbishop of St.
Andrews, who had schemed on the death of James V. to assume the
reins of government — having produced a forged will of the deceased
monarch appointing him governor of the Kingdom — but was defeated,
and his fraud discovered. The Earl of Arran, who was favourable to
the Reformation, was raised to this position. The Cardinal did not,
however, lay aside his ambition, but in the unsettled state of the
times did very much what seemed right in his own eyes, and sought
l)y every means in his power to prevent the alliance between Eng-
land and Scotland on a Protestant basis. Henry sought to get rid
of him by encouraging his capture or assassination. Mr. Lang says :
" The cardinal was an obstacle, the Scotch Protestants went about to
mtiixier the cardinal, and a certain Wishart was one of those Invin*
cibles. Wishart went around prophesying Cardinal Beaton's death,
and Beaton had him arrested for heresy. This was certainly an
error of judgment, as it at once made Wishart a martyr." And after
giving an imaginative picture of his being burned at the stake, he
ad'ls : " The people never forgot that burning, nor forgave it. As
for Wishart, he was a brave man of an unscrupulous age. He may
have been an assassin at heart ; if so, he doubtless believed that his
religion bade him sharpen the dagger. When Beaton was slain in
» Mr. Crie*8 Sketches of Church History, Vol. i., pp. 40 41.
2y
522 GEORGE WISH ART.
turn. Fox sfiya Hhat his murderers were stirred up by the Lord.-
We cannot judge these men by our standards of right and morality.*'
And then he must also have a hit at John Knox. Knox has described
James Melville, who dealt the Cardinal his death-stroke, as '* a man
of nature most gentle and most modest." <.)n which Mr. Lang
hangs the remark, very unworthy of a Scotchman, " 'Tis the view
which is taken of many murderers by their political associates." It
is, however, with his view of Wishart's character that we are at
present concerned.
The materials for his portrait are taken from the history of Mr.
Lyon already referred to. He more than once openly acknowledges
his indebtedness to it. He could easily have ascertained by a little
inquiry that the indictment there made against Wishart had been
challenged and successfully refuted, immediately on its publication.
As a lover of old books he might have managed when in St. Andrews
last year to lay his hands upon some pamphlets or books that would
have shown how untrustworthy were the sources from which be drew
his information. How would he like his own character to be viewed
through the estimate of those who might be filled with bitter prejudice
and enmity against him nnd his w^ork? And the golden rule is surely
not without its place in literature, and in dealing with those whose
memory has been an inspiration to many generations.
We confess to a little surprise at the style in which Mr. Lang-
brought up in a Scottish home, and educated at the University of
St. Andrews, with its martyr memories — refers to the matter. ''A
certain Wishart was one of those Invincibles." Is this an affectation of
ignorance, arising from a fear lest his ri&aders should suppose that be
had any sympathy with Scotch Reformers or troubled himself much
about the history of " puir auld Scotland " 1 This superciliousness,
if we may call it so — in speaking of the heroes that made his native
land what it is to-day, capable of producing a certain Andrew Lang
— is too common with Anglified Scotchmen, but it does not add to
their greatness. No true Scotchman need be ashamed of the Reformers,
or afraid to bold up his head before the world as descended from
them, and glorying in what, by God's grace, they were and did.
Shame here is an evidence of littleness, not of greatness.
But now let us examine the evidence on which this serious charge
against George Wishart is based, and inquire into its value. The
evidence may be said to He in three things. There is, firsts the state-
ment made in a letterof the Earl of Hertford, in the spring of year 1544,
that " A Scottishman called Wysshert " was privy to a conspiracy to
assassinate Cardinal Beaton, and was employed to carry letters be-
tween the conspirators and the English Court. He had a commanica-
GEORGE WISH ART. 523
tion from the Laird of Bniustone, a gentleman that afterwards be-
friended the reformer. There is, second, the fact that Whisart came
back to Scotland from England, whither he had fled when threatened
with persecution on account of his attachment to the Reformation, with
several of the Scottish nobility who had gone to negotiate a treaty
with Henry VIII. He had fled first to Bristol, then to the Con-
tinent, where he seems to have stayed for a considerable time, and
then came to Cambridge, where he acted for a time as a regent in one of
the Colleges. As there was more than one embassy sent to England
at this troubled period, it is not certainly known with which of them
Wishart returned, and so the date of his return is a little uncertain.
Some place it as early as the autumn of 1543, and others, such as
David Laing, as late as 1545. Then there is, thirdly, his supposed
prophecy about the approaching death of Cardinal Beaton. He
koew of the plot to assassinate him, had taken an active part in
hatching and maturing it, and thus, they say, his prediction is
easily explained. These are the three main links in the chain of
evidence by which it is sought to prove that he who, ere ascending
the scaflbld, prayed for his enemies and kissed his executioners, was
an assassin at heart, and to be put in the same category as our
modem Invinoibles. The testing of these links will, we venture to
assert, show their utter worthlessness.
Let us take, first, the one that refers to his prediction about the
approaching violent death of the tyrant who thirsted for his blood.
The statement made by Mr. Lang that ** He went about prophesying
Cardinal Beaton's death," has not the shadow of basis in any trust-
worthy historical records. There is a tradition that when he was
being burned at the stake in front of the castle at St. Andrews, the
Cardintd and his retinue feasting themselves on the spectacle from
one of the windows, he did utter such a prediction. But the
historical basis of even this tradition is slender. It is found in the
record of his martyrdom, written in after years by George Buchanan,
and transferred from his pages to those of Pitscottie, Spotiswood, and
more modem writers. It is significant that it finds no place in
records which were nearly cotemporaneous. As to the genesis and
growth of the tradition, we cannot do better than quote the words of
Mr. D. Hay Fleming of St. Andrews in his account of Wishart in his
thoroughly reliable and interesting little book, '' The Martyrs and
Confessors of St. Andrews." " The old account (t.^., of the martyr-
dom of Wishart) which has been preserved by Foxe and Knox is
believed to have been printed so early as 1547, and the vague warning
of God's wrath coming on the bishops if they remained impenitent,
as recorded in that account, had been improved, after Beaton's tragic
524 GEORGE WISHART.
death, into a definite 'prophecy against him. If Wishart had really
littered the striking words attributed to him by Buchanan, Knox
must have known, as he came to St. Andrews Cattle about thirteen
months after Wishart's martyrdom, and lived in it for three months and
a half. During that period he would frequently meet and talk with
sympathisers who had beeu witnesses of the terrible sufferings whicb
Master George endured ; and Knox would gladly drink in and trea-
sure every word i;(fhich he was told had fallen from the dying lips of
his revered teacher. Moreover, as Knox firmly believed that Wishart
had the spirit of prophecy, he would assuredly have recorded such a
remarkable prediction, if it had been made" (p. 168). This link
snaps asunder whenever put under the strain of searching historical
investigation. The picture of Wishart going about "prophesying
Cardinal Beaton's death " which Mr. Lang holds up before his readers
dissolves before searching historical inquiry like '' the baseless fabric
of a vision, leaving not a wrack behind."
The other links, when tested in the same way, do not prove any
stronger. The mere fact of Wishart's seeking the protection of the
commissioners to Henry VIII. on his return to his native land, from
which he had been forced to flee by the iron hand of persecation,
contains within itself no evidence of his complicity, or even of his
cognisance, of a plot to get the Cardinal out of the way. He had
been outlawed, and to have returned without some such protection,
would have been to expose himself to certain danger — ^to have put
himself, indeed, into the hands of those who sought his life. It is known
that in one of the embassies sent to negotiate with the English King
there was a relation of Wishart 's. Sir James Learmonth of Balcomie,
and it has been conjectured by some that it was under his influence
that he was persuaded to return. His connection with the commis-
sioners is easily understood and explained, apart from his taking part
with any of them or with others in schemes of assassination.
There is the first link still remaining — the mention of a Scotch-
man of the same surname as our Reformer, employed as a go-between
between Henry and his allies in Scotland. There is not a particle of
evidence to identify this man with the George Wishart, whose sainted
memory has been embalmed in the heart of a grateful nation. The
probabilities, as has often been made plain, lie all the other way.
George Wishart was a person of position in the realm, being brother
to the laird of Pittarow in the Mearns, and so was not likely to be re-
ferred to as "a Scottishman called Wysshert.'' This is aU the more
unlikely as he was known in England. And as Mr. Fleming, in the
work already referred to, points out, "there were at that time
Wisharts not only in the Mearus, but also in Dundee and in Ayrshire,
GEORGE WISHART. 525
aud among these it has been shown that there were other George
Wisharts, so that even although the first name of Brunstoue's
messenger had been given, and had been the same, it would not have
proved that he was the same individual as the martyr. The mere fact
that Master George and Brunstone were acquainted eighteen months
afterwards proves nothing." Besides, we can trace Wishart's move-
ments from the time he left Cambridge and came back to Scotland
until he came under the power of the bloodthirsty Cardinal, and
know that he could not have been employed in any such mission as
that indicated in the Earl of Hertford's correspondence. For a short
time after his return he is believed to have lived in retirement in
Pittarow, and " being " as Dr. Mitchell has said, " an accomplished
artist, he occupied himself in adorning the ancestral mansion witli
several significant paintings which, after being long covered over by
the wainscot, were again brought to light in the present century, but,
unfortunately, were destroyed before their value was perceived."^ He
seemS) notlongafter his return, to have preached the Gospel in the neigh-
bouring town of Montrose, and then transferred his labours to Dundee.
Interdicted from carrying on his labours in Dundee, he went to the west
and south-west of Scotland, where he preached with much acceptance
and with signs following. When the plague broke out in Dundee he
hastened back to it, and unweariedly ministered both to the souls
aud bodies of its inhabitants. His success made him a marked man,
and he was made aware that his life was sought. When the plague
abated^ he paid a visit to his native place, and then, against the warn-
ings of his friends, he sought to fulfil an engagment at Edinburgh.
They who were to meet him there from the west could not come, and
after labouring for a time in the Lothians, in the company of his
famous disciple, John Knox, he was, not without treachery, brought
under the Cardinal's power and his doom was sealed. We can follow
him almost step by step, and there is no gap during which any secret
mission to England might be accomplished. Moreover, he was as an
excommunicated and outlawed man, constantly under protection after
his return to his native land, and so " was one of the last men likely
to be chosen for a secret mission." The chain of evidence by which
this charge against one of the heroes of the Reformation is supported^
proves, under the pressure of undoubted historical facts, no stronger
than a rope of sand.
The whole life of the man, as it stands before us on the page of
history, is a protest against the very supposition that he could find
delight in dark stratagems against the life of his fellow-men, even of
his bitterest enemy. Ho was fond of learning, and had acquired
" St. Giles Lectures." First Series, 1, 119.
526 GEORGE WISH ART.
great proficiency in it, as well as in some of the arts, such as painting,
which were then but rarely practiced in Scotland. Before he was
forced to flee from the country, he taught Greek at Moutrose, and
used the New Testament ajB his text-book. This was twenty-one
years before the Professors of the St. Andrews University even
understood this language. His residence abroad was improved bv
him to perfect his learning, as his position as regent in Bennet
College, Cambridge, testifies. His gentle, affectionate nattu-e won for
him the love of earnest-minded pupils ; and his learning and faculty
of communicating it gained him their enthusiasm. We owe a most
interesting description of his personal appearance and habits to the pen
of one of his pupils in Cambridge, who speaks of him in terms of the
warmest affection. These are some touches in the portrait he draws
for us : "He was a man of tall stature, polled-headed, and on the
same, a round French cap of the best ; judged to be of melancbolj
complexion by his physiognomy, black-haired, long-bearded, comely
of personage, well spoken after his country of Scotland, courteous^
lowly, lovely, glad to teach, desirous to learn, and was well-travelled.
.... He was a man modest, temperate, fearing God, hating covetous-
ness, for his charity had never end, night, noon, nor day 11 is
learning was no less sufficient than his desire : always pressed and
ready to do good in that he was able, both in the house privately
and in the school publicly, professing and reading divers authors."
The portrait of him which has been preserved bears out the truthful-
ness of this pen-picture as far as personal appearance is concerned.
But it was as a preacher of the glorious evangel — by which his own
heart had been set on fire — that he came to be best and most widely
known. He traversed Scotland, north, south-west, and east, and
everywhere produced a remarkable impression, and left a fragrant
memory. So meek and gentle was he that he ever counselled sub-
mission and self-denial, rather than resorting to force. When
interdicted from preaching in Dundee, he at once left the town and
sought a field of labour elsewhere. When the church at Maachline
was closed against him, some of his followers, offended at being
excluded from their own church, resolved to enter it by force.
Taking their leader aside, Wishart thus addressed him : " Brother,
Christ Jesus is as potent upouu the feildis as in the kirk : and I fvnd
that He himself oftener preached in the deserte, at the sea-syd, and
other places judged prophane, then that He did in the tempill of
Hierusalem. It is the woord of peace that God sendis by me ; the
blood of no man shal be shed this day for the preaching of it." He
embraced with his love all his enemies, and defended thera from
danger. The incident that took place when a priest made an attempt
GEORGE WISHART. 527
upon his life after preaching, when the plague was raging in Dundee,
is familiar to every one. When the sick who were outside the city
gate, from the top of which he had been preaching, heard of the
attempt, they demanded that the miscreant should be given to them
that they might make short work with him. But the preacher put
his arms around his would-be assassin, saying, " Whosoever troubles
him shall trouble me, for he has hurt me in nothing, but has done great
comfort both to you and me, to wit, he has let us understand what we
may fear. In times to come we will watch better." Thus he saved
his life. When bound to the stake, after expressing his own assured
hope of a glorious immortality, he uttered these deeply- touching
words : " I beseech Thee, Father of Heaven, to forgive them that
have of any ignorance, or else have of any evil mind, forged any lies
upon me. 1 forgive them with all my heart. I beseech Christ to
forgive them that have condemned me to death this day ignorautly."
They who can believe that a man of this mould and temper could
embark upon any murderous design, or could be used as a tool by
assassins, and this without any direct evidence of the fact, must
have a wonderful power of credulity.
The insinuation thrown out by Mr. Lang, in speaking of Wishart
and Knox, that the Reformers did not regard the murder of anyone
ittauding in their way as any great sin, is one — I fear, I must say it,
— based more upon, ignorance than upon knowledge. They saw
God's hand in such deeds taking vengeance on oppressors and tyrants,
but they never justified or sanctioned the conduct of those who did
them. They might find excuses for them in the madness to which
they had been goaded by tyranny and cruelty, but such methods of
advancing the good cause was never approved by them, but explicitly
condemned. It was left to the Papal and Prelatic systems, against
which our fathers so nobly and successfully contended, to put the
seal of their approval upon them. The Papacy does so still. There
is an apartment in the Vatican at Rome, containing great pictures
i^epresenting the triumphs of the Roman Church, and prominent
among them is that representing the massacre of St. Bartholomew
and the death of Coligny. It has been said with truth that " the
residence of the Papacy is the only place in the world where murder
is publicly glorified." Our Reformers and Covenanters were not
j>erfect, but they were men who deserve to be held in our grateful re
inembrance. Professor Blackie talks a good deal of nonsense
occAsionally, but he often speaks admirably of the heroes of our pas
history. A sonnet of his, recently published, refers to the Covenanters
and may be taken by us to embrace the earlier as well as the later
heroes w^ho can claim this name.
528 "christian socialism."
" Be wise, my Muse : must Scotland have a saint.
Not Burns nor Andrew be the sounded name ;
But who would sing or mould the clay or paint,
Let them from men of covenanting fame
Set forth their type. Not those from wilful king
Or pridef ul priest would crave a servile creed ;
But, soaring with free sway on native wing
They drew from God the grace to help their need.
Ev'n so not mitred heads in Hebrew days
Saw visioned truth, and owned most high behest ;
But thoughtful men that walked in lonely ways
Spake as the Spirit stirred their faithful breast.
And sceptred monarchs dropt the threatf ul sword
At prophet's warning voice : thus saith the lord ! "
" CHRISTIAN SOCIALISM."
II.
In our previous paper we gave a historical sketch of the rise of
Socialism, and of that branch of it which has received the designa-
tion of Christian Socialism. The main points of distinction between
the teaching of the Continental Christian Socialists and those of our
own country were also touched upon. With these points of distinc-
tion, it has to be noted that their general position is the same. In
our examination of it we shall confine our view to the teaching of
those in our own land. We may look at negatively— in what it con-
demns ; and then positively — in what it approves.
I.
In its negative aspect Christian Socialism attacks the principles
underlying the present social system. Its advocates are as strong
and vehement as any can be in their denunciation of a system which,
in their view, leaves multitudes dependent on a scanty and precari-
ous wage, and enriches a few at the expense of their welfare — physical,
moral and spiritual. In a memorable sermon which Charles Kingsley
preached in London — the position adopted in which was openly
called in question by the incumbent of the church after its delivery
— he used this language : " All systems of society which favour the
accumulation of capital in a few hands, which oust the masses from
the soil which their forefathers possessed of old, which reduce them
to the level of serfs and day labourers, living on wages and on alms,
which crush them down with debt, or in any wise degi^de and
enslave them, or deny them a permanent stake in the common-
<* i^«T»ic»t»¥ *i^ erwr"! ATicvf '*
CHRISTIAN SOCIALISM.' 529
wealth, are contrnry to the Kingdom of God which Jesus proclaimed."
He even went the length of accusing the commercial world of canni-
balism, devouring in its greed the bodies and souls of the work-
ing men, while they were devouring one another in the competition
struggle for employment. He declared that "of all narrow, conceited,,
hypocritical, anarchic, and atheistic schemes of the universe the Cob-
den and Bright one was exactly the worst." Maurice, gentle though bis
spirit was, was roused to indignation at the thought of a "Manchester
ascendancy," which he believed would be fatal to intellect, morality,
and freedom. Their objections to these principles were, however,
more on the ground of the selfishness avarice and oppression they
developed in actual life, than on the ground of any economic vices
thought to be inherent in them. They were led to the acceptance
of the economic teaching of the Socialists without any thorough-going
study of it, very much by the social results that had followed the
undisputed sway of the principles condemned by them. There are,
it seems to us, two questions raised by this attitude of the Christian
Socialists to the agricultural and industrial system that has pre-
vailed for many years. The first is. Are the social evils complained
of — the keeping of multitudes on the verge of starvation, and unable
to realise a comfortable social and domestic life — the direct and
necessary fruit of this system? The second is. Are the principles
underlying the system antagonistic to the spirit of the Christian
religion 1 To both these questions the Christian Socialists give an
omphatic affirmative, but does the answer rest on adequate grounds ]
The individual control of land and capital, leading to free com-
petition, forms the outstanding feature of the present system against
which the attacks of Socialists are directed. It is argued that while
this may have proved a very ^cient instrument for the production
of wealth, it has resulted in a very unequal and unjust distribution
of it. The fruits of labour, instead of enriching those engaged in it,
have to a large extent gone to swell the immense incomes of those
already rolling in wealth. They, having the control of capital, can
obtain labour on their own terms, and it is their interest to keep
these terms as low as possible. The consequence is that many are
compelled to live on a wage that can hardly keep soul and body
together, and absolutely debars them from the enjoyment of any
means of self-culture. It is deemed impossible that so long as the
present wage-system prevails there can be any real solution of our
social difficulties. Individual control of capital, free competition, and
the wage-system are looked upon as three links of the great chain by
which the great mass of working people is held in bondage, and pre-
vented from rising higher in the social scale.
530 "christian socialism.
There are various lines on which criticism of the position here
adopted may run, and which may be briefly indicated. One is, that
with the increase of our wealth under the present industrial system,
the condition of the working classes as a whole has been vastly im-
proved. Mr. John Rae, in his able, though one-sided, work on " Con-
temporary Socialism," has produced statistics to prove that the posi-
tion of the wage-labourer is really better now than it has been for
three hundred years. Another is, that other causes have been at
work hindering those belonging to the wage-earning class from better-
ing their social position — causes much more potent in their mischief
than any found in uncontrolled competition and the misuse of capital.
If the millions spent every year on strong drink were turned away
from this channel of injurious self-indulgence into one of self-culture,
it would work a vast improvement upon the social condition of work-
ing men. It has been well said that '^ a year's remission of that
destructive self-indulgence would solve every labour-problem extant ;
would provide a fund for the establishment of co-operative works ;
for the sustenance of the sick and the aged ; for the maintenance and
education of orphans; for libraries and scientific schools; for all
manner of helps.*' A tliird line of remark is, that the present system
in the hands of good men does not produce the results deplored.
There have been capitalists and landowners, characterised by great
enterprise, who have regarded their operatives and workpeople as
entitled to a fair share of the profits produced by their labour, and
who have cared for their social well-being. Such biographies as those
of fc'aniuel Morley, William Denny and Alexander Balfour, bear witness
to the fact that along with the individual control of capital and a
bold use of it, there may be a generous consideration of the interests
of the workmen, and a strict regard to what is just in their remunera-
tion. To lay down the principle that capital should not receive a
larger share in the profits of labour employed by it than that given
to labour itself, or should not receive any share at all, as is done by
some, is to lay down economic conditions that would very soon destroy
all enterprise, and build industry on a basis of injustice. This
would be, as has been said, " not only to discourage those fertilising
and expanding activities which redeem mankind fix)m barbarism, but
to compel the question ; In what does labour really consist ? Is it only
the work of the muscles, and the back, and the arm, the least noble
parts of man 1 or is it also the product of the brain, and of the life's
maturing and accumulating experience, and of the past efforts of the
busy yeara, and of the mighty and ever-increasing possibilities spring-
ing from the thoughts and discoveries of the dead 1 " Capitalists are
not unjust or cruel in drawing from the profits of the labours
"christian socialism." 531
which thej set agoing a principal share. This fact, however,
that capitalists have been found who have dealt justly and
generously with those employed by them, shows that the system
itself cannot be blamed for the terrible evils that have exisited
alongside of it. A fourth line of remark — and the last on which we
touch, is that a clear understanding of the conditions of the truest
success under the present system, would tend to mitigate ac-
knowledged evils. It may be said in answer to our last statement,
that under the management of good men this system tends to the
social advancement of the working classes, that we must take men
HH we find them, and that capital is not always found in the hands of
such, nor is it likely always to be. As the system gives special
encouragement to the growth of an avarice or mammonism that
siicrifices everything that stands in its path, it ought to be i*eplaced
by one that would not lend itself so easily to such a purpose. But is
it not the case that lowering the condition of the labourer affects the
efficiency of his labour, and thus by lessening the value of what is
produced, does not secure so large returns for the expenditure of
capital 1 The more efficient and skilled the labourer, the better it is
for capital, and therefore even the self-interest of the capitalist, if
there be nothing higher, should lead him so to remunerate his
employees that not only there may be a bare subsistence for them-
selves and their families, but the means of self-culture. In the end it
will be to his own detriment to act otherwise, and things will so far
right themselves. Everything that impairs the efficiency of labour
will be disastrous to the interests of capital.
These lines of thought may well raise a doubt whether the
social evils all earnest philanthropists wish to see removed are the
direct and necessary fruit of the system on which industry has been
carried on. Had this system been more under ethical control they
might never have existed, certainly they would never have attained
their present dimensions, and were it largely brought under this
control they would, we are convinced, to a large extent disappear.
The second question raised as to the harmony of the principles under-
lying this system with the Christian religion need not detain us long.
To view them as anti-Christian — which was pmutically done by Chris-
tian Socialists — was very much the fruit of moral indignation at the
cruelty their working was supposed to inflict upon the labouring classes.
The right of private property in land or other capital is one distinctly
recognised both in the moral and religious teaching of Christianity.
This will not be denied by any acquainted with its saured writings.
The duty of trading with that capital, so as to increase its value, and
its lowers of benefiting society, is also plainly inculcated, 'i'he
532 "CHRISTIAN SOCIALISM."
diligeut business man, ever watchful of opportunities to trade with
his possessions, and skilfully making the best of his opportunities, is
exhibited as an example which the disciples of Christ may follow in
spiritual things. But while these things are recognised and com-
mended, the grasping avarice which would appropriate all gain to
itself, and for its own selfish enjoyment, and leave those unrewarded
who by their hard toil have produced it, is most imsparingly con-
demned and vehemently denounced. The mammonism that would
sacrifice everything to the attainment of wealth, that is blind to the
moral and social degradation on which it builds its fortunes, that is
deaf to the piteous cries of those over whom its wheels ruthlessly
roll — crushing the very heart's blood out of them — is there dealt with
by no sparing hand.
II.
But we must come now to the positive teaching of Christian Sociali^im,
— the economic principles it affirms and approves. The central
principle of the system advocated by it is co-operation, and this
is applied, not only to the earning of interest from a united capital —
such as is done by companies consisting of a large number of share-
holders— but to the earning of profits from associated labour.
Were this principle to prevail there would be ''joint control of land
and the large capital worked by associated labour. Wherever
industry is at present carried on by private capitalists served by
wage-labour, it would then be conducted by associated or co-operating
workmen jointly owning the means of production." This co-operative
principle was put in practice by the Christian Socialists in the
establishment of societies on this basis. The movement^ though far
from realising the hopes of its promoters, has yet made considerable
headway, and has had an influence on the industrial life of the
country. Last year the number of co-operative societies firmly
established in England was 1281, with 130,000 members, transacting
business during the last year of more than £9,000,000 and having
an average profit of 30 per cent. Of societies, however, where the
profits of production are divided, the capital represented is only a
little over .£200,000, and the amount of business done between
£200,000 and £400,000.
There can be no question that this co-uperative method opens -axi
easier avenue to social elevation for working men than the method
associated with individual enterprise and uncontrolled competition.
It is recognised by most economists that the laiger the share the
gi^eat mass of the people have, both in the land of any country and
in the c ipital which is necessary for the carrying on of industry, the
"CHRISTIAN SOCIALISM." 533
more stable will be the conditiou of society. Even Mr. Rae, who is
aa uncompromising opponent of Socialism, has to grant that " labourers
will never benefit to the full from improvements in the productive arts,
until by some arrangement, or by many arrangements, they are made
sharers in industrial capital." The divorce of the great mass of the
people from the soil, and from the working capital of the country, pro-
duces instability in the social fabric, and this can only be remedied by
every encouragment and facility being given to them for their acquisi-
tion of land, and their becoming sharers in capital. The co-operative
system, as a lever by which this may be attained, should have free
pl'V given to it, and a fostering care extended to it. But were it en-
tirely to supersede the present system, it would not be altogether a
gain to society.
There would be the loss of that energy which is called forth
by individual enterprise. Co-operative concerns must be entrusted
to the care of managers, and will they watch over their interests
as carefully and seek their advancement as perse veringly, as if
they were their own ? The answer is, yes — if they be men worthy of
the position given to them — animated not by self-interest but by re-
gard for the interests of their fellow-men. Mr. Rirkup frankly ac-
knowledges that ** without a great moral advance Socialism may be
regarded as impracticable." This disposes us to ask the question :
With this great moral advance — regulating and controlling individual
use of capital — will Socialism be necessary ? Self-interest is a motive
power which must be taken into account in discussing the conditions
of social wellbeiug. " Society," as a recent writer has remarked,
" advances by means of efforts which only very indirectly aim at the
piiblic benefit, which are directed, in the first place, to the advanc-
ment of the individual. The individual is urged on by the fear of
hunger for himself and his family, by the desire of possessing property,
by the hope of marriage^ by personal ambition ; and as he thus works
for himself his work is found to benefit society, though that was not
bis first intention. Take away these private motives, which at present
cause men to exert themselves, and fix it that all are to work, not for
themselves but for society : we have no means of knowing whether
that plan will work or not, whether it is possible for such a plan to
succeed in this world. Monks can work such a plan, or picked en-
thusiasts of various kinds, but will it work with the ordinary average
material of human beings ? "
There would be loss, too, of the elevating influence of private
property and inheritance. All private property might not be
abolished, but if the co-operative system were thoroughly and uni-
versally carried out, all that is devoted to agricultural and industrial
534 "CHRISTIAN SOCIAUSM."
puq)08e8 would not be possessed bj individnals, bat by the comDiou
society. This would be to take away what has been a most potent
factor in the building up of our civilisation.
Nor would the evil of competition be banished. If indeed, the
socialist dream, of all land and all industry in a country being brought
under the control of a central organisation expressing the will of the
people, could be realised, there would be the absence of all competition.
But then there would be the crushing of all individual liberty. The
individual would be the slave of the community in a much truer and
more thorough-going manner than the wage-earning labourer is now
the slave of the capitalist. And in any oigauisation of industry on
the basis of co-operation short of this, competition will not cease to
exist. It may rage as fiercely as ever, only it will no longer be
between individual capitalists, but between corporations. ^Vhile
co-operation as an economic principle, may with advantage work alon^r-
side of the present system, checking abuses, a society based upon it
exclusively would not, we think, issue in the real elevation of the
individual man.
The sanction of the Christian religion, is, however, claimed for such
a reconstniction of the social fabric. The command of Christ to the
rich young man to sell all his possessions and give to the poor ; tbe
facts that He and His disciples had a common purse, and that the
members of the first church at Jerusalem had all things in commou
— these and similar things are adduced to prove that this socialistic
refashioning of society is in close harmony with the principles of
Christianity. But these incidents cannot bear the weight that is
thus laid upon them. The socialistic meaning is put into tbem, not
found in them, when they are rightly interpreted. In Christ's com-
mand to the rich young man to sell all his possessions and give ti
the poor, there was the application of a test adapted to his peculiar
case, and not the laying down of a principle which was to be uni-
versally binding upon his disciples. In the possession of a conmion
purse by the disciple-baud, they simply adopted a method of living
suited to their special and peculiar circumstances— circumstances
very different from those in which his disciples in after ages would
find themselves placed. With respect to the communism of the early
Church, it is enough to say, that it was not resorted to with the
design of promoting or extending industry, but for a different
purpose: — the relief of the poor within the circle of the Church itself.
Even as designed to serve this purpose, it utterly broke down. The
Church at Jerusalem falling into poverty, became the object of
charity to the Gentile churches in Macedonia — ^a warning surely that
such a system of relieving poverty, even within the Church, was
THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS. 535
(ioomed to failure. The meaning of these incidents is really this,
that we ought to set little store by worldly wealth in itself, aud that
we ought to use what of it is given us for the good of others.
Our examination of the position taken up by tlie Christian Socia-
lists, proves, we think, that they erred by going to extremes oq both
sides — in their condemnation out and out of the present system, and
in their thinking that in the co-operative principle they had found a
transforming power which would renew the face of society.
But leaving their economic teaching aside, they did a noble
work —the fruits of which we are reaping, and shall yet reap
more largely. They called attention to clamant evils, and roused
the national conscience so that it could not rest, until bencB-
cent legislation was passed for the protection of those who were
being crushed to death — and to worse than death — by the
Juggernaut car of mammouism. They asserted the rights of men,
simply as men, it) whatever conditions of life they might be
placed, and paved the way for the organization of labour in Trade
Unions and the like, which, with all their abuses, have secured for
the working classes a juster remuneration for their toil. They took
away from religion the reproach of being so concerned with the
security of mnn's safety for the hereafter, that it made little account
of all exertions for the amelioration of his condition here. The
glorious breadth of the Gospel, as covering man's whole being, and
his whole life here and hereafter, was by them given a prominence
which had not been given to it before. The whole relation of
Christianity to social well-being — to which attention is now being
so much directed with the promise of good results — had been
grievously neglected before their day. The impulse given by them
in the matter has not yet spent itself, and has taken a healthier
direction than that in which they sought to guide it.
THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS.
Br A HlQHLAND MiNISTBB.
XIV.
While Northern Covenanters are, in the beginning of 1685, being
smitten by the rod of the oppressor, there is a Roas-shire proprietor,
the Laird of Pitcalzian, lying in Newgate. After finishing his arts
curriculum at Aberdeen in 1678, Mr. John Fraser went up the
following year to London, where he remained for four or five years.
He desired to escape the persecution that was so hot in his native
536 THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS.
land, and to avail himself of the greater facilities for attending in
Bccret on the means of grace, and making progress in theological
knowledge which were afforded bejond the Tweed. He lodged in
tlie house of a Baptist minister, whose godly conversation, with that
of sundry members of his flock, so delighted him that he felt a strong
inclination to join that body of Christians. He consulted his
worthy host, who listened with patience to all his young friend's
reasonings, and replied : ** Mr. Fraser, I love you, because I think
you love Christ. You love our society because you think Grod is
amongst us, and I trust He is so in truth. But, I must tell you, if
w^e have our beauties we have our blemishes ; and the congregations
of our way are but very few when compared with those in tiiat
Church in which you have been educated and brought up. The
Church of Scotland, whose principles you have hitherto professed, is at
present in the furnace, but the Lord will in due time bring her out of
it. You are but young, and should you join yourself to our society
your sphere of usefulness must be very smtill and contracted. You
know not as yet what work God may have in reserve for you in your
native land, where you may have a lai'ge circle to move in. My
advice therefore to you is this, that you forbear at present to join
yourself to us. Consider further of the mattei*, and seek light and
direction from the Lord. When you have done so, if you continue
still of the same mind, then acquaint me, and I will receive you and
embrace you in the arms of love and affection." These noble " words
of truth and soberness " made a deep impression on the hearer. He
took the generous advice, " and was wont often to say, he saw much
of God in it, especially when he came afterwards to the work of the
ministry in his own country."
Fraser continued in regular and close attendance upon the meetina:s
of dissenting ministers. In 1683 greater severities were brought to
bear on Nonconformists, and rewards were offered to informers of
private meetings or Conventicles. On the 11th January 1685,
Fraser and a number of others, nearly all Scotchmen, attended a
a quiet meeting in Foster Lauo near the Guildhall. The talented
Alexander Shields, author of the " Hind let Loose," was the preacher.
Soon after the service began, the house was surrounded by 8oldie^^^,
and Shields, Fraser, and most of the hearers were made prisoners.
On their being brought before the Lord Mayor, the City Recorder
insisted ** that special notice should be taken of the criminals because
mostly Scotchmen, and more than ordinarily seditious and rebellious
against the king's majesty and his laws." Some were allowed to leave
tlie court on payment of fines, but ten or twelve, including Shields
and Fraser, were sent to Newgate, and thrust into a loathsome ceil
among the vilest of malefactors. After further examination, it was re-
solved to send them all back to Scotland, to bo tried there according
to the laws of the kingdom. About the beginning of March they
were manacled two and two as the worst felons, and led through tbo
streets of London. Fraser had the honour of being bound to Shields.
In this fashion they were put on board the royal kitchen yacht aixd.
conveyed to Leith. Arrived at Edinburgh they were strictly ex-
THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS. 537
amined by the Council, and as of course they failed to give satis-
factory answers to the usual ensnaring questions, they were flung into
" the Ediubuigh and Cauongate Tolbooths," already over-crowded
with similar sufferers for conscience' sake.
After a weeks' imprisonment tidings reached Edinburgh of Argyle's
invasion. The Privy Council in consequence decided to send " the
prisoners for religion " to Dunnottar Castle, a recently acquired state
prison which for strength rivalled the Bass. On the 18th of May,
towards evening, the doors of the Edinburgh jails were opened, and
the surprised inmates were hnrried down to Leith, escorted by the
Douglas regiment. Denied any communication with friends or
sympathisers, they were forthwith packed into open boats and landed
at Burntisland at daybreak. There, 240 in number, many of them
women, they were crowded into two rooms of the Tolbooth, and shut
up for two days and two nights without food or water assigned them.
Any who would swear the entangling oaths of allegiance and su-
premacy were sent back to Edinburgh, and about forty in their sore
distress complied. The rest were willing to take the oath of allegi-
ance, but they firmly refused to accept the oath of supremacy, as it
involved the acknowledgment of an avowed Papist to be the head of
the Cliurch. Those were the days of tender consciences. How
readily our modem *' church leaders " would subscribe the oath, with
mental reservations and in a non-natural sense. What would they
not swear to retain a wbole skin and emoluments ? We need not
wonder at the want of sympathy with the conscientious scruples of
our Covenanting fathers which certain recent Presbyterian writers
glaringly display.
With their hands tied with strong cords behind their backs, the
prisoners were driven on from Burntisland to Freuchie near Falkland,
surrounded by rude unfeeling soldiers who heaped upon the suffering
mass all manner of mockery and abuse. Old women and invalids who
lagged behind were beaten and threatened with death for moving on
so slowly. They were anxious to hire horses at their own expense,
but to this reasonable proposal the merciless drivers would not listen.
After a distressful night at Freuchie the prisoners were urged on to
the Tay. There, waiting the rising of the tide, they were shut up in
three small rooms, and at daybreak ferried across to Dundee, where
they were offered a few hours' rest in the Tolbooth. Here " they
were allowed refreshments for their own money." They were then
handed over to the Earl of Strathmore's regiment and the Angus
Militia, and marched on through Forfar and Brechin to North Esk
bridge. On that bridge they were forced, weary and faint as they
were, to stand or crouch all that tempestuous and cold Saturday
night, the soldiers keeping strict guard at both ends. At four o'clock
on Sabbath morning (24th May) they resumed their march to Dun-
nottar, which they reached in the course of the day. This celebrated
fortress^ the stronghold of the great historic house of the Keiths, Earls
Marischal of Scotland, stands on the top of a rock four acres in ex-
tent, and 160 feet high, overhanging the sea, and separated from the
mainland by a deep but dry chasm. It lies about 15 miles south of
2 N
538 THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS.
Aberdeen. The ruins, for the castle was dismantled after the re-
bellion of 1715, are among the most extensive in Scotland, and the
prison vaults still remain as grim memorials of the almost incredible
atrocities that indelibly stain the horrible tyranny of the " killing
time." Here on that sad Sabbath the Covenanters were handed over to
the tender mercies of the governor. What a name of infamy that
governor — ^George Keith of Whiteridge,Sherifir-Depute of the Meams —
bears ! The age was fruitful in monsters of " horrid cruelty," and
among them all no one's claim to be the very elixir of inhumanity is
stronger than that of the governor of this Scottish Bastile. We
fancy we see this " master-fiend " exultingly superintending the thrust-
ing of 167 men and women into a dark dank dungeon or vault fifty-
four feet and three-fourths long by fifteen feet and a-half broad. The
floor was covered over with mud or mire ankle deep. There was but
one window looking out on the moaning pcean. There was not the
slightest provision made for the requirements of decency. "So
throng were they in it," says Wodrow (Hist. iv. 324), " that they
could not sit without leaning one upon another. They had not the
least accommodation for sitting, leaning, or lying, and they were
stifled for want of air." There they were, helpless, afflicted, tormented,
in a condition of wretchedness resembling, if not exceeding, *' the
horrors of the Black Hole of Calcutta or of the dungeons of Naples "
in the generations to be. In the words of Sir Walter Scott : *^ Here
the prisoners were without distinction packed into a large dungeon.
They were neither allowed bedding nor provisions, except what they
bought, and were treated by their keepers with the utmost rigour.
The walls of this place, still called the Whigs' Vault, bear token to
the severities inflicted on those unhappy persons. There are in par-
ticular a number of apertures cut in the wall about a man's height,
and it was the custom, when such was the jailor's pleasure, that any
prisoner who was accounted refractory, should be obliged to stand up
with his arms extended and his fingers secured by wedges in the
crevices I have described. It appears that some of these apertures
or crevices which are lower than the others, have been intended for
women and even for children. In this cruel confinement, many died,
and some were deprived of the use of their limbs by rheumatism
nnd other diseases."
A row of hooks ran along the roof, and tradition asserts that re-
fractory prisoners were suspended from them by the wrists, while a
stool full of iron spikes was placed beneath their feet, so that they
had the alternative either of this painful suspension, or piercing their
feet should they have sought relief by placing them on the stool.
Bread and water were sold to them for their own money. The
country people around came in ofiering to sell victuals, but they were
sternly refused access, for the governor's brother had a monopoly of
the provision supply, and he charged exorbitant prices for " very in-
sufficient" food. Even in worshipping God the poor prisoners "were
sadly disturbed by the sentinels."
In the course of a few days the governor removed forty-two of the
sufferers to a dungeon below the vault fifteen and one-fourth feet by
THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS. 539
eight and three-fourths feet Here there was no window at all, only
a small aperture in the wall close to the floor. So stifling was the
atmosphere that the sickened inmates used to lie down on the floor
by turns to breathe the fresh air rushing in at this opening. Mr.
John Fraser was one of the separated party. When lying thus on
his face imbibing the fresh air, '' he contracted a violent cold and
dysentery." A troublesome cough clung to him in consequence all
his days. Others similarly suflered, and it is a wonder that any of
them survived such barbarous treatment.
Undoubted evidence of the dismal condition of the sufferers is
supplied by the following Act of the Privy Council. It refers to a
petition sent to the Council by the wives of two of the prisoners : —
'* Aneut a petition presented by Grizel Cairns and Alison Johnston on
behalf of Mr. William McMillan, and Robert Young, wright in Edin-
burgh, their husbands, and the rest of the prisoners in the Castle of
Dunnottar, showing that the petitioners' said husbands who are under
sentence with many others, having been sent prisoners to the said
Castle, they are in a most lamentable condition, there being a hundred
and ten of them in one vault where there is little or no daylight at
all, and, contrary to all modesty, men and women promiscuously to-
gether, and forty-two were in another room in the same condition,
and no person allowed to come near them with meat or drink, but
such meat and drink as scarce any rational creature can live upon,
and yet at extraordinary rates, being twenty pennies each pint of ale,
which is not worth a plack the pint, and the peck of sandy, dusty
meal is aflbrded them at eighteen shillings the peck, and not so much
as a drink of water allowed to be carried to them, whereby they are
not only in a starving condition, but must inevitably incur a plague
or other fearful diseases, without the Council provide a speedy re-
medy ; and therefore humbly supplicating that warrant might be
granted to the effect under- written. The Lords of His Majesty's
Privy Council, having heard and considered the foresaid petition,
do hereby continue that part of the desire for liberty till they con-
sider further of the petitioners' cause ; but in the meantime give
order and waiTant to the deputy-governor of the Castle of Dunnottar,
to suffer an \ permit meat and drink and other necessaries to be
brought in to the petitioners by their friends or servants at the
ordinary easy rates, aud to allow the said Mr. William McMillan and
Robert Young a distinct room from the rest ; and in regard of the
heat of the season of the year, that all the prisoners may be so ac-
cotnmodated without throng that their health be endangered as little
as possible." Good reason had Grizel Cairns to complain. Her
husband, a native of Galloway, had been licensed to preach in 1663,
and his life ever since had been one of unspeakable hardships. But
the CounciFs decision "enraged the governor exceedingly." It
seenacd an utterly uncalled-for interference with his own and his
brother's vested rights in inhumanity and extortion. He actually
tried by threats and promises to induce the prisoners to sign a de-
claration, " that they were gently treated and wanted not conveni-
ences," and he was exasperated at their peremptory refusal. The Act
540 THE RELIGION OF TIJE HIGHIJINDS.
seems to have remained a dead letter, but the governor's wife inter-
posed. We saw in a former paper how Fraser of Brae had been de-
livered from imminent death by the kindly mediation of the wife of
the governor of Blackness. Now Keith's *' lady came in to see the
prisoners in the two vaults, and prevailed with her husband to make
them a little more easy." The women, forty-eight in number, were
removed from the large vault and had two separate rooms assigned
them, while twelve of the inmates of the lower dungeon were allowed
a less dismal place of confinement. Still they had all much misery
to encounter. The vault was becoming daily increasingly loathsomo.
Only think of nearly a hundred human beings of high respectability,
moving up and down for three months in that pestilential den, with
the floor from the first covered with inches of mire — " mire," as one
writes, " soon supplanted and displaced — horrible to relate — ^by their
own excrements." No wonder that some of the strongest tried to
escape. Twenty-five of them one night succeeded in forcing their
way through the window overhanging the sea. They crept along the
face of the precipice at the utmost hazard of their lives. Two of
them lost their footing and fell over. The rest might have succeeded
in making their escape but for some women at work in the washing-
house who noticed the movement and gave the alarm forthwith to
the guard. Eight eluded their pursuers, but fifteen, weakened by
the severity of their confinement, were unable to run far and were ap-
prehended. One of the captured has left us a vivid description of
his own and companions' treatment. They were thrust into the
guard house. Bound to forms and laid on their backs on the floor,
they were " most dreadfully tormented." A fiery match was placed
between each finger of both hands, while six soldiers kept the
matches burning for three whole hours by the governor's ordei*8.
Some had their fingers burnt until the very bones were reduced to
ashes, and some died under this torture, A tombstone in the neigh-
bouring churchyard of Dunnottar marks the spot where the dust of
some of these martyrs rests in peace. The inscription is as follows : —
" Here lie John Stot, James Aitchison, James Russell, and William
Brown, and one whose name we have not gotten ; and two women
whose names also we know not ; and two who perished coming down
the rock, one whose name was James Watson, the other not known,
who all died prisoners in Dunnottar Castle, Anno 1685, for their ad-
herence to the work of God and Scotland's Covenanted work of Re-
formation. Rev. 11th chapter, 12th verse."
Several accounts of the hardships endured by the prisoners are
preserved among the Wodrow MSS. To the narrative of John Fraser
Wodrow in his history repeatedly expresses his indebtedness. These
accounts were all written when the imprisonment was over. Oue
letter written in the Castle survives, and is full of interest. It was
sent by Janet Linton to her husband, and the few sentences we quote
show that God heard " the groanings of the prisoners." It is dated
17th July 1685 ; " My dear and loving husband — ^These are to show
you that I have had the fever since I heard from you which hjia
weakened my body very much, but I have been strengthened from my
THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS. 54 1
Master who has failed nothing of His promise to me ; for He told me
that His grace should be sufficient for me, and that His strength
should be made perfect in my weakness. My dear heart, bless the
Lord on my behalf that ever it should have pleased such a holy God
to have looked on such an unworthy sinner as I am, or to have
honoured the like of me to suffer anything for His name's sake, or
bear His cross in a day when there is so few longing to wear His
livery ; and He has kept me from denying His name before a godless
generation that is fitting fast for destruction, when He has suffered
many that spent their time better nor I did to fall : But it is free
mercy ; and 0, my dear heart, if I could speak to the commendation
of free mercy ! for the Lord hath made all things easy to me, and He
ha:s been so kind to my soul sometimes since I came to prison that I
counted all things nothing in comparison with Him ; and He has
made me so to rejoice in Him that I have thought I was beyond
doubts in my condition ; but it is free mercy indeed, for I have no-
thing of mine own ; but I desire to believe in my kind Master, that
has begun anything of grace in my heart, that He will also finish it."
She then goes on to mention a remark in a letter from her husband,
that he intended to come and see her if they were all banished. She
with good reason discourages his coming. She knew too well that
some sympathising relatives who had come to see other prisoners
had been iniquitously seized, and confined without form of trial with
the rest in the prison vaults. She urges him to encourage himself in
the Lord, taking His word for his support in affliction. " I entreat
you further to close work in spearing the cause why the Lord is con-
tending so sharply with His poor people, in giving the dearly beloved
of His soul to the hands of our enemies : but we have no reason to
complain, for if He had given us what we deserved, our portion had
been in hell. And that is my comfort that our stock is in His hand,
and He will let our enemies do nothing, but what I hope will be for
His own glory and His people's good. Now, my dear, ye are dear in-
deed unto me, but not so dear as Christ." Then she urges him to
make cheerful surrender of everything for Christ, and to care not for
shame and reproach incurred in the path of duty. She hears some
in his district are getting the gospel, and adds, " I entreat you to
follow the gospel, my dear, and be valiant for the truth on earth, and
prepare for death and judgment, and neglect not heart work. Now
my dear, I can say no more for your encouragement, but leave you and
my children to the Lord's protection and guiding, and believe He
will be father and mother to you according to His promise." After
Bending loving regards to a number of friends and relatives, and
mentioning that " James Aitchison is won to glory," she concludes :
*' Farewell to you, it may be in time but not in eternity. I rest your
loving wife, Janet Linton."
The letter is a remarkable illustration of calm endurance of wrong
for Christ's sake. Tom from her husband and children for the crime
of non-conformity y immured for two months in a comfortless vault
with the prospect of banishment, she writes not a syllable that can
be construed into murmtiring. How terrible was the tyranny imder
542 THE MISSION FIELD.
which Scotland groaned when for multitudes of the heroic spirit uf
Janet Linton there was no place found but a prison cell ! Whether
we have to-day any cause for gratitude to those leaders in Church
and State, that are doing all they can to bring about a condition of
things in which the atrocities of the " killing time " may be repeated,
time will tell.
At this time the prisoners were cheered by a letter from the great
Alexander Peden, which was preserved by Patrick Walker, himself then
a prisoner in Dunnottar. Peden was at the time hunted upon the
mountains, but he was soon " to be with Richie," in the rest denied
him on earth. The letter is full of consolation, and concludes with
an earnest exhortation, " to keep under the shadow of God's wings,
and to cast the lap of Christ's cloak over your head until ye hear
Him say that the brunt of the battle is over and the shower is
slacked. . . . Keep within His doors until the violence of the storm,
which is not yet full tide, begin to ebb. Christ deals tenderly with
His young plants and waters them oft lest they go back. Be painful
and lose not life for the seeking. Grace, mercy, and peace be with
you."
By authority of the Privy Council the Earls Marischal and Kintore
came in the middle of July to examine the prisoners, but they found
them all united in their determination to refuse the oath of supre-
macy. Finding them so resolute, the Council ordered them all back
to Leith about the middle of August, with the view of banishing
them " to the plantations " as slaves. Thus the doors of the
dimgeons were opened and the return march began. It is easy to
picture the pitiable plight in which the weak and emaciated prisoners
were, and their unfitness for a journey of eighty-two miles. A few of
the most helpless were ^^ allowed horses upon their own charges."
Mr. John Fraser was very infirm and weak, but the commanding
ofi&cer of the escort would on no account allow him the benefit of a
hired horse. Like the rest, he bad his hands bound with coi^ls be-
hind his back. They were driven on mercilessly the first day to
Montrose Tolbooth. The following night was passed in Arbroath.
Then Dundee was reached. The following day was Sabbath, but it
brought them no rest, for they had to trudge on to Cupar. From
there they were conducted to Burntisland, and after being ferried
over the firth were closely confined in the Tolbooth of Leith.
Efje Mission jFieHi.
OUR FOREIGN MISSION.
As intimated two months ago, the Rev. David Finlayson left for
India in the middle of November, and after a pleasant and pros-
perous voyage he reached Bombay on the 12th December, feeling
deeply grateful to God for conducting him in safety across the mighty
deep. Kind friends, to whom Mr. Blakely had written, gave him a
THE MISSION FIELD 543
cordial welcome to the shores of India, and greatly cheered him by
the friendly services they rendered, when all around him seemed so
strange. After spending a short time in the crowded city of Bombay,
Mr. Fiulayson set out by rail for Nagpur, and was there cordially
welcomed and hospitably entertained by the Rev. Mr. Whitton of
the Free Church, who has shown such an interest in our Mission
agents in years bygone. As for the rest of the journey, and the
reception he met with on reaching Seoni, we must allow Mr. Fiulay-
son to describe it himself. Writing to the Convener on the 30th
December he says :
" Jnst a few words to let you know that I have arrived in Seoni. I left
Nagpur on Monday, the 23rd December, at 9.35 A.M., reaching Kampti at
10.20 A.X. At Kampti Station I met two of the Seoni boys just going away
to spend their holidays. After bidding them good-bye, I stepped into the
tonga and hurried on to Seoni. At 6 p.m. we reached a place called Deolapar,
famous for tigers, where we put up for the night. At 6 next morning we
resumed our journey. When about 1 1 miles from Seoni we met one of the
Orphanage boys, Andrew Thompson. At 5 o'clock I entered the bungalow at
Seoni and received a most cordial welcome from Mr. and Mrs. Blakely. All
in the Compound were disappointed that I had arrived so soon. They were
just on the eve of coming out to meet me. They never for a moment imagined
that I could come from Kampti in so short a time. I blamed the bullocks.
They were so good all the way ; and the driver, he was so energetic. Soon,
however, all the inmates of the Orphanage were brought to the bimgalow to
see the ** Naya Padri Sahib." First the boys and then the girls ; and a very
happy lot they are. Their faces that night were all beamiug with delight ;
and I think they have been beaming with delight ever since. Only I am
i^rry that my boxes have not arrived at the time of my writing. I expect
them every minute. On the evening after my arrival we had a Tamasha. Mrs.
Blakely invited all the professing native Christians to tea, and really it was a
most enjoyable evening One or two of them could speak English, and of course
that was just the kind of people I needed in the circumstances. After tea all
the boys and girls in the Orphanage were brought over to the bungalow and
we had a magic lantern performance. And really it was good. The children, I am
8ure, enjoyed themselves; and so did the others. It is now a long time since I
enjoyed myself so thoroughly. It made me almost think I was at home again.
On Sabbath morning I preached in the 0. S. Mission House. In the afternoon
we had our Y. M.C. A. meeting and the vernacular service in the church. About
7 we had all the children together at the bungalow singing hymns. Most
melodious voices they have. It was most exhilarating to hear some of our
best hymns sung in Hindustani. I think they are even prettier in Hindustani
than in English. This afternoon I accompanied the Catechist, Mr. Blakely,
and some of the boys to the market-place. The boys began singing and soon
a great company gathered round us. The Catechist then spoke to the people
very earnestly. Once he was interrupted by a young fellow who said that
I'rod was the author of sin. The Catechist silenced him at once. To-morrow
the children are to have a picnic. I will give you more details next letter."
Mrs. Blakely has sent a very iuteresting letter regarding the enter-
tainment provided for the children, and we give it in full, believing
544 "^HE MISSION FIELD.
that it will greatly please both old and young. The letter is dated
14th January.
*' I thought the people at home might like to know how we spent our festive
season here. On the evening of the 24th December, we had the excitement of
Mr. Finlayson's arrival. He came much earlier than we expected, so there
were very few oat to meet him.
'*In the evening, all the children came over to see the new "Sahib." On the
morning of the 25th, the teachers and many of the scholars were at the bunga-
low early to welcome him. I am sure the people at home would be much
amused to see this queer ceremony. The visitors are all drawn up in a line,
and, when you appear, they immediately bend forward, touching their fore-
heads with their hands. This is called ** making salaams." After a little
conversation, you tell them they may go,— again they all "salaam," and the
ceremony is over.
" In the early morning, we put into envelopes a card for each child in the
Compound — kindly sent by Mrs. Dobbs. There was great delight at the open-
ing of them, some of our girls held them in their hands as if loth to break the
seal. Then, Midge and Kariman each received a large rag doll, also from Mn.
Dobbs. Miss Mavor sent me six dressed wax dolls. I gave one to Maggie
Hobart, and Pusi, and the rest to some of the little girls in the Ckirapouud.
In the afternoon, all the children received sugar cane and sweetmeats— this
treat was given by Miss Mindies, Jubulpur.
"In the evening, all the grown-up Christians met in the bungalow, and my
husband aud I entertained them to tea. I wish I could describe to you the
scene in the drawing-room after tea. The women in bright red, dark blue, and
white saris, seated on the floor, and eagerly looking at photos ; the men
gathered round a table, trying their skill with American puzzles. It was
quite amusing how they gradually lost their shyness, and ere long we soon had
them laughing and talking quite at their ease. Afterwards, we sang some
hymns, and about eight o'clock the children were called, and we had a magic
lantern exhibition. The jokes and remarks passed by the children reminded
me much of a children's entertainment at home. We closed by singing the
Hundredth Psalm, and so ended a very happy evening.
" I think I hear some of the people say it was not much of a treat to the
children — but wait a little. We took all the children out into the country on
" Hogmanay." About five o'clock in the morning, we were wakened by the
voices of the children — some of whom were up shortly after four o'clock. At
eight o'clock the cart arrived, drawn by two camels, and I can tell you the
children were not long in packing themselves into it. You must understand
this strange vehicle has two compartments. The girls were all packed into the
lower one, iind the boys into the upper, — tlie matron and the catechist
following in a ** tonga," to keep their eye on the children. We were delayeil
a little, and when we made up on them we found the whole party at a stand,
not knowing what to do. The cook had made a mistake, and gone to the
wrong place. We soon found him, and the only inconvenience was a delay in
getting breakfast. The children did not seem to mind, for the momentM'e arrived
at the place chosen tliey were all at play. It was a lovely spot, about 4^ miles
from Seoni. We encamped under the shade of a large mangoe tree, and were
surrounded by four little wooded hills. I fear the children at home would not
hfl\-e enjoyed the breakfast muph, but our children made it disappear. The
afternoon was spent in games, and exploring the hills. The girls especially
PAGES FOR THE YOUNG. 54i
did enjoy themselves. It seemed happiness enough to them just to get walking
aboat in perfect freedom. I took tliem all up to the top of one of the small
hills, and was much amused at their astonishment when they saw the view
before them. I showed them Seoni in the distance, and they were surprised —
I suppose they thought they were many miles from home. In the heat of the day
we all gathered under the tree, and sang hymns. At four o'clock we had tea ;
and after that, we all gathered again and sang some hymns, to the great delight
of some of the villagers, who had come to see us. Afterwards, we all got into
our respective vehicles, and took our way home. The children made the whole
road ring with * Heep ! Heep ! Hoorrah ! * their attempt at 'Hip ! Hip !
Hurrah ! ! ' The children were quite tired when they got home."
It has been arranged to hold Missionary Meetings at the following
pliices : — Kilwinning, on Monday 3rd March ; PoUokshaws, on
Tuesday 25th March ; and Aberdeen, on Monday 7th April. The
deputies from the Foreign Mission Committee and other ministers
will deliver addresses on the great work given the Church to do in
the foreign field ; and it is hoped that the people in these places will
show by their attendance the continued interest they take in our
own Mission and in the evangelization of the heathen in different
parts of the world. May the Holy Spirit arouse us all to do more
than ever for the spread of the Gospel and the rescue of the perishing
both in India and in other lands.
^tiQtB for the 3ioung.
BIBLE QUESTIONS.
It is pleasing to find that this page of the Mwjazine is enlisting the interest of
the young folks throughout the Church. A nice letter with the Edinburgh
postmark and signed by ** One who pities the Children," reached me in the
beginning of the year, saying a great many kind things ahout this department
of our work. I would have liked to have given the letter as it came, but the
limited space at my disposal compels me to content myself with a few extracts.
He writes that " creditable endeavours have all along been made in this
Magazine to interest the young. But I would like you to know that nothing
I have ever seen has interested them like this. The appearance of the paper
is now an event looked forward to, and I am persuaded that some, at least, of
onr young people read other portions of it more than they were wont to do. "
Coining, as it eWdently does from a home, tliis testimony is cheering, and
gives us encouragement to go on. He has a great many good advices
to you, urging you to take advantage of this means of increasing
their acquaintance with the Bible, and to prepare yourselves for your life-
work here, and the eternity that lies beyond. He is afraid lest the evil
mfloence of silly story-books with false views of life and duty, should lead
you astray, and wants you to take the Bible as a *' lamp to your feet and a
light to your path." He wants you to exercise diligence and promptitude in
ans^'ering the questions, so that there may be all the more time to examine
them. I am sure that we are all glad to hear such a kind voice, and will bo
encouraged by it in the prosecution of our work.
546 PAGES FOR THE YOUNG.
The three classes have large attendances this month, and the answers, I
think, are exceptionally good. Some want to join ns from the United States
of America, and when I mention it, I see your countenances beaming with a
joyous welcome, and readily agreeing to excuse them should they be a little
late. They have such a long road to come. They have gone away there
recently, but their heart is still in dear old Scotland, and they would like to
join you in your studies. '* Mizpah " takes his place among those under teu,
and '* Try again " among those under 13. One scholar was present iu
January, who by some mistake did not receive his attendance mark, *' Mount
Zion," Ayr, but the mistake has been rectified.
The little ones have all given coiTectly an account of the children beiug
brought to Jesus that He might put His hands upon them and bless them. We
give the account furnished by ** Try," Kirkcaldy.
** The mothers that brought their children to Jesus must have been good
mothers, when they wanted Jesus to put His hands on them and pray for
them. The disciples were surely feared they would make a noise, or they
would not have told their mothers to take them away. But Jesus loves all
little cliildren, and was angry at his disciples for sending them away, and
said, * Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such
is the Kingdom of God. Then He took them in His arms and blessed them.' "
** Verily I say unto you. Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as
a little child shall in no wise enter therein."
Correct answers have been received from America, " Mizpah " ; Aberdeen,
"Purity," "A. D."; Ayr, "Mayflower," "Onward," "Blythe," " Gowan,"
** Zoar " ; Coupar-Angus, •* Rosebud," " Den " ; Dundee, " Lily " ; Edinburgh,
" Love," " Youth " ; Kilwinning, " Byres," "Apple-blossom " ; KirkintiUoch.
" G. L."; Midlem, "Beginner"; Paisley, "Ada"; Perth, "Rose "; Stranraer,
"Blessedness," "Truth," " WiUiam " ; Thurso, ** Peaceful," "LeUy."
The story of Daniel and his three companions is the subject taken up in the
middle class, and all the answers to the questions put are very satisfactory.
Those of " Standfast," Carnoustie, may be given as a sample.
1. Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon.
2. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. The King of Babylon told one of
his chief servants to choose some of the Jewish captives who were well-favoured,
and had good abilities for the King's service. He was to have them fed and
taught the learning and tongue of the Chaldees for three years. Daniel and
these other three were chosen among others for this purpose, and seem to have
been trained together.
3. In Daniel i. 17 we read that, " As for these children God gave them
knowledge and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all dreams and
visions."
4. Some of the meats would be unclean and not to be eaten, in accordance with
the Jewish law, which Daniel was resolved not to break. Then he may hare
disliked to eat food on which the blessing of idols had been asked, or which
had been sacrificed to idols, which was likely the case with the food offei*e<l
him. Another reason may have been, he believed wine and rich meats to have
a tendency to injure health and shorten life.
5. "Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to
obey God rather than men." (Acts v. 29.)
If the verse is wished from Daniel there is one where the three Hebrew
youths say to the King, " We will not serve thy Gods nor worship the goUkn
image which thou hiist set up " (iii, 18).
PAGES FOR THE YOUNG. 547
Tlie membersof this class are— America, **Try Again"; Al)erdeen, *' Honores,"
" Mabel " ; Ayr, " Snowdrop," " BluebeU" ; Balloch, ** BerU " ; Birsay, " The
Lord hath need of him"; Coupar- Angus, "Gowan"; Dundee, "Lahore ec
honore " ; Hamilton, " Hope" ; Kilwinning, " E16v^," ** April-flower " ; Kirk-
caldy, " ijidus " ; Midlem, ••Endeavour " ; Perth, " Mizpah," " Ozias " ; Stran-
raer, ''Fear Not," ••Obedience," *' Marion"; Thurso, ••Res Secundae,"
'• Snowdrop." There are some absentees this month, but also new faces we
are glad to see.
The subject in the senior class was doctrinal, and had reference to the rela-
tion of man as sinful to the law of God. Instead of giving any one set of
answers, we will give you the various texts that have been adduced as furnish-
ing answers to the various questions. The papers all show careful study.
The first question referred to our obligation to obey God's law perfectly, and
these are the main passages addressed to support this doctrine : — James i. 25;
ii. 10; Deut. vi. 5; Galatians iii. 10; Luke x. 27; Deut. xxvii. 26; Matthew xxii. 27;
Leviticus xix. 37. The second alludes to our disinclination to obey God's
law, and among the texts brought for^'ard are these : — Matthew xv. 19 ;
Romans i. 28 ; viii. 7 ; Job xxi. 14 ; Psalms Ixxxi. 11 ; xiv. 3 ; John v. 40 ;
Jeremiah vi. 16 ; xviii. 12 ; Genesis vi. 5 ; Ecclesiastes vii. 29 ; Isaiah liil. 6.
The third teaches us our iuability in our sinful state to meet the requirements
of God's law, and these are the main proof texts mentioned: — Romans iii. 10 ;
viL 15 ; viii. 7. 8 ; fk^lesiaates vii. 20 ; 1 Corinthians ii. 14 ; James iii. 8 ;
Joshua xxiv. 19. The perfection of Christ's obedience in our stead is the
matter dealt with in the 4th question, and a great maoy passages in which
this is exhibited are found in the answers. Matthew v. 17 ; 1 Peter ii. 21-23 ,
Hebrews iv. 15 ; Philippians iL 8 ; John viii. 29 ; xv. 10 ; xvii. 4 ;
Romans v. 19 ; Isaiah xlii. 21. The last question pointed to one individual
who fancied that he had kept the law but had not. All here, with one excep-
tion, give the case of the rich young ruler mentioned in the Gospels, who said
when the precepts of the law were repeated to him, ••All these have I kept
from my youth up." ••Abrasa Tabula," Toberdoney, gives the case of the
Apobtle Paul, who, when a Jewish zealot, thought that he was doing God's
service.
The members of this class this month — are, Aberdeen, ^'Sapere Aude" ;
Ayr, "Cyrus," ••Mount Zion," ••SpeedweU"; Birsay, ••Hinder me,"
••Ever True," '•The Mornmg Cometh"; Carluke, ••A Schokr," •'Ivy,'*
•• Apple," '• Peace " ; Dundee, •• Unity," *• Verity," •• No Cross, No Crown " ;
Edinburgh, ••Simplicity," ••L'61^ve"; Glasgow- Mains' Street, ••Grace,"
••Hope," ••Try Again"; Hamilton, •'Old Light": Kirkcaldy, ••Signitier.'
••Flos"; Midlem, "Hold On," ••Faithfuhiess"; Olrig, ••Pansy"; Perth,
••IchDfen," "Hope"; PoUokshaws, ''A. B. C"; Shottsburn, *«Try";
••Patience"; Stranraer, •• Jehovah-Nissi," ••Sincerity," •• James," '•• Guillot."
The following are the Questions for April. Answers to be addressed O.S.
Magazine, the Rev. R. Morton, 23 James Street, Perth.
Under 10.
1. How were Adam and Eve to use the garden of Eden ?
2. What command did Grod give them about their conduct there ?
3. What reward were they to get if they kept God's command ?
4. What punishment if they did not obey ?
5. Tell how they broke the command.
548 LITERATURE.
UXDER 13.
1. How were Daniel and his friends rewarded by God for refusing to eat the
meat from the king's table ?
2. When the king threatened to kill all the wise men for not knowing his
dream, where did Daniel get help ?
3. Tell what the dream was that Nebuchadnezzar could not remember.
4. Read Daniel ii. 46, and give any other examples yon remember of men
falling down to worship Grod's servants.
5. In verse 49, we read that Daniel " sat in the gate." Name other places
where the same expression is used, and, if you can, tell what is meant by it.
Above 13.
1. Where is Jesus said to be " The Life " ?
2. Write a passage showing that those who do not believe in Him are
dead.
3. Give examples of His restoring the dead to life.
4. Prove that though He died He now lives.
o. Write two verses— one to show that Jesus will ever live, and one proving
that those who believe in Him will never die.
The genial minister of May bole spent a month or two in India the winter
before last, and he has given an account of his tour in an interesting
little volume : " What 1 saw of India and its People " by the Rev.
K. Lawson. (Paisley : J. & K. Parlane.) He writes with a graphic pen
and conveys in a most pleasing fashion a great deal of information
both about the voyage to India, the country itself, and its inhabitants,
its products, its animals and its customs, the effects of British nile,
and the present condition and future prospects of the great
missionary enterprise. He tells us these interesting things about the
children :
** The children as a rule are very polite. They never gaze at strangers as
our boys would do, and never dream of mocking them. The common saluta*
tion of the girls is Namooihka and of the boys S*laam — both signifying (}ood
Morning or Qood-bye as the case may be. A missionary remarked to me that
ouecould go through India with two Hindustanee words : — Acha very good, and
JaUf be off with you,
Hindoo pupils are remarkably smart at arithmetic and writing ; but very
backward at geography and English. They have very little general know-
ledge ; and as their English is all book-English it generally abounds in big
words, which they don't fully know the meaning of. As an amusing Ulustratioo
I quote part of an application from a Hindoo student for a post in a mer-
chant's office — * Finding now no other alternative, I most humbly approach
you with this poor petition, for an appointment yielding sufficient to support
me and the large family which Providence has vtry injtuUcioudy entrusted to
my care.*"
In speaking about the future of India, Mr. Lawson expresses the
opinion that Britain cannot hold it very long. The country is too
LITERATURE. 549
great and the population too immense. If the people were capable
of self-government, he thinks that we ought to retire at once, but
this is far from being the case. They are no more fit for self-govern-
ment at the present time than a nation of children. The benefits
conferred upon the people by British Rule have been incalculable.
The results of mission operations were disappointing to him. He
expected to see larger congregations of native Christians, and a
broader stamp of Christianity on the public mind. It is his con-
viction, gained from a study of matters on the spot, that we have
somehow got on the wrong track for the conversion of India, and
that the churches should spend less of their strength on higher
education.
The volume is adorned with a goodly number of beautiful and
helpful illustrations.
Beautiful externally and internally is this little book which con-
tains an admirable translation of a German biography of Luther's
wife : — "Katherina Von Bora." From the German of Armin Stein.
Translated by M. P. (Paisley : J. <k R. Parlane). It reads like a
romance, as it is written after the style of one, and a more stimulat-
ing book could not be put in the hand of a maiden standing at the
threshold of life.
The interpretation of the Pauline phrase " baptised for the dead/'
1 Cor. XV. 29, has been often discussed. Mr. R. A. Mncfie, F.RS.R,
in an able pamphlet, (James Nisbet & Co., Bernoi*s Street, London)
argues that it means consecration to the service of men who shall die,
and not taking the place of those who are dead. The Expository
Times (Edinburgh : T. & T. Clark) is a monthly periodical dealing
with Biblical exposition, and aims at beiug helpful to the pulpit, the
home, and the Sabbath school. The number for February contains a
great variety of excellent articles. The Sahhath School Mafjazine con-
tinues its useful course, a prominent feature in each number being
very helpful notes on the Scripture lessons of the Glasgow Union's
Scheme for Sabbath Schools. The Scottish Weekly is a new paper
that stands by the '* old paths " in theology. It is the organ specially
of those in the Free Church who oppose the down-grade movement in
doctrine of which Dr. Dods and Dr. Bruce are the leading represen-
tatives. It has made a good start and deserves success. There is need
for such an organ, for they who have to contend against modem mis-
chievous tendencies in the fields of theology and the Christian life,
have the press, to a lamentably large extent, ranged against them.
This new venture wisely does not confine itself to theological or
ecclesiastical matters, but contains interesting articles on scientific,
social, and historical subjects.
55© ECCLESIASTICAL INTELLIGENCE.
(Ecclestaeticdl Intelligenre.
Carluke, — A missionary meeting was held here on the evening of Thnnday
16th January, and was well attended. The Rev. Thomas Hobart, M. A., was in
the chair, and spoke on the interest Seceders had all along taken in mission
work in other lands, and the obligation resting upon all the Lord's people to
diffuse Gospel blessings all over the earth. The Convener of the Foreign
Mission Committee made a statement concerning tlie present position of our
Mission in India, giving interesting details regarding the agents, the schools,
the orphanage and the finances. A resolution expressing satisfaction with the
work presently carried on, and pledging the meeting to continued aasistaoce
in carrying it on, was moved by the Rev. John Stnrrock, seconded by Mr. John
Symington, elder, and cordially agreed to. Another resolution bearing on the
arrival of Mr. Finlayson at Seoni, was moved by the Rev. J. M'Kay,
Bridgeton, seconded by the Rev. J. Young, pastor-elect of Midlem, and was
awarded a hearty acceptance. Mr. Robert Findlater, elder, moved, and Mr. A.
Brown, elder, seconded, that a very hearty vote of thanks be given to those who
had addressed them on the important subject of missions, and this was wamily
responded to. Camouatif.. — The annual social meeting of the congregation and
Sabbath school was held on the evenins; of Friday, 31st January. There was
a large meeting under the presidency of the pastor, the Rev. J. Patrick. Mr.
J. J. Anderson gave a most encouraging report regarding the congregational
finances. Addresses were delivered by the Rev. A. Stirling and Meftsrs, J. Mat
thew, Arbroath, and by J. Laird, Kilmarnock. Gla8goto,Bridgeton.— The annnal
social meeting of the congregation was held on the evening of Friday the 20th
December. The Rev. J. M'Kay, pastor, presided over a large attendance. Mr.
J. Robertson, Congregational Treasurer, and Mr. A. Pollock, who has charge of
the feu-fund, presented satisfactory reports. Addresses, all bearing on topics
of present day interest, and of an instructive character, were delivered by the
Chairman, the Rev. E. Crordon, Messrs W. Peterkin, John Allan, and James
Conn. The following Sabbath was the Anniversary. The Rev. T. Hobart,
M.A., preached three edifying discourses, the audiences in the afternoon and
evening being large, and the collection pleasingly liberaL — ^The annual social
meeting of the people attending the mission meetings was held on the evening
of Saturday 4th January. There was an attendance of about 50, and the pastor,
being unavoidably absent, the chair was occupied by Mr. John Allan. Excel-
lent addresses were given by the Chairman and Mr. James Conn. PcUsUy.—
Mr. Parlane's Bible classes were entertained by him to tea in the hall of the
Liberal Club, on the evening of Friday, 7th February. There was a very large
attendance, and Mr. Parlane occupied the chair. Most stimulating addresses
were delivered by the Chairman, the Rev. E. Ritchie, the Rev. J. Sturrw-k.
Edinburgh, Mr. David Begg, and Mr. R. Stewart, S.S.C., Glasgow. Mr.
Ritchie in his address stated that Mr. Parlane had been engaged in
this good work for 20 years, and that as a fruit of his labours, there had been,
during the last three years, thirty brought into connection with the church
as members, and thirteen as adherents. — The annual social meeting of the
Sabbath school was held on Friday, 10th January, under the presidency of the
Rev. E. Ritchie. There wsis a large attendance, and highly instructive
addresses were delivered by the Chairman, Mr. J. Taylor, M.A., Mr. J.
Parlane, and Mr. D. Begg, jun. As in former years, Mr. Begg gave a large
number of prizes for regular attendance. PoUokshawA. — The annual
social meeting of the Sabbath school was hehl on the evening of Thursday,
OBITUARIES. 551
26th December, and was nnmeronsly attended. The chair was occupied by
the Rev. W. B. Gardiner. Handsome Bibles were given to Robert Cameron,
Andrew Bivertie, and James Sproiil for assistance rendered to the school
during the year, as assistant secretaries and librarian. 212 Bibles and Testa-
ments were presented to the scholars for attendance, good behaviour, and
proficiency in the class-work, and a large number of New Year books were
distribnted among the younger children. Brief and telling addresses were
delivered by the Chairman, the Rev. E. Ritchie, and Mr. Bullock, Partick. —
The usual annual meeting of the congregation was held on Tuesday evening,
28th January. The Rev. W. B. Gardiner presided, and, after tea, reviewed
the work in which he had been engaged during the year 1889, giving some
statistics which indicated satisfactory progress in the various departments of
pastoral labours. Deeply interesting reports were submitted by Mr. A.
iVacfarlane, on financial matters; by Mr. Duncan Currie,on the Sabbath School;
by Mr. Matthew Livingston, jun., on the Young Men's Sabbath Morning
Fellowship Association ; by Mr. John Kyle on the Literary Society ; and by
Mr. J. Jm Algie, on the Band of Hope. Addresses of a stimulating kind were
delivered by the Rev. T. Hobart, M.A., Carluke ; Rev. A. Stirling, Arbroath ;
the Rev. A. J. Yuill, Glasgow ; Mr. James Young, Preacher of the Gospel, and
Mr. John Laird, Kilmarnock. Toberdojuy. — The ai^nual social meeting here
was held on Friday, 7th February. The pastor, the Rev. D. Matthew, B.D.,
preiiided, and, after the tea-tables were cleared away, addresses were delivered
by the Chairman, the Rev. W. MacGill, B.A., the Rev. J. Ramsey, LL.D.,
the Rev. E. White, Dromore, and the Rev. J. Moody, B. A. , Boardmills. The
church, as usual, was crowded on the occasion.
©6ituaries.
Mr. Avdrkw Akderson, Rowan Cottage, Barry, senior elder in Carnoustie
congregation, departed this life on the 20th Dec. last. Mr. Anderson was one
of our few remaining pre-disruption elders, and had reached the ripe age of
eighty-one years. He was bom quite near to where he died, and where he
lived for the greater part of his earthly sojourn. Like Obadiah, he " feared
the Lord from his youth," and "feared the Lord greatly." His piety was
simple and unassuming, but it was deep, fervent and practicaL Strict in his
religious views, he was all through life warmly attached to the principles and
modes of worship of the Secession Church. When the Carnoustie congrega-
tion joined the Free Church in 1852, Mr. Anderson felt it his duty to withdraw
from it, though holding its minister, Mr. Meek, in high personal esteem. He
was one of a small minority in the congregation adliering to the Synod who
endeavoured in the law courts, though in the end unsuccessfully, to retain
the church property for the Secession cause. For some twenty-three years after-
wards, Mr. Anderson worshipped in Dundee or Arbroath — each being some
8^ miles distant from his residence — travelling to and from either of those
congregations on the Sabbath. When the Carnoustie congregation returned
to the Synod, some 14 years ago, Mr. Anderson was unanimously requested to
resume his office as an elder, to which request he acceded. Owing to the in
creasing infirmities of old age, he has been able to worship with the congrega-
tion only a very few times since their present pastor was inducted, who, how-
ever, visited him frequently, and had much pleasant intercourse with him.
Though shut out for the most part from public ordinances, he manifested a
deep interest in the welfare of the congregation and of the Secession Church.
552 .OBITUARIES-
Mr. Anderson leaves one married daughter in Tasmania, and one son and tvo
daughters at home, who are attached members of the Carnoustie congregation.
May they enjoy the consolations of the Gospel under their bereavement, and
may a double portion of all that was excellent in the spirit of their departed
father rest upon them. As one after another of our old and tried office-
bearers is being removed, may the God of our fathers rabe up others who
shall worthily fill the place of those who have gone to their rest and reward
• » *
Died, at Aberdeen, on Wednesday, 18th December, 1889, Mr. Charles Jnss.
aged 78 years, and on Sabbath 22nd December, Mr. John Joss, his eldest son,
aged 43.
Mr. Joss, sen., was the first baptized in the old church, Skene Terrace,
under the pastorate of the Rev. John Aitkeo, and in the year 1811. Having
lived a godly and consistent life, he' was well-known and much esteemed among
a large circle of friends and acquaintances, both within and without the con-
gregation. It is not too much to say that by his death Aberdeen has been
deprived of one of its best citizens. But it is in his own family and in the con-
gregation and session that his removal will be most keenly felt. Having been
so long an elder, and for many years session-clerk, he rendered invalnable
service by his stedfastness, sound judgment, and straightforwardness, and by
the lively interest he took in all the affairs of the congregation and of the 0.8.
Church, as M'ell in the Church at large.
He met his last illness with great composure and no cloud overcast his soul.
When very near his latter end, and with the shadow of death on his eyelids, he
heard the minister's voice at the door inquiring for him, and made a sign to
bring him in. Having engaged in prayer, it was said to him before leaving,
** You know that the Good Shepherd says of all His sheep * I give unto them
eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall any one pluck them ont
of my hand.' " He gathered up strength to say almost with his dying brenth
" All my hope is in Him.'' During the first week of his illness his eldest »>n
most assiduously attended to him, but the son was then seized with er^'sipvlas
and soon became unconscious and never rallied. He was a member and mana-
ger of the congregation.
It was a solemn and touching sight when four days after the father's funeral,
the grave was re-opened and the son's coffin placed above his father's. May the
Father of the fatherless comfort those that mourn, and care for them, and raise
up others to occupy the place of those removed by death ; for have we not reason
to say " Help, Lord, for the godly man ceascth, for the faithful fail from among
the children of men." « ♦ »
Death has been very busy of late, not only in the houses of our elders, but in
the houses of our ministers. It is not long since our esteemed brother in Edin-
burgh had his house darkened by the loss of her who so worthily there filled
the place of wife and mother. And now Professor Aitken of Glasgow has been
called to pass through a similar trial, and to mourn the loss of her who has in
every sense been his helper for so many years. The ** honourable women " of the
Church were noticed by the Apostle, and their death brings a great loss. There
is mystery in their removal in the midst of their usefulness, but behind the
mystery we know that there is Love. The Great Head of the Church, in whom
are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, ever doeth all things well.
May His sweet sustaining consolations abound to those who have thus been
called upon to mourn.
THE
ORIGINAL SECESSION MAGAZINE.
MAY, 1890.
READINGS IN FIRST SAMUEL.
By H. K. Wood ("A Glasgow Merchant ").
CHAPTERS II. — IV. — SIN AND SORROW.
In the days of the great British Admiral, Nelson, it was the custom
of the French and Spanish commanders, when fighting at sea, to
phvce riflemen in the rigging of their ships of war, in order to shoot
down the officers of our navy. Never was a battle decided by such
paltry fighting; but occasionally some prominent leader was laid
prostrate, and our sailors were thereby for a time somewhat harassed
and confused.
The tactics of the leader of the hosts of darkness have always been
of this kind. Satan aims his temptations much at the office-bearers
of Grod's house. If he can lead them by misconduct to dishonour
their Master and their calling, great is his triumph, and that of those
who take his side in the world. Do we not continually observe the
delight with which wicked men relish the open transgressions of
prominent followers of Christ 1 They hail such falls as a victory,
and take encouragement from them in their godless ways. Such
lapses from virtue among the disciples of Jesus can never win for
Satan the final mastery ; but inasmuch as they distress God's people,
they gratify the malice of the wicked, and hinder the progress of the
Gospel. The faithful occupiers of any conspicuous position in the
Church of Christ ought therefore to pay very careful heed to Isaiah's
warning, " Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord."
Eli's sons, the acting high priests, were, however, utterly regardless
of the motto on the high priest's mitre, which declared him to be
** Holiness to the Lord." So far as intellect was concerned, they had
NO. Vlll. VOL. XIX. 2 O NEW SERIES.
554 READINGS IN FIRST SAMUEL.
no doubt a satisfactory acquaintance with the rules and regulatious
of Jewish worship ; but in heart they knew not the Lord. Never
had they realized His unspotted holiness, His awful hatred of sin, else
they had trembled to transgress* Never had they tasted His forgiv-
ing love, or they would have feared to lose the light of His countea-
ance. Profligate in heart and life, they used their position— the
most exalted in the nation — for the gratification of selfish greed, and
the indulgence of the lowest and vilest passions of fallen humanity.
Their father was not uninformed of their dreadful wickedness. Id
fact, it could not be hidden, so inonstrous had it become ; but io
place of the stem measures which the occasion demanded, Eli made
only a mild remonstrance. No heed paid they to his warnings or
entreaties, " because, or rather therefore, the Lord would slay them/'
What a contrast between Eli's sons and Samuel ; they going down
daily with increasing rapidity to perdition, he growing continually io
favour with God and man !
Piety in youth communicates to the character a grace and a charm
far surpassing all earthly personal adornment. When the love of
Christ fills the heart, and His Spirit indwelling enables us to follov
His footsteps, the beauty of the Lord is seen to be upon us, and our
lives become a standing testimony for the Master. Let me therefore
affectionately entreat you, my young readers, never to rest satisfied
with mere head knowledge of religion. Seek to be rooted and
grounded in the love that passeth knowledge. Yield yourselves en-
tirely to the Saviour. Delight yoilrselves in His unchanging friend-
ship. Commune continually with Him and your Father in heaven.
The closer your walk with God, the happier and the more useful will
your life on earth assuredly be.
Eli was not unwarned regsunding his sinful neglect in not punishing
at once the evil doing of his sons. A prophet, whose name is not
given, appeared before him, — reminded him of the distinguishing good-
ness of the Lord to his forefather Aaron and his descendants, — re-
buked him for honouring his sons above Jehovah, — and threatened,,
not only the slaying of Hophin and Phineas in one day, but the cut-
ting off of all old men from his &mily, and their deprivation of the
office of the priesthood.. This remonstrance had apparently no effect ;
at least it led to no action on the part of the Judge of Israel. Good
man as he was, his sinful indulgence of his children had so far stopped
his ears and hardened his nature, that the voice of God wakened him
not from his spiritual slumber.
After the visit of the nameless prophet, some months or perhaps
years elapsed. The cloud of glory no longer shone above the Mercy
Seat in the Holy of Holies ; and no answers came to inquirers for
READINGS IN FIRST SAMUEL. 555
direction from Heaven. In anger, Jehovah had hidden His face, and
refused to respond to priests who had so shamefully dishonoured His
Oracle and Himself.
Samiiel, it is believed, was now eleven or twelve years of age. Ho
ministered as Eli's servant before the Lord continually. The dwell?
ing of the aged High Priest was close beside the tabernacle, and
Samuel had his bed in an ante-chamber within call of his master.
Very early one morning, before the dawning of the day, the boy
heard his name distinctly pronounced. He answered, '* Here am I,"
and ran to his master's bedside. Eli had not called, and desired the
lad to lie down again. A second time came the voice, and with the
same result ; but when the call came for the third time, the old man
perceived that Jehovah must have been the speaker, and so he in-
structed Samuel how to respond should the voice be heard again.
For the fourth time, and now twice over, the lad's name was uttered.
Springing, we doubt not, to his knees, and looking up in an attitude
of adoring expectation, he answered, as he had been instructed,
"Speak, for Thy servant heareth." The voice did speak. It an-
nounced the speedy an 1 fearful judgment that was to fall on Eli's
house : — *' Behold, I will do a thing in Israel at which both the ears
of every one that heareth it shall tingle. In that day I will perform
against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house :
when I begin, I shall also make an end. For I have told him that I
wiU judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth ;
because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.
And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity
of ElVs house shall not be purged with sacriBco nor offering for
ever."
Repentance and refomation might have previously availed, but
the opportunity was past. Judgment was no longer to linger.
What God simply promises or threatens may, in altered circum-
stances, be changed. It is possible for us to sin away the blessings
He has promised. We may avert by timely turning the judgments
He has denounced ; but when the Lord swear Sy there cannot be any
alteration. To all His trusting, obedient children, He has sworn
that He will not be wroth with them, nor rebuke them ; and there-
fore though the mountains depart, His loving-kindness shall never be
removed. Woe, woe to those, however, who continue to resist the
Almighty ! To them He has sworn that " their iniquity shall not be
purged for ever."
Samuel attended to his duties at the tabernacle in the morning as
usual, but he had a burden on his mind. The message was so awful
that he could not utter it till compelled. He loved the old man on
5S6 READIKGS IN FIRST SAMUEL.
whom he waited, and many a silent tear, we may well believe^
dropped from his eves that day, as he went about his employment in
God's house. Eli, with all his failing faculties, could not but obserre
that something of serious import had been communicated to the lad,
and he insisted on its being told him without reserve. As was right,
Samuel kept nothing back. The message by the lips of the old
prophet had been little heeded ; but that sent through the youth
43truok home.
Marvellous, however, was the meek submission of the High Priest.
^' It is the Lord," he said ; let Him do what seemeth Him good."
Rather would he receive chastenings the most severe than be left
unvisited by his Father in heaven. Of a very humble, gentle,
loving nature, he seems to have feared God truly himself, and to
have taught his family what was right, besides giving them a good
example by his life. His grand error was in not applying correction
firmly. " Just as the twig is bent the tree's inclined " ; and if the
twig is wilful and rebellious^ it must be constrained to take the
proper course. " I thank my parents for having subdued my self-
will/' said a noble Christian. It was a happiness indeed ! Deter-
biined resolution may be required, but truest, deepest love for the
child will nerve the parent for the struggle.
" I could point you to a son," wrote Mr. Todd of Philadelphia, " who
cherishes the memory of his mother as something inexpressibly dear
and sacred. She was a widow, and he her only son. When a lad,
he said or did sometl)ing highly improper in the presence of his sister
and another young lady. His mother told him of his fault mildlj
•aud kindly, and requested him to make an apology to the girk
This he declined ; she insisted upon it, but he still refused. At her
request, he went with her up to his bedroom in the third stoiy.
Very coolly she took the key and locked him in, telling him that he
49hould neither see her face nor receive food till he submitted.
** The next day, she called at the door of the prisoner, * My son,
are you ready to comply with my request ? ' * No, mother,' was his
reply. The second day the same question was asked, and the same
answer received. On the third day she went to the door, and said,
* James, you think that, by holding out thus, your mother will yield
and come to your terms j but you do not know her. I am iu the path
of duty, aud 1 shall not yield till the timbers of this house decay
and fall, should I live so long.'
*^ That evening he would have sent a message to his mother, but he
had no messenger. On the fourth day he promised to do whatever
she required. On opening the door, her pale, sickly-looking boy
embraced her with tears, asked her pardon, and submitted to her
READINGS IN FIRST SAMUEL 557
requisition. He has since been seen to shed tears of gratitude over
that decision and faithfulness, and to assert, with the utmost^oonfid*
eace, that it was this firmness in his widowed mother which saved
him from irrevocable ruin."
Eli's nature was too soft for such resolute dealing as this. Had
he began early with his boys, and restrained them from evil courses
in their childhood, it is probable they would have been a pleasure to
hita ill their riper years. But when as his substitutes in the High
Priest's office, they were guilty of such flagrant sins and crimes, his
duty as Judge in Israel was to punish their iniquities without flinch*
ing or favour. As head of Church and State under God, he bad the
power of the keys and the power of the sword in his hand. It was
his bounden duty, whatever his tender human heart might say, to
strip them of their robes, to drive them out of the TabernaclCi and
perhaps even to have them put to death. A mild remonstrance was
altogether inadequate to meet the case. God's honoiur, and the
purity of His worship, and the very maintenance of religion in tho
land were concerned ; and therefore, at whatever cost to Eli's natural
feelings, the abominations of Hophni and Phiuehas should have been
stopped at once by the punishment of the evil-doers. The old judge
sinned grievously in neglecting his magistratic responsibility. Since
the earthly sword smote not the traugressors, the sword of Divine
justice must fall on all Eli's house. Thus saith the Lord, ''Them
that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be
lightly esteemed."
From the time when the sentence upon Eli and his family was
announced to Samuel, the Lord continued to reveal His will through
Mis youthful servant What the young Levite uttered, as a message
from Heaven, was found to be always fulfilled ; and thus from north
to south over the land of Canaan, every one knew that again the
Lord had appeared in Shiloh, and that Samuel was His prophet.
Ere long war was declared between the Philistines and Israel, and
in the first battle the Israelites were defeated, no doubt because of
the sins which prevailed among them. Then a new idea arose.
They sent for the Ark of the Covenant to be brought from the
Tabernacle, fancying that its presence in the midst of their army
would ensure a victory. Hophni and Phinehas and their associated
priests brought down the Ark at once. Its appearance in the camp,
with its covering all of blue, was the occasion of great rejoicing.
*'A11 Israel shouted with a great shout so that the earth rang
again."
Their foes were quite as superstitious as themselves. When they
learned what had occasioned the shouts of joy in the opposing army.
55^ READINGS IN FIRST SAMUEL.
they were afraid. ''God is come in the camp of Israel," said thev.
^' Woe unto us ! for there bath not been such a thing heretoforeL
Woe unto us ! who shall deliver us out of the hands of these mighty
gods f These are the gods that smote the Egyptians with all the
plagues in the wilderness. Be strong and quit yourselves like men, 0
ye Philistines, that ye be not servants to the Hebrews, as they have
been to you : quit yourselves like men, and fight."
The fate of Israel in the second encounter was the same as in the
first, notwithstanding the presence of the Ark. Thirty thousand
Hebrews were left dead on the field. Among the slain were H(^hni
and Phinehas ; and the Ark of God itself was seized and carried off in
triumph to Philistia.
Loud was the wail of the inhabitants of Shiloh when a sou of Ben-
jamin arrived with the dreadful intelligence. Poor old Eli was sitting
by the wayside waiting anxiously for news of the army, but especially
for tidings regarding the Ark. I fancy it had been taken away with-
out consulting him, and he was trembling for its safety. When the
long, loud cry of agony was heard among the people, he eagerly in-
quired the reason. Almost blind he was, and perhaps somewhat deaf,
for he was within two years of being a hundred. The soldier from
the camp was brought, and told him all — Israel utterly defeated — and
his two sons slain. Sad and hard to bear were these heavy tidings ;
but sadder far the news that the Ark of God was taken. The old
man could endure no more. In a swoon he fell backward from his
seat, and broke his neck by the fall. For forty years he had judged
Israel. A good man at heart he was, but how sad his end ! — ^simply
because he gave not God the glory that was due unto His name.
A scene even more painfully distressing followed in the house of
Phinehas. Though married to such a wicked man, his wife seems to
have been truly pious. When the tidings reached her she was over-
whelmed. Sudden sickness came upon her as she thought of her
people beaten in battle, herself now a widow, her kind old father-in-
law just dead, and above all the Ark of the Living God gone from
Israel ! The birth of a man-child, in other circumstances so cheering,
could not now revive her breaking heart. With her last breath she
said, " Call him Ichabod ; the glory is departed from Israel, for the
Ark of God is taken."
We think the Israelites were superstitious, but is there not plenty
of similar superstition still lingering in our Christian land 1 What
immense anxiety some parents display to have their dying babes
baptised, believing that the mere administration of the ordinance is
all that is required to secure the salvation of their infants !
What a haste, too, when grown people are almost at the last gasp.
READINGS m FIRST SAMUEL. 559
to get a minister, or an elder, or some godly person to offer up a
prayer at the bedside, as if that by itself could save ! And people
apeak of the earnest supplication of some pious man beside a death-
bed^—of the dead being sensible to the last, — and of the placidity of a
corpse's countenance, as if these gave assurance of the departed's
safety, and supplied solid grounds of comfort !
Christ only can 8AV& Prayer by the holiest man on earth cannot
save a dying sinner. The Redeemer may, in answer to it, enable the
departing soul to look to Himself, and thus bestow eternal life. But
without an actual yielding to Christ, or truthful calling on His name,
no one that has come to years of understanding has any warrant to
«xpect salvation, nor have his friends ground to believe he has ob-
tained it, whatever prayers may be offered in his sick chamber or else-
where on his behalf. It is God's infallible and unchanging declara-
tion : ''He that belie veth on the Son hath everlasting life : and he
that believeth not the Son shall not see life ; but the wrath of God
abideth on him.'' (John iii. 36.)
What though a believer die unconscious, or in the raving delirium
of fever, all is well 1 Having accepted Christ as all his salvation while
he had his senses, he then '* passed from death unto life." There is
now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not
after the flesh but after the Spirit.
When the Lord called Samuel, he responded with the spirit of an
obedient child. Has not God called you often, my dear readers 1 and
how have you replied 1
His first call to every one is this : " Seek ye My face. Accept My
pardoning grace in Jesus, and be reconciled to Me. Give Me thine
heart." Have you listened to the voice of His love 1 Have you wel-
comed the offered kiss of peace ! If not, let me plead with you to
abide no longer afar off in alienation and disregard. Weary not out
the long-suffering of the Lord ; but fall into the arms of Everlast-
ing Love, still outstretched, and ready to embrace you.
The Lord's second call, which comes to every hearer and doer of the
first) is this : " Be ye holy, for I am holy. Ye are bought with a
price : therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which
sre God's. Ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the
Lord : walk as children of the light. My grace is sufficient for you :
for My strength is made perfect in weakness."
May we be warned and encouraged by these gracious precepts and
promises to cleave with purpose of heart unto the Lord, and seek to
adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things. Whatever may
botide, we shall thus be in a position to appropriate the touching lines
of the late Sir James Simpson : —
S6o HEBREW PROPHECY*
** Oft 'mid ihlB world's ceaseless strife,
When flesh and spirit fail me,
I stop and think of another life.
Where ills can ne'er assail me, —
Where my wearied arm shall cease its fights
My heart shall cease its sorrow,
And this dark night change for the light
Of an everlasting morrow.
Then shall be mine through grace Divine,
A rest that knows no ending,
Which my soul's eye would fain discry,
Though still with clay 'tis blending ;
And, Saviour dear, while I tarry here
Where a Father's love has found me.
Oh ! let me feel through woe and weal,
Thy guardian arm around me."
HEBREW PHOPHECY.
By the Rev. A. Aitkbn, Tester.
I.
Our subject is one of considerable importance. Without an adequate
knowledge of it, indeed, it is impossible to understand aright Old
Testament Scripture or to appreciate sufficiently much of the signifi-
cance of the New. The number of works bearing on it is almost
legion. And much of the interest elicited is no doubt due to the
fact that we haYe here an extraordinary phenomenon lying at the
Yery basis of our religion. Hard subjects, too, have an attraction for
some minds, and perhaps this has not been without its influence.
Anyhow, the subject is one of extreme difficulty. There is consider-
able diversitj of opinion, in reference specially to the nature of
prophecy^ but likewise in reference to that almost innumerable
matter in which it is thickly encased as in a shell, but most of the
diversity can be accounted for by the position taken up on funda*
mental ground or views held ou the question of revelation itselfi.
And so here as elsewhere, the questions really at issue are those per-
taining to fundamentals — questions, t.^., as to whether Hebrew Prophecy
is to be accounted for on natural or supernatural principles, and if
supernatural, in what sense so 1 Hence the history of the subject is
gathered up in these very terms; strictly superuatural views pr&»
vailing largely up till about the middle of the 18th century, when thexB*
HEBREW PROPHECY. 56 1
was the recoil towards naturalism. Modem views partake much of the-
nature of a compromise — ^what we might call modified supematuralisrp,
according to which the immanent aspect of the supernatural receives
greater prominence than its transcendental, perhaps unduly.
The aim of the present paper will not be argumentative so much
as expository, though in the treatment of such a subject the former
element cannot be altogether excluded.
Our remarks will be arranged under the following heads : —
(1) The Conditions of Prophecy ; (2) Its Nature and Function ;
(3) Its Use or Apologetic Value.
I. The Conditions of Prophecy,
Much of the mystery that surrounds our subject arises when we
view it in connection with the pretentions to prophetic gifts which so
largely prevailed in those distant times, both within the borders of
Israel and beyond them. That is a phenomenon that faces any man
who thinks at all, and one can't help asking himself, — How is this to
be accounted for? or wherein lies the difference between Hebrew and
heathen prophecy, and what is the criterion that distinguishes the
former from false prophecy or mere soothsaying. These and other
points will be cleared up largely in the degree in which one is able to
grasp the question as to what are the conditions of prophecy.
(1) The first indispensable condition was Nearness to God on the
part of the communicating agent. Jeremiah and Amos and others of
the prophets describe themselves as God's peculiar intimates,
" Surely the Lord God," says one of these, " will do nothing, but He
revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets." They thus
claimed to live in the innermost circle of God's community, stand-
ing, it would seem, in something like the same relation to Jehovah as the
disciples afterwards did to Jesus. They waited on Him. They were
conscious of His overshadowing presence. How often the Psalmist
bursts into song as he thinks of the glorious privilege of dwelling in
the secret place of the Most High.
Of course the nearness was not physical but moral. And accord-
ingly, before Isaiah received his prophetic commission, it was neces-
sary that he should receive the cleansing of his lips. To get near to
God, so near as to see Him and hear Him, it was as indispensable
then as now that men have the pure heart. " Blessed are the pure in
heart, for they shall see God."
As emphasizing this truth, we find that while the priestly office was
hereditary, and the kingly largely so, the prophet owed his position
entirely to the fact of his personal relationship to the Most High
God himself. Apart from this they might live, as many so-called
prophets did, day hf day in the courts of the Temple^ and call
562 HEBREW PROPHECY.
themBelvea God's servants, but they were ^o more His prophets or
servants than the poor idolater hugging his/<!^M^
•It is just here that the prophets of Baal, soothsayers and false
prophets, branch off from the true Prophet Their connection with
Deity or the powers above, was physical, not moral. False prophets
made much of systems and institutions — soothsayers of an art^ while
prophets of Baal thought to secure the compassion and favour of
their god by a process of self-mutilation — hacking their bodies
wildly till the blood gushed out of their veins. See the scene on MouDt
Carmel, where Elijah puts them to the proof. What blind supersti-
tion ! If they bear a common name and claim common gifts, yet
what a difference between them and the Prophet of God — if like in
some points, yet really as distinct as the true coin from the counterfeit.
(2) Another Condition of Proplucy was that it was Heaven' i
message befittingly communicated. The true Prophets were tbe
mouth-piece of God — ^receiving His words and receiving them as &
commission, for the purpose of telling them out. What a treasure
of wisdom they were thus the means of communicating to the world !
It was the Lord's secret. Here these points require to be clearlj in-
dicated : — The Prophets were not mere telephones — if we maybe allowed
to use the expression — as is shown by. the marked individuality 0!
their respective messages. But while not passive in their relation to
Jehovah, neither were they altogether automatic — ^as is shown by the
fact that they regarded their message as distinct from their own re-
flections. And that is a characteristic feature, differentiating them
from Vedic poets and others. Tbey claimed for their message a
divine origin. And so they prefaced their utterances with " Thu^
saith the Lord " — words which Theodore Parker and others regard
as due to the fact that the prevalent Jewish feeling regarded everv
manifestation of religious and moral power as the direct gift of God-
but whence did they get their distinctive knowledge of God 1 — and
how does it happen that their consciousness of Divine inspiration is
entirely peculiar to themselves ?
And the claim made by these Prophets is perfectly consistent-^
consistent with the character of the truths made known to them,
truths showing a loftiness of conception, and an insight into human
want far beyond the age in which they lived — consistent, too, with
the character of the message proclaimed — for who were they, if un-
«ent, to proclaim in the manner they did. Divine mercy to sinners,
Divine forgiveness to the penitent — ^yea abundant mercy — plenteous
forgiveness — proclaiming all in God's name. And will not this claim
stand the severest test of all — the test of their conduct ? With what
burning eagerness, with what unwavering assurance, with what un-
HEBREW 1>ROPHKCY. 5^3
flinching courage, they delivered their message— delivering it at
times with their lives in their hands. Their feet were planted on
rock — their hearts were on flame — facts which cannot be adequately
accounted for save by supposing that they had a realising sense of a
Divine commission and the Divine presence.
Another point in this connection requiring to be noted bears on
the mode in which Heaven's message was communicated and re-
ceived—
That was a hefiuing mode. It was through the media of saintly
men and by appeals addressed to the intellectual and rational nature.
The cases of Balaam and the unnamed Prophet were exceptional —
designed, we think, to illustrate the truth that for the fulfilment of
His purposes God can, if need be, make the very stones cry out. The
rule was as stated, and as such it marks off Hebrew prophecy from
the oracular announcements of Greece and Rome by means of tinkling
cymbals or the flight of birds, and such like ; while it shows the
width of the breach subsisting between that on the one hand and
sooth-saying on the other. The former is Heaven's message com-
municated through the rational nature of saintly men, the latter is
the excited utterance of an excited imagination — not necessarily
untrue but undivine. J^t the same time, this frantic excitement was
not always dissociated froln the Hebrew Prophet. But the point to
be noted is that while that was so, it was not essential^ but only
rircuin$tanttal in his case, as is indicated by the fact that in the
greatest of the Prophets there was none of it. In the case of the
soothsayer or heathen prophet, the reverse holds. It was essential to
the value of his message that he should rave. Hence the connection
between mania and fidvrts — Greek «term for diviner — and the sacred
<awe with which maniacs are to this day regarded in the East.
Thomson in his "Land and Book'' says — *^ Moslems at the present day
r^ard these wild maniacs that run about the country with a peculiar
reverence, believing them to be inspired and peculiarly holy."
• II. The Nature and Function of PropJucy :
Prophecy we consider was primarily and essentially diddctic. It
was simply preaching — preaching suited to the need of the hour, but
preaching of the very highest order, under a Divine afflatus. As
illustrative of this you have the story of Ezekiel in the Valley of
Vision. He is directed to prophesy to the dry bones. There the
word can only mean — speak, preach, cry — " live, live." During the
latter days of the Jewish Commonwealth, we find that according to the
popular estimate a prophet was regarded as a man who came out
from the presence of God, as marked by the intense earnestness with
which he was fired, and the fluency and force touching heart and
S^4 HEBREW PROPHECY.
conscience with which he delivered his message. Hence yon have^
John the Baptist drawing immense crowds — popularly regarded as a
Prophet, and characterised by Jesus as the greatest of Prophets,
though there is least of prediction in his message.
We find that Prophecy took advantage of special occasions and
suited itself to the present need. Hence it was coloured by the
history of the times. Does some startling calamity overtake the
people ? The Prophet presently makes his appearance calling upon
all to repent and humble themselves — '' Bend your heart and not
your garments and turn to the Lord your God." Have thej
erroneous conceptions of Godi Do they identify Him with the
physical forces of the universe 1 or with the tribal gods of the heatliea
around ) They are made to understand that God is one — " Besides
me, there is none else " — m9ral and spiritual — " The Lord, the Lord
God merciful and gracious, etc., ete., — ^universal — " Look unto me ait
ends of the earth, etc." Are the people severing morality from re.
ligion or trying to compound for the sins of the heart by the sacnfiees
of the hands 1 " The sacrifices that are well pleasing to God." they are
again and again told, " are a broken heart and a contrite spirit"
The pictures of the times supplied by these Old Testament writings
are of the darkest description, but occupying the forefront of all yon
have, a man of God, faithfully and earnestly making known accordlDg
to the occasion the Divine will — his voice rising ever clear above
the confused clamour of the sunken multitude around — '* Turn je,
turn ye."
But though Prophecy was distinctively preaching^ it became at
times more, and had another element added to it, viz., Frediction.
The secret of the Lord as .regards the future, as well as the present,
was vouchsafed to those men according to the wisdom of Jehovah.
These are the points that here require to be emphasized, viz.,
Prophecy is not to be taken as co-ei tensive with Omniscience. The
Prophets foretold only what God revealed — that and no more — ail
else was as dark to them as to us ; while in some cases, at least, it
is probable that the message itself was not uuderstood, or only
imperfectly understood, by them. " Searching what, or what manner
of time, the spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, etc."
1 Peter i. 11. Nor was Prophecy synonymous in this respect with mere
prying into the future. The future was disclosed, not to gratify an
idle curiosity but to fulfil a moral aim or purpose.
And these disclosures were only occasionally vouchsafed, — otherwise
the foundations of faith would have been destroyed, and then chiefly
at the great critical junctures in the history of the nation. When the
darkness was deepest, the lamp of God's truth waa made to bura
HEBREW PROPHECY. 565
brightest — ^if so be the careless would be forewarned, the believing
reassured, and the wavering confirmed.
And this is just saying that history was the occasion of Predictive
Prophecy as of every other form — the occasion, not the measure.
While it had a local origin, it had a distant outlook. Hence Prophets
are described as toatchinen seated on their watohtovers, straining their
«yes ever forward that they might descry an approaching enemy or be
able to pre-announce events favourable or unfavourable still ahead.
And this they did repeatedly. Amos foretold the captivity and
return of Israel — ^Micab the fall of Samaria — Ezekiel of JeruWem —
Isaiah of Tyre — and Jeremiah the limits of the captivity. Of that
there can be no question or manner of doubt.
Naturalists have their own way of explaining the matter. They would
•eliminate the predictive element (properly called) from prophecy, and
would resolve what is of that nature into ordinary anticipation,
foreboding or foresight. What exceeded that is to be regarded as
Prophecy post eventum — after the event.
With reference to this theory we have to remark that if it made
matters as it claims to do, more simple or more intelligible —
even though occasionally it might jar on the feelings — there would be
no room for contention, it would have a preponderating weight on its
side that would bear down all opposition ere long. Its simplicity
would be a standing witness to its truth. But is this so ? Does it
account so fully and so simply for all the facts of the case % It seems
to us that as soon as we begin to apply this theory it breaks down.
If Prophecy, as is alleged, is the natural growth of the times, then we
have to ask, considering the condition of the then world, how are
we to account for the existence of the Prophets 1 How does it happen
that the Prophet maintained an uuwavering faith even when it
seemed that the Church was going to pieces 1 How does it happen
that the truths these men uttered were far in advance of their age — and
that the monotheistic creed which they taught lived through all, and
survived all, even though there was a strong and continuous popular
-current in the opposite direction. That has to be accounted for.
The retort is that, the Prophets were strong believers in the moral
order of the universe. They perceived by their own quick insight that
there is a "power in the world, not ourselves, making for righteousness"
and so they were able to announce with unerring certainty that it would
be well in the long run with the righteous, but in the long run it
would be ill with the wicked. Thus they became Prophets.
Now many utterances can be accounted for on that principle —
but cUl cannot. That is simply impossible. There are facts and
feataow which will not fit in with that theory — even on the most
566 THE NEW SCOTCH THEOLOGY.
generoas view of it. Does it account adequately for the accaracy;
for instance, by which Micah foretold utter destruction to Samaria
and to Judah chastisement only, and for the correct description he
^ve beforehand of the enemy as advancing to the gate of the city,
but never entering its walls 1 It seems to us that it does not ; and
that, further, if we are to believe that mere sagacity^ however great,
can account for the like and more, then we must be prepared to
believe in miracles of nature — a greater miracle surely than the one
which the theory rejects. It is these features that simply preclude
the possibility of explaining Prophecy- on natural principles — viz., such
definiteness and such discrimination, where not only the distance of
time beforehand is great, but where especially the condition of the
parties forming the subject of Prophecy is such as to give it no colour
— ^these qualities do not belong to mere longings and anticipations, or
foresight and forebodings.
The "post eventum " suggestion is creditable to no party. It seems
to us that the very rivalry of the kingdoms, since the Disruption, and
of the various sects^ as well as the jealousy that subsisted between
the two classes of prophets — all that was a safeguard against the
very possibility of any thing like deception. Yet amid all this
diversity, rivalry and not seldom hostility, we are asked to believe
that there was unanimity the most perfect on one point, viz., in
practicing deceit, and that the unholy compact never once eked out,
though deceit as well as the other sins of the times came under the
full sweep of Prophets' detmnciation, and though, too, copies of these
Scriptures were reproduced in great numbers.
THOUGHTS ON THE NEW SCOTCH THEOLOGY.
NOTES OF A LECTURE BT THE REV. GEORGE ANDERSON, COUPAR-ANGU8.
II.
Having considered the treatment accorded by the expositors of the
New Scotch Theology to the Scriptures ; to our innate depravity and
native indisposition towards holiness ; and to the divine human
character of our Redeemer, we will now deal with their views of the
ATONEMENT OF CHRIST.
Atonement as an essential to salvation is now cold-shouldered as a
doctrine uncalled-for, cruel^ bloody, and barbarous. God, we are with
THE N£W SCOTCH THEOLOGY. 567
endless iteration told, is our Father in Heaven, and it were to wrong^
His tender heart and the unwearied patience of His love to speak of
interposing a bitter cross as a fancied stimulus to His forgiving
goodness. We, say multitudes, forgive our children their faults when
thej profess contrition and promise amendment, and shall the loving
God show Himself less appeasable than the creatures formed after
His likeness ) Our Saviour's sorrow unto death they esteem as but
a sublime expression of God's unfailing interest in us, His prodigal
children, and a touching bid for our return to the paths of filial
obedience. Others decline exclusive acceptance of either an objective
or a subjective theory of atonement, and accredit both theories with
the capability for producing good Christians. These positions we
explicitly contest, as an outrage at once upon the sanctities of
righteousness in God, and the sensibilities of conscience in ourselves.
God is undoubtedly our Father, but He is not the less our Moral
Governor. Eternal righteousness is the foundation of His throne and
the rule of His administration. Epitomised in " The Law of the Ten
Words " it has by our transgressions been violated and must be vindi-
cated. It were but further to insult its majesty to offer contrition
and amendment, as in any degree adequate towards its vindication.
For what is contrition 1 Is it not at most but a mournful admission,
that the charges of criminal misconduct made against us are sadly
well founded? Mournful admissions of guilt can never avail to
absolve from guilt. And so with amendment. Is not amendment
invariably incomplete ? Have not even the best of us too good reason
to confess that sin taints the essence of our every service ? Sinful
amendment, think of it what we may, will never expiate our sin or
ensure our acceptance as righteous. And, besides, even were amend-
ment complete, the future would be impotent to alter for us the facts
of the past. The law looking backward would still front us with the
demand, '* Pay me that thou owest," and we, able only to meet our
present obligations^ would abide in hopeless bankruptcy. Contrition
and amendment, however pungent and sincere, can never set us right
with a broken law whose all-pervading sentence runs, " The soul that
sinneth it shall die." And are not such loose sentiments equally in
conflict with the instincts of righteousness, as reigning in our own
moral intuitions and consciences ? Is it not an ineradicable convic-
tion of our nature that right and wrong continue irrevocable, that
justice and judgment endure for ever, and that no power on earth
or in Heaven can change the moral quality of our past conduct, or
reverse its retributive issues for weal or for woe. Are we not conscious,
painfully conscious, that, despite all our penitence and improvement,
what we have been dings to us in guilt and doom ? Yes ; wrong-
^68 THE NEW SCOTCH THEOLOGY.
doers, we know and feel that satisfaction mast be rendered to law
for our misdeeds, either in retribution on ourselves or in fair eqaiv&-
lent on another in our room. Such satisfaction the atonement of
Christ affords. Anticipating our fatal fall and pitiable need, Christ,
by voluntary arrangement with the Eternal Father, assumed the
character of representative man, and undertook to stand as Sponsor
for all entrusted to Him to redeem. He charged Himself with oar
responsibility as subjects under law and criminals under condemna-
tion. Discharging this twofold responsibility He loyally submitted
Himself to law both in its precept and its penalty. To secure oar
title to the law's rewards. He with humble literal exactness observed
all its requirements. To secure our exemption from the law's penal in-
flictions, He in holy sympathy with its spirit devoted Himself a sacrifice
to its curse. Bom to obey and die. He became obedient unto death,
bent upon the Cross His entire being to the rod of God, and became
our Saviour through becoming our sacrifice. He vicariously did the
will and endured the indignation of God the Supreme Ruler, and
vicariously earned thereby our emancipation from immortal miserj.
and our claim to everlasting blessedness. He was made sin for us ;
He was made a curse for us ; He died for our sins. He became instead
of us. His obedience instead of our obedience, and His sufferings in-
stead of the sorrow to which we were sentenced. He, in 'shorty dellT-
ered himself over to justice, and having been dealt with according to its
discretion, has furnished a moral basis for God's being just and yet the
Justifier of the ungodly. On no other principle are the passion
experiences of our Saviour explicable. If His last sufferings were
other than atonement for our transgressions, tlxey are ^n occasion for
direst terror and despair. They are an appalling testimony that not
even the purest goodness can secure us the strength and peace
which flow from the perpetual manifestation of God's presence and
favourable regard. They are an awful intimation, that the better we
learn to love and obey God the darker may grow the frown upon His
countenance, and the greater prove o^ur liability to suffer under the
incomprehensible mystery of His administration. They are a terrible
indication that, should we rise to perfect Christ-KK>nformity, that
moment, instead of reaching the summit of mortal felicity we might
touch the climax of mortal misery, and be agonised by anguish
inconceivable. No theory of mere moral influence will bear a
moment's inspection. The contemplation of our Saviour suffering so
much and suffering so meekly to no apparent purpose, instead of
drawing us into the walks of uprightness, would inevitably drive us
iurther away into the wilds of wickedness. It is not Christ suffering but
Christ suffering for us, which excites in us hatred of sin and love of
THE NEW SCOTCH THEOLOGY. 569
holiness. It is not in sentimental appeals to romantic manifestations
of unaccountable sufferings, but in pardon obtained through vicarious
obedience and blood-shedding, that we find the starting place and
impetus of the new and better life. This alternative theory breaks
down pitifully both as to saving and sanctifying ef&cacy, and despoils
the Gospel of its pith and marrow. How terribly do its advocates
expose themselves to the withering blight of the inspired anathema
launched by an apostle against all abettors of a gospel which is not
a gospel! Let nothing ever tempt us to slight or supersede the
sacrificial aspect of our Lord's life and death. Writhing under the
wrathful and righteous sentence of outraged law, and shrinking from
every method of emancipation which would ignore its claims or
suspend its operation, let us behold the Saviour by that life and
death procuring our free discharge and full justification in a manner
honouring to its supremacy and adequate to its utmost demands.
Nor let us deem our Lord's vicarious interposition as only one
expedient among other expedients, but let us hold it as the solitary
resource of misery, the one means by which we sinful and lost may
be accepted and reconciled and saved. Let us summarise our senti-
ments about His atonement in the words — '' Without shedding of
blood there is no remission." " We have redemption through His blood
the forgiveness of sins." " There is none other name under heaven
whereby we must be saved." Let us next touch upon their treat-
ment of the
f
RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.
Faith in Christ as the risen Son of God, which once was fresh and
Stirring, is now too often regarded as a thing of orthodox tradition,
rather than a thing of living experience. Too many make the creed
of their Christianity close with the words, " Jesus of Nazareth who
was crucified," and omit as of no account the addendum, " He is
risen." Held by the spell of a sense-bound materialism, they ridicule
the idea of our Lord's bodily resurrection as too utterly out of the
course of nature to admit of credence. Such conduct we are now
taught to treat as mere intellectual idiosyncrasy forming no insuper-
able bar to saintship. This teaching we decline as mistaken and
mischievous. If men cultivate idiosyncrasy to the detriment of faith,
we dare be no party to relieving them from the responsibilities and
consequences of unbelief. The knowledge which tempts to a rejec-
tion of our Lord's bodily resurrection is a misnomer. That rejection
rests upon a limited rather than an extended conception of the
course of nature. A thing may be out of the course of nature in
2 p
S70 THE NEW SCOTCH THEOLOGY.
one region, and according to the course of nature in another region.
The resurrection may be out of the course of nature in the material
world, and yet according to the course of nature in the spiritual j
world. The natural law of the spiritual world lies entirely beyond I
our cognisance. As day is a mystery to nighty as summer is a mys-
tery to winter, so heaven is a mystery to earth. Where no data
exists for decision, unbelieving dogmatism is utterly indefensible.
We depend for our knowledge in reference to our Lord's life from the
dead, not upon human philosophy, but. upon Divine revelation.
From that revelation we gather that the Lord at intervals for forty
days gladdened the hearts of His sorrow-stricken followers by iitful,
transient visits, until the fact of His resurrection became to them a
thing indubitable, a thing to die for. He met Mary Magdalene,
bemoaning Him lost beyond recall, called her by name, and drew
from her the appreciative recognition, '* Rabboni." He hailed some
other women of the disciple band, speeding from the empty sepul-
chre^ scarce for joy believing the blessed tidings there broken to
them by its celestial warders, and let them clasp His feet in raptur-
ous adoration. He linked Himself on the Emmaus highway to two
travellers, bewailing as they went their shattered Messianic hopes,
and took the lead in their conversation. By tone of voice, or
turn of thought, He touched in them some chord of hallowed
memory, and fired them with a spirit of strange expectancy. He
constrained them to constrain Him, and in breaking bread revealed
Himself as their Master alive beyond the grave. He visited the
apostolic company assembled in a close-ehut city chamber in fear of
violence from the infuriate multitude. Silently, like apparition
slowly sliding into lights He appeared and scintillated upon their
astonished vision. A nameless dread stole over their souls, and from
lip to lip they passed the whispered thought, " It is a spirit" He
allayed their alarm by uttering with thrill and tone unmistakable the
reassuring salutation, " Peace be unto you." He partook of food
before them, and made it clear that it was not a spirit but a body
which they saw. He pointed to the nail-prints in His hands, and
the spear-wound in His side, as tokens that it was not merely a body,
but a body the counterpart of that which was crucified. He bade
them handle Him, and thus to ocular demonstration add the demon-
stration of touch, that He was no unsubstantial shape, but substantial
as a thing of flesh and bones. He, eight days later, reproduced His
'< infallible proofs " in presence of Thomas, who, through absence,
missed His former demonstration. The effect upon the truant
apostle was irresistible. His unbelieving besetment was vanquished,
and in irrepressible conviction he cried : *' My Lozd and my God.'^
THE NEW SCOTCH THEOLOGY. 571
Disbanded, scattered, smitten into hopelessness by His death, all His
adherents were now confident in His restored presence. Not a mis-
giving lurked in any mind. Is it not less incredible that Christ
should have risen than that a company of witnesses so credible should
have been either deceivers or deceived ) The negative theories of
deception and hallucination have but to be pressed with the hard
front of positive evidence to be ignominiously driven away into the
dust-bin of exploded absurdities. The credulity of faith were cap-
tiousness itself beside the credulity of unbelief. Nor are the testi-
monies recorded the mere affidavits of unimpeachable witnesses^ they
are testimonies selected and sanctioned by inspiration of God. With
a force of evidence which, even unsupported, would have rendered
our Lord's resurrection one of the best authenticated facts in history,
they combine the confirmatory force of the true and faithful word of
the Lord from heaven. The event thus splendidly established we
must not treat as a meaningless formality. It is a transaction vital
to our very existence as saints, to our redemption from death and sin,
and our restoratibn to the favour and likeness of our Father God. A
substitute to be of service requires to be accepted by authority.
Life from the dead was the stipulated indication of Christ's accept-
ance. Still in the grasp of death He is nothing to us ; our guilt
remains uncancelled and our doom unreversed. We talk of our
Saviour's cross, and far be it from us that we should ever thrust it
into the background, or ever be ashamed of its shame ; we talk of our
Saviour's atoning death, and far be it from us that we should ever be-
little its significance, or treat it as in any way subordinate ; but surely
we would blunder grievously were we to forget for a moment that) apart
from the resurrection, the atonement is a nullity, and the hope we
found thereupon a delusion. Nor does the resurrection affect the
heavenward efficacy of our Saviour's death alone, it affects not less
really its earthward efficacy. We require not simply forgiveness of
sins, we require also renewing day by day. A dead attorney cannot
conduct our legal business or relieve us from legal complications ; a
dead physician cannot help us in sickness or pull us through the crisis
of a fever ; and, in like manner, a Christ alive once but crucified over
eighteen centuries ago, and dead ever since, can^ so far as present
power is concerned, avail us absolutely nothing. Without the resur-
rection the whole Gospel system would collapse as surely as would an
arch without its keystone. Such collapse we have seen we need not
seriously contemplate. The fact of our Lord's bodily resurrection
stands out upon the Book of God in unquestionable truth and uncon-
querable power. Let us not suppress by a single syllable^ or tone
down by a single tint, the all-important testimony. Let us lov-
S72 THE NEW SCOTCH THEOLOGY.
ingly urge that, worthy of all acceptation its wanton rejection must
debar, and does debar from present life and future blessedness. Let
us know and feel that a living Saviour, become what He is because
He once was crucified, can alone meet the exigencies of our condition
and character. Let us live and teach : " The Lord is risen indeei"
" If Christ be not raised your faith is vain, ye are yet in your sins."
" Christ is declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrec-
tion from the dead." This brings us lastly to notice their ignoring the
WORK OP THE HOLY SPIRIT.
It is customary to accord the Spirit a mere sleeping partner's place
in effectuating the scheme of our salvation. Many who frankly
confess the vital necessity of Christ's atoning work, fiercely deny the
vital necessity of His applying Spirit. Confessedly impotent to
work out a righteousness of their own, they yet imagine themselves
competent to appropriate the righteousness wrought out by another.
Simple contact with the Gospel, as' it bums upon the sacred page^ or
as it pours from the lips of minister or friend, they assume as the
solitary essential towards eliciting a faith which can accept of Christ
for pardon and hold to Christ for holiness. The assumption is
groundless and presumptuous. However clear may be the outward
revelation of the truth, and however perfect its outward appliances,
no saving effect can be thereby produced apart from the direct, effi-
cacious interposition of the Holy Spirit. The doctrines of grace
may be ever so fully and faithfully proclaimed, but apart from the
Spirit's personal influence upon the minds and hearts of those ad-
dressed, these doctrines can find therein no sympathetic reception.
The call to repent and be converted may be issued ever so tenderly
and persuasively, but apart from the Spirit's constraining power
those appealed to will continue utterly unable, because utterly
unwilling, to respond obediently. The light of the glory of God
gleaming in the Lord uplifted to draw all men unto Him, may be
flashed abroad ever so brightly and unrestrictedly ; but that light-
will remain unrecognised, and its attractive power will remain unfelt,
unless the Spirit come and operate in fulfilment of the Lord's own
promise, " He shall glorify Me, for He shall take of Mine and show
it unto you." In addition to a presentation of truth. from without,
an operation within is indispensable. There must be a dispelling of
the darkness of our carnal minds, a quickening of our languid and
unfaithful consciences, a transference of our affections from self and
sin to God and holiness, and a bringing of our rebellious wills into
captivity to Christ's obedience. It has been foimd so all down
i
THE NEW SCOTCH THEOLOGY. 573
through the ages. Prophets during the old economy unfolded the
conditions of acceptance and saintliness with a distinctness scarcely
since surpassed; yet one of the greatest among them was left in
bitterness of soul exclaiming, " Who hath believed our report."
Christy the very Messenger of the Covenant Himself, expounded its
articles with a fulness of knowledge, a force of authority, and a
winsomeness of manner, unpeered in any other preacher ; yet even
His inimitable teaching fell all too frequently upon sinful hearts as
a spark falls upon water only to be extinguished. Nor under the
dispensation inaugurated at Pentecost, which may be described as
peculiarly the dispensation of the Spirit, has the needfulness of His
heart-renewing energy become less imperative. Apostles instinct
with holy fervour and heavenly power summoned men to seek by
faith and repentance remission of sins. Their overtures of reconcilia-
tion were treated as idle tales, and, sad at heart, they were called to
weep over auditors who were enemies of the Cross of Christ. But
not invariably did they find their ministrations thus barren of
blessed results. There were times when the Spirit of divine life,
who breathed, and spoke in them, moved and worked effectually in
those whom they sought to win. Their loving words struck home,
and their loving hearts were gladdened by the knowledge of hardened,
suspicious and miserable reprobates advancing through gracious
relenting to unheard-of confidence and joy and peace. The heavenly
fire was present to penetrate, reduce, and inflame, and thousands at
a rush passed through the gate of conversion into the Kingdom of
God. So too has it often since been with labourers less illustrious.
For souls they have toiled and prayed, but found few to toil and
pray with them. Lukewarm brethren have questioned the purity of
their motives, and censured their intemperate zeal. The members
of their home circles have cautioned moderation, and hinted that
they were surely beside themselves. Those whose salvation they
sought with Bore travail have turned aside their counsels and appeals
with polite flattery or open rudeness. But after trying seasons of
' tearful sowing, they have sometimes been made to rejoice with the
joy of harvest. Their ardour of saving desire has become contagious.
Goad-like, the spirit of conviction has pricked the self-indulgent
hearts of some, and hammer-like shattered the sin-ridden souls of
others. Seized by a sudden access of earnestness, sensibilities dor-
mant but not dead have become responsive, and interested enquirers,
more or less numerous, been found in the valley of decision. And
to the testimonies of history and observation, those of us who have
yielded ourselves to the visi tings of this Divine Worker can add the
testimony of experience. Horror-stricken by the discovery of our
574 THE NEW SCOTCH THEOLOGY.
hopeless sinfulness, and trembling in prospect of eternal judgment,
we felt ourselves perishing.^ Desolate and forlorn, all refuge failed
us. With bitter cries and sobs of strong desire, we sought relief
from the haunting incubus of a harassing conscience, and a firm-
footing of confidence toward God. We knew the way of life through
self-surrender and trust in Jesus, but spite our strivings most sincere
and strenuous, we could not move a single st6p in its direction.
Reservation vitiated our self-surrender, doubt broke our trust, and
death, eternal death, seemed to encircle us in its awful embrace. Id
our extremity we were marvellously delivered. Suddenly, or more
gradually, every lurking trace of reservation vanished, self went
entirely out of the reckoniug, and we were in the hands of God,
willing to be accepted or rejected solely on the ground of what
Christ has done and suffered. Every lingering dread of non-accept-
ance disappeared, and we could recognise the counsel of our peace
ratified between the Father and the Son. What was all this but the
Spirit shooting rebuking light through our consciences, bowing us in
contrition, working in us faith, and making us consciously accepted
in the Beloved? Again, saved but not sanctified, we saw others
advancing in spirituality, while we continued carnal, sold under sin.
Linked, as it appeared indissolubly, to sin and death, we felt our-
selves the slaves of passions over which God gives His people victory.
Perplexed and disappointed we summoned all our resolution to be
religious. We bound ourselves by vows and prayers and tearful pro-
testations. To lend solemnity to our engagements we set down our
saintly resolves in writing, and swore by all that is sacred that thej
would be reverently implemented. Days passed over us, our pious
frames departed, our plans were broken through, and w^e found our-
selves naked and shorn and fallen. We dragged ourselves to fresh
dedications with prayers more fervent and resolutions more terribly
stringent. It was no use ; each introspection found us as hopelessly
as before upon the fateful slope of backsliding. Worn-out and weary
our eyes were wondrously opened to the falseness of our seeming
strength of good intentions, and we were inclined and enabled to take
Christ as absolutely for practical righteousness as we had formerly
taken Him for pardon and peace. Strong in the power of His might,
evil habits relaxed their hold upon our lives, evil desires died within
our hearts, holy duties became a delight unto our souls, and from a
condition in which sin overcame us, we were gradually lifted to a con-
dition in which we can and often do overcome sin. What was this
but the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus making us free from
the law of sin and death ; but our becoming like the Elder Brother,
children of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness.
THE NEW SCOTCH THEOLOGY. 575
Further illustration is needless. The gathered spiritual experieuces
of bygone centuries, and our own spiritual experiences assure
us that, as no man cometh unto the Father except by Christ,
so no man cometh unto Christ except by the Holy Spirit. They are
fatally infatuated, who, jealous 6f their dignity and proud of their
freedono, expect by endeavours self-derived or self-directed, to enter
into peace or perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord. Let us trem-
blingly flee the infatuation. Tempted to trench upon the Spirit's
sacred prerogative, let us wither the wicked suggestion with the
energetic rejoinder, " Get thee behind me, Satan." Found of God in
peace, let as register the conviction that, but for the Spirit's inter-
vention, we would have been as surely lost as if the Saviour had
never lived or died or risen triumphant from the tomb. Walking at
liberty, in the light of God's countenance, let us warn those sitting
in darkness, mastered and fettered by principles antagonistic to truth
and uprightness, that the Spirit alone can dispel their darkness, and
so link their life unto the life of Jesus, that in His strength they
shall withstand, and in His victory overcome. Taught by experience
let us add our deep amen unto the declarations : " Not by might nor
by power but by My Spirit saith the Lord." It is the Spirit that
quickeneth." ** We are sanctified, we are justified in the name of the
Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God."
There is no occasion for our following further the rationalistic
depreciation of doctrines which are dear to every devout heart, and
which have formed the bread of life for famishing generations. Its
undoing of those already dealt with in our review renders its de-
pletion of the sum of saving knowledge tolerably complete. How
important is it at a time like the present, when mistrust is all abroad
and the very citadel of truth is being assailed, that we should be
rooted and grounded in the great principles of our holy religion ! When
men who have walked in the truth for years are perplexed with difficulties
and sinking into despondency, what stand can we possibly expect to
make .if our convictions rest only on outward reasons ? Let us con-
strain the Lord to reveal Himself in us with such loving power that
we shall know the Scriptures, as His living word and our sword of
victory ; innate depravity, as the condition from which we have been
mercifully delivered ; Christ, as our divine human Redeemer raised to
dispense the benefits which He died to procure ; and the Holy Spirit
as the Quickener and Transformer of our hearts and lives. En-
trenched in such a fortress of intelligent trust, no shaft from infidel
adversary shall touch us to our hurt. We may have little earthly
learning, but we will be wise unto salvation. We will repulse every
disconcerting insinuation with the w^ords, " I know nothing of your
576 PAUU AND THE DIVINITY OF CHRIST.
alleged difficulties and contradictions ; I know the tmth and love the
truth ; it has filled my heart and rested my soul, and is nourishing
me up to life eternal" A thousand may fall at our side, ten thou-
sand dead may lie at our right hand, but we shall live and publish
for ever the praise of our God,
PAUL AND THE DIVINITY OF CHRIST.
The '' Theological Monthly " for January contains a clear, concise,
and scholarly exegetical article on Phillipians ii. 6-8, by the Rev. Dr.
Paton J. Gloag, Galashiels, Moderator of the Established Church
General Assembly. We gladly give the closing part of the article to
our readers, who, we are sure, will peruse it with pleasure and satis-
faction, in its relation to one of the most fundamental doctrines of
the Christian religion.
'* Stupendous as this mystery of the incarnation must ever be, the
mere statement of which confounds human reason, it is here un-
doubtedly asserted by PauL Nor is this the only passage where
Paul asserts his belief in the Divine-human nature of Christ. Other
statements equally direct are to be found throughout his Epistles.
' Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ
came, who is over all, God blessed for ever.' 'In him, that is Christ,
dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.' ' Without contro-
versy great is the mystery of Godliness : God was manifest in the
flesh.' Even although in the last passage the word ' €rod ' is Dot
supported by sufficient authority, and the reading should be as in
the Revised Version, ' Who was manifest in the flesh,' yet this makes
no material difierence, as the reference is undoubtedly to Christ, and
accordingly His manifestation in the flesh is reckoned as a mystery of
Godliness. But it is not merely from direct assertions such as these
that it is manifest that Paul believed in the divinity of Christ : this
as inseparably involved in his whole doctrine. We cannot read a
single epistle of his without seeing how reverently he bows the knee
to Jesus. He owns Him as his Lord, dedicates himself to His service,
declares his readiness to die for Him, addresses to Him his earnest
prayers, speaks of the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Christ, conjoins
Him with God the Father in his acts of worship, in all his epistles
invokes His grace to rest upon his converts, looks upon future happi-
ness as consisting in being with Him, asserts that He is the Creator
of the universe, announces that He shall come again as the Judge of
€he world, and pronounces a terrible curse upon those who refuse to
PAUL AND THE DIVINITY OF CHRIST. S77
bestow upon Him their supreme affection. Christ as much as God
the Father was the object of his devotion. Paul was not merely an
ardent admirer and zealous disciple, but a devout worshipper of
CShrist. He taught and acted upon the conviction that in Christ
Jesus dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
"Without the slightest doubt thousand beyond all question, Paul was
a believer in the divinity of Jesus Christ. We may question the truth
of his opinion, but we cannot question the fact that he held such an
opinion. This is the clear, unmistakable meaning of the passage
under consideration. The question presses itself upon us, Whence
did Paul acquire this opinioii 1 What suggested to him the marvel-
lous idea that the Author of the Christian religion was no mere man,
but God manifest in the flesh f What account can we give of this
belief I Paul did not derive it from Judaism. From Judaism he
derived his bitter hatred to Christianity ; and even after his conver-
sion and admission that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah of the
Jews, there was nothing in the opinions of the Jews at that period
that would lead him to regard the Messiah as a Divine Being : they
rather viewed Him as a mighty conqueror or superior legislator : a
second David or a second Moses, yet human. Nor did Paul derive
this doctrine from the Christians. He himself positively affirms that
he did not derive his views from the early apostles or from his fellow-
religionists : and indeed we find that immediately after his conver-
sion, and before he had the opportunity of being instructed in the
mysteries of the faith, he preached this very doctrine in the syna-
gogues of Damascus, ' Straightway he preached Christ in the syna-
gogu&8 that He is the Son of God.' But even if he did acquire
this doctrine from the Christians, yet this only removes the answer
to our inquiry a step further back ; for it may still be asked, what
induced the early Christians to believe that their Master, who was so
recently crucified on Calvary, was the Son of God 1 The only human
account which can be given of the origin of this opinion of Paul is to
affirm that he was a fanatic, and that, like many other converts, he
passed from one extreme to another — from the extreme of Judaism
to the extreme of Christianity, from regarding Christ as an impostor
to regarding Him as the Son of God. But whatever Paul was, he
was no fanatic ; intensely zealous, and awfully in earnest indeed ; but
his zeal and earnestness were ever under subordination to an acute
judgment, and he possessed a perfect mastery over himself ; his
conduct) his speeches, his discipline over his converts, the whole
tenor of his masterly Epistles, render the supposition of fanaticism on
the part of Paul a baseless delusion.
Whence then had Paul these views ? fThe only satisfactory answer
578 THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS.
that can be given is that which he himself gives, that he received
them from Divine revelation ; that God Himself communicated them
to him, " I certify to jou, brethren, that the gospel which was preached
of me is not after men. For 1 neither received it of man, neither was
I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ." And if this be so,
if this be the true solution, then we have a proof that the Divinity of
Christ constitutes part of the revelation of God.
We feel that we are leaving exegesis and trespassing into the field
of dogmatics ; but the Christology of the passage and the supreme
importance of the subject are our excuses. If the doctrine of Christ's
divinity constitutes a part of Divine revehttion, then it is our duty not
to dispute, or doubt, or cavil, but simply to believe. We must sub-
mit our understandings to the teachings of infinite Wisdom. No
authority whatever could cause us to believe what is contrary to our
reason, whereas information from a superior intelligence, specially if
that intelligence be Divine, will convince us of the truth of what is
above reason. Now the doctrine of the incarnation, though far above
reason, entirely out of its sphere, can never be proved to be contraiy
to reason. It is indeed an amazing mystery, but yet a mystery which
may be made known, and which God has been pleased to reveal
Nor is it so removed from human reason, but that traces of it may be
discerned in the speculation of men, however we may account for
them; incarnations of the Divinity frequently met with in the
religious systems of the heathen — ^faint administrations of the
glorious reality, and which seem to indicate that there is in human
nature a felt necessity that God should humble Himself to our
capacities, that He should empty Himself and take upon Himself the
form of a servant, and be found in fashion as a man."
THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS.
Bt a Highland Minister.
XV.
When Mr. John Eraser and the other Dunnottar prisoners were
brought back to Leitb, t^ie Privy Council came down to the Tolbooth
there to have the pleasure of the re-examination of the much-afflicted
remnant. They were offered the usual ensnaring oaths, which a few
accepted, and thereby secured their freedom. Others, brought to
death's door by the protracted severities of their confinement, '^ got
off upon a bond of compearance when called,'* at the intercession of
. THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS. 579
friends. The most part still retained their integi'ity, and were
sentenced to perpetual banishment to America — the men, probably,
to have one of their ears cut off by the hangman^ and the women to
be burnt on the cheek with a red-hot iron marked with certain
letters. Their transportation was entrusted to George Scot of
Pitlochie, who in the earlier years of the persecution had repeatedly
suffered imprisonment for the faith which now sat so easy on his
conscience, that he was eager to procure a cargo of Nonconformists,
and make much gain by their enforced labour in a plantation he was
anxious to found in New Jersey. Probably he thought that slavery
in America was preferable to pining away in over-crowded dungeons
in Scotland. Scot was unstable as the water over which he was to
sail. One who knew him well described him aptly as " a professor,
and nothing of vice or immorality known to him, but not deep drawn
in religion, and a very foolish and unwise man in any matters he
engaged in." In Wodrow (Hist. iv. 221), may be seen the names
of seventy-two of the Dunnottar prisoners under sentence of banish-
ment, of whom twenty-one were females. Along with them Scot
secured a considerable number of other Whig prisoners — men and
women. Emigrants too, there were, who paid for their passage, of
whom the most notable was Mr. Archibald Kiddell, son of Sir Walter
Kiddell, of Glen-Riddell, Dumfries. He had been one of the offici-
ating ministers at the great East Ni»bet Communion in 1677, which
so many thousands attended, at the jeopardy of their lives, on one of
the greatest '' days of the Son of Man " ever witnessed since Pente-
cost. Confined for four years in the Bass, he now desired the liberty
of an exile. He was joined at Leithby his wife and several relatives.
Many trials were before him, but he survived the Revolution, and
returned to Scotland to labour much in the Lord before his death as
minister of Edinburgh, in 1708. At this time vast numbers were
being transported to Jamaica, and " His Majesty's plantations.''
A great many, too, there were from Argyllshire, who firmly refused
compliance with the iniquitous conditions of the ^' Scotch managers,"
and preferred bonds and imprisonment to guilty consciences.
When Scot, under the vigilant eye of the authorities, had got the
banished on board the vessel he was in no hurry in weighing anchor.
He had to find sufficient caution for the transportation of each of
the prisoners on his lists, and become bound to return a certificate of
their landing, *' under the penalty of 500 merks for each one of them in
case of failure, mortality and pirates being always excepted." Twenty-
eight of the sufferers left a high-toned testimony behind them for
their friends, in behalf of those principles which they held dearer
than their lives : " That now being to leave their own native and
580 THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS.
Covenants land by an unjust sentence of banishment, for owning
the truth and holding by duty and studying to keep by their cove-
nant engagements and baptismal vows, whereby they stand obliged
to resist and testify against all that is contrary to the Word of God
and their Covenants ; and that their sentence of banishment ran
chiefly because they refused the oath of allegiance/' which, they go
on to say, they could not take as it involved a repudiation of Christ
as S^ng and Head of His Church, and over their consciences, and
putting in His room a sworn enemy to religion, an avowed Papist.
They then " leave their testimony against the evils of the times,
and for the preaching of the Gospel in the fields and houses."
After a fortnight's lingering in Leith roads, they set sail on the
5th September, 1685. For some days wind and weather were
favourable, but on passing Land's End *^ fever began to rage in the
ship, especially among those who had been in the great vault of
Dunnottar." What else could anyone have expected ? They were
ill some of them on coming on board, and they were aU in their
weakness and emaciation as predisposed to catch infection as they
were ready to succumb to fever. Then their food was terribly un-
suitable. The salted flesh provided for the prisoners had been giving
unmistakable evidence of decomposition before losing sight of Soot-
land, and soon it became un&t for dogs. In a month's time the
fever became malignant, and spread with fatal rapidity over all ou
board. On some days as many as three or four dead bodies were
thrown overboard. Most of the ship's crew except the captain and
boatswain died. Scot was attacked, and his dreams of gain vanished
with his expiring life. His wife, a most worthy lady, then suo-
oumbed to the virulent distemper. Amid all this fearful mortality
attempts were made to deprive the survivors of the consolations of
the Gospel. Probably the wicked in command of the vessel were
exasperated at the calm endurance of prisoners who could glorify
God living or dying. What mingled depravity and cruelty appear
in the following picture : " Much severity was used toward the
prisoners at sea by the master of the ship and others ; those under
deck were not allowed to go about worship by themselves, and ^hen
they essayed it, the captain would throw down great planks of timber
upon them to disturb them, by which some narrowly escaped with
their lives." The voyage was a long record of disasters. Several
times leaks, attended by great hazard, were sprung. Sometimes
the floating hospital was becalmed, and then suddenly struck by
severe gales. The heat at times was intense, so that the air of the
crowded cabins was almost suffocating. Then although Scot was no
more, he left his whole interest in the fatal emigration scheme to
THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS. 58 1
his son-in-law, one JohnstoD, who was heartless and ayaricious
enough for carrying out the bad business. To make the best
possible profit of the Covenanting -cargo, the captain and the new
owner were negotiating to take the vessel to Virginia or Jamaica,
where the labour market was better, with the intention of selling
the prisoners as slaves. But the cruel design was frustrated
by the wind, or rather by Him who controls the wind and waves.
The wind changing drove the ship straight into Sandy Hook, New
Jersey, the desired haven, on Sabbath morning the 13th December,
after a tedious voyage of fifteen weeks. For other three days the
afflicted passengers were detained on board. Johnston insisted on
their subscribing "a voluntary declaration,'' binding themselves to
serve him for four years. This, however, they not only firmly refused
to do, but '' a considerable number of them joined in a protestation
against their banishment, with a large narrative of the hardships
they endured during the voyage, and formerly, for conscience sake."
Failing to extort this agreement, and seeing that in their present
sickly condition the prisoners were useless for plantation purposes,
Johnston allowed all on board to land. Mr. John Hutchison, "a
worthy gentleman from the West of Scotland, died among their hands
as they were carrying him ashore." Mr. John Fraser, who records
this in his narrative, adds : " Partly of those who voluntarily offered
themselves to go abroad from the kingdom of Scotland, and partly of
those who were persecuted by banishment, upwards of sixty died at
sea, whose blood will be found in the skirts of their enemies as really
as if they had died at the Cross and Grass-market of Edinburgh.''
Poor was the welcome awaiting the survivors on landing. The
inhabitants of the coast had no sympathy with their sufferings, for
they knew not the truth. But farther inland there was a town
having a gospel ministry, and many kind Christian hearts. When
information reached them of the sufferings of the Scotch immigrants,
they not only invited all who could travel to come and share their
hospitality, but they sent horses a distance of sixteen miles to convey
those too sick and exhausted to walk. Well might the persecuted
witnesses, now brought back from the gates of death, with the vivid
memories of Dunnottar and the fever-smitten ship, regard the hospit-
ality of strangers as <* the doing of the Lord and marvellous in their
eyes."
But Johnston, their tormentor, was not to let them off for long.
He was quite pleased that they should be kindly treated and well
nourished during the winter, as their labour in the spring would
bring him so much money. So, in pursuance of his scheme of avarice,
he applied to the courts of law of the province to obtain a decreet for
582 THE RELIGION OF THE HIGUIJINDS.
four years' service, upoii the ground that the accused had been gifted
to his father-in-law by the Scottish government. Upon this they
were all imprisoned to prevent escape, and their trial came off in the
chief court of the province before the governor and a jury. After
hearing both sides of the case the sensible finding of the jury was —
'* That as the prisoners had not embarked of their own accord in the
ship that conveyed them to the province, and had made no bargain
with Scot for money or service, they should be forthwith discharged."
But apprehensive of further trouble from Johnston, most of the
prisoners left New Jersey and went to New £nglaud, a land qf gospel
light and liberty, " where they were kindly entertained, and employed
according to their several stations and capacities," until the Revolu-
tion afforded an opportunity to the most of them to return to their
Fatherland.
In was in New England that John Fraser was licensed to preach
the gospel, and his faithful labours were crowned with remarkable
success. In the town of Waterbury, Hartford, his preaching was
blessed to twelve persons, whose names he wrote down in his note-
book, and '* whom God, by means of the Word preached, had trans-
lated from darkness to light, and brought to the saving knowledge of
Jesus Christ." Here, in 1686, "he married Miss Jean MofiBat,
daughter of a worthy family in Tweeddale, who had suffered sor«
persecution for non-conformity. Her father had paid at sundry times
a thousand merks of fine, on account of her absenting from the parish
church and frequenting field conventicles." The wife was every way
worthy of the husband. She had been his companion in tribulation
during the previous year of multiplied trials over land and sea. She
bore the Dunnottar horrors with unflinching fortitude. She signed
the testimony when the fever-ship was in Leith roads. She survived
the manifold perils of the voyage, and was a sharer of the common
deliverance from the hands of Scot and Johnston.
" Mr. Fraser and spouie continued in New England till they heard
of King WiHiam's accession to the throne. Then they returned to
Scotland, and Mr. Fraser was settled minister of Glencorse in the
Presbytery of Dalkeith, Mr. David Walker, minister of Temple, pre-
siding on the occasion." There was at that time of building up the
waste places a great scarcity of Gaelic-speaking ministers in the
North, and the Assembly nominated Fraser as a member of deputa-
tions sent several times to the Highlands. Upon the death of their
curate, Mr. Walter Ross, the people of Alness gave a cordial call to
Mr. Fraser to be their minister, and Sir John Munro of Fowlis (of
famous Covenanting memory) joined them in their application before
the southern courts of the Church. Their suit was for a time unsno-
I»
THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS. 583
cessful, and the heritors of Glencorse, in their desire to retain Fraser,
built him a new church.
The call to Alness was renewed^in the following year, and an appeal
taken to the Assembly. On the evening before the sitting of that
Assembly (1696) the last seat in the new church of Glencorse was
being finished. A careless carpenter neglected the snuff of a candle,
and the building was speedily in flames. The efforts to extinguish
the fire proving ineffectual, Mr. Fraser said to his wife : " This will
not do^ I must use the little remaining Gaelic I have, it seems, and
go and preach Christ in my native district. The Alness appeal was
sustained by the Assembly, and Fraser was inducted on the 19th
November, 1696.
We may glance for a moment at the state of Ross-shire at the time
of Mr.xFraser's settlement in Alness. In most parishes the old Epis-
copal incumbents had continued in possession of the churches and
manses, and they refused to conform to Presbyterianism. The teach-
ing of the people did not give them much concern, and their views of
Sabbath observance, if we may judge from the favourite diversions en-
gaged in each Lord's Day, would have delighted our modern most ad-
vanced Presbyterian desecrators. Fraser's presence was very greatly
needed.. The three old Presbyteries of Tain, Chanonry, and Dingwall
were for some years imited into one — ^larger in extent than the present
Synod of Ross. Yet the members were very few in number. Here and
there were survivors of the killing times. In Rilteam, the friend of
Thomas Hog, Mr. William Stuart, was settled. In Cromarty Mr.
Hugh Anderson was yet alive, and his son ministered in Rosemarkie.
A glance at the old Presbytery Records will show with what earnest-
ness, devotedness, and zeal, the handful of Presbyterian ministers
laboured. Fraser was foremost in every good word and work. In
1709, he was appointed by the Synod to write a letter to Hugh
Rose, the fifteenth baron of Eilravock, Sheriff of Ross, concerning a
breach of the Sabbath, following the election of an M.P. for the
county. The letter is preserved in the papers of the Family of
KUravock. He refers to the indignation of the ministers of Ross and
Sutherland on hearing that the meeting of barons held at Fortrose
on Saturday the 26th June, ''continued undissolved till about two
o'clock on the Lord's Day following." They had no "suitable
opportunity of expressing their sense of that disorder till they met
at Tain synodically, where, having taken this affair into consideration^
they judged themselves obliged to give their their joint testimony
against that Sabbath profanation. And if the matter was so tran-
sacted as was represented to them by all sorts, they could not but fix
upon yourself as chief in that trespass. Therefore, to testify their
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THE RELIGION OP THE HIGHLANDS, 585
same " thus : " We, the undersigned ministers, elders, and preachers
of the Gospel within the Sjnod (of Ross), and Presbytery of Dingwall
and Chanonry, taking to our serious consideration that notwithstand-
ing of the glorious appearances which the Lord our God hath made
for this Church and Land formerly, and at the late happy Revolution,,
particularly in restoring to this Church the government which Christ
the sole Head of the Church hath established on His own House, and
establishing the form of sound words contained in the Westminster
Confession of Faith, yet there abounds much avowed opposition and
secret malignity against both among severals, lukewarmness and
self-seeking among most, whereby the work of Reformation is endan-
gered, and the Lord's jealousy kindled : Therefore we declare, profess
and acknowledge ourselves bound in conscience to maintain, defend,
and support in our several places and stations, the Christian Reformed
Religion in its Doctrine, Worship, Discipline and Government,
according to the Word of God, the Westminster Confession of Faith
approved by the General Assembly in the year 1647, and agreeably
to our solemn engagements and Covenants, the perpetual obligation
of which we own, iii opposition to Popery, Sooinianism, Prelacy, .
Arminianism, Erastianism, Separation and Schism, and all innova-
tions, resolving and promising thro* grace to adhere thereto all the
days of our lives, and to walk exemplarily according to the gospel of
Christ, and agreeably to our stations and characters."
The first signature is that of " John Fraser, minister at Alness."
With all his heart, no doubt, he owned " the perpetual obligation of
the Covenants." So, we believe, did all the great Highland ministers
and men in the last century. Some of the names that follow Fraser's
are still highly honoured in Ross-shire. The place of meeting was
inspiring. It was crowded with memories of the apostolic Hog, and
all around, on both sides of the Firth, were localities hallowed by
association with the foremost Covenanters of the North. Fraser's
career of extensive usefulness was now almost ended. On the 7th
November of the following year, at the age of 63, he entered into the
joy of his Lord, commending to God his wife and two sons, John and
James, and two daughters, Catherine and Isobel. John, a most
promising youth, was soon " up higher " with his father. Of James,
who became a distinguished' preacher and theological author, we hope
to write in due time.
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THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS. 585
same " thus : '' We, the undersigned ministers^ elders, and preachers
of the Gospel within the Synod (of Ross), and Presbytery of Dingwall
and Chanonry, taking to our serious consideration that notwithstand-
ing of the ^orious appearances which the Lord our God hath made
for this Church and Land formerly, and at the late happy Revolution,,
particularly in restoring to this Church the government which Christ
the sole Head of the Church hath established on His own House, and
establishing the form of sound words contained in the Westminster
Confession of Faith, yet there abounds much avowed opposition and
secret malignity against both among severals, lukewarmness and
self-seeking among most, whereby the work of Reformation is endan-
gered, and the Lord's jealousy kindled : Therefore we declare, profess
and acknowledge ourselves bound in conscience to maintain, defend,
and support in our several places and stations, the Christian Reformed
Religion in its Doctrine, Worship, Discipline and Government,
according to the Word of God, the Westminster Confession of Faith
approved by the General Assembly in the year 1647, and agreeably
to our solemn engagements and Covenants, the perpetual obligation
of which we own, iii opposition to Popery, Socinianism, Prelacy, .
Arminianism, Erastiauism, Separation and Schism, and all innova-
tions, resolving and promising thro' grace to adhere thereto all the
days of our lives, and to walk exemplarily according to the gospel of
Christ, and agreeably to our stations and characters."
The first signature is that of " John Fraser, minister at Alness."
With all his heart, no doubt, he owned '* the perpetual obligation of
the Covenants." So, we believe, did all the great Highland ministers
and men in the last century. Some of the names that follow Fraser's
are still highly honoured in Ross-shire. The place of meeting was
inspiring. It was crowded with memories of the apostolic Hog, and
all around, on both sides of the Firth, were localities hallowed by
association with the foremost Covenanters of the North. Fraser's
career of extensive usefulness was now almost ended. On the 7th
November of the following year, at the age of 53, he entered into the
joy of his Lord, commending to God his wife and two sons, John and
James, and two daughters, Catherine and Isobel. John, a most
promising youth, was soon " up higher " with his father. Of James,
who became a distinguished' preacher and theological author, we hope
to write in due time.
Sq
584 THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS.
resentment of the dishonour done to God therein, and for convincing
and gaining of jou, they appointed one of their number to write you
upon that head, though yery unwilling, as most unmeet for it."
Eraser then proceeds to show how objectionable was the calling of
the meeting on Saturday, since electors in returning long distances and
across ferries were likely to encroach on the Sabbath. ^' The divine
memorandum of the fourth command, with the established law and
observed custom of this nation, might be presumed a fence strong
enough against such conventions on that day, which no Protestant
magistrate would deliberately and with a high hand overleap. But
it is more and more unaccountable, that after the barons coming to
Fortrose on Saturday, so much time passed before their meeting,
which occasioned the affair to be protracted till the Sabbath began
more than to dawn, which was also attended with other gross dis-
orders, some having drunk to excess in taverns, others travelling and
crossing ferries. Among whom yourself was exemplary to others in
deserting the ordinances administered in the uqighbouring town, and
some who were in your own company are said to have sung, shouted,
and danced, in their progress to the ferry, without any check or
restraint, as if they meant to spit in the face of all sacred and civil
laws, while yet the authority next at hand countenanced them therein ;
whereby, whatever your thoughts were of such barefaced wickednesh,
yet it appears there was no such impression as Moses had ; £xod.
xxxii. 19, 20, 27 I only crave to add that our love and re-
spect to your person and welfare every way are so entire and
unfeigned that we hope they will not be impeached by our dealing
thus freely with you, seeing, if we kept silence, and suffered sin
unreproved to lie upon you, we would thereby betray our unfaithful-
ness to our trust) and hatred and cruelty to ypur soul (Lev. xix 27),
open rebuke being better than secret love without it where it is
needful, yea, though these rebukes were wounding, yet those wounds
as they are in the house of your friends so they are preferable to the
lashes of an enemy, as being designed not to break the head but the
heart by a kindly operation. This, at the Synod's appointment, is
suggested to you by — Very Honourable Sir, your honour's to be
commanded in our Lord,
John Fkasbb,"
These are the spirited yet polite words of a man who could " speak,
and exhort, and rebuke with all authority."
In 1710 the Synod of Boss drew up a Formula of Engagements^
On the 6th September of that year the Qresbytery met at Kilteam,
*' and the brethren having prayed successively, did insert the said
Formula iu the end of the Presbytery Book, and did all subscribe the
THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS. 585
aame " thus : " We, the undersigned ministers, elders, and preachers
of the Gospel within the Synod (of Ross), and Presbytery of Dingwall
and Chanonry, taking to our serious consideration that notwithstand-
ing of the glorious appearances which the Lord our God hath made
for this Church and Land formerly, and at the late happy Revolution,,
particularly in restoring to this Church the government which Christ
the sole Head of the Church hath established on His own House, and
establishing the form of sound words contained in the Westminster
Confession of Faith, yet there abounds much avowed opposition and
secret malignity against both among severols, lukewarmness and
self-seeking among most, whereby the work of Reformation is endan-
gered, and the Lord's jealousy kindled : Therefore we declare, profess
and acknowledge ourselves bound in conscience to maintain, defend,
and support in our several places and stations, the Christian Reformed
Religion in its Doctrine, Worship, Discipline and Government,
according to the Word of God, the Westminster Confession of Faith
approved by the General Assembly in the year 1647, and agreeably
to onr solemn engagements and Covenants, the perpetual obligation
of which we <)wn, iii opposition to Popery, Socinianism, Prelacy, .
Arminianism, Erastianism, Separation and Schism, and all innova-
tions, resolving and promising thro* grace to adhere thereto all the
days of our lives, and to walk exemplarily according to the gospel of
Christ, and agreeably to our stations and characters."
The first signature is that of " John Fraser, minister at Alness.'*
With all his heart, no doubt, he owned " the perpetual obligation of
the Covenants." So, we believe, did all the great Highland ministers
and men in the last century. Some of the names that follow Fraser's
are still highly honoured in Ross-shire. The place of meeting was
inspiring. It was crowded with memories of the apostolic Hog, and
all around, on both sides of the Firth, were localities hallowed by
association with the foremost Covenanters of the North. Fraser's
career of extensive usefulness was now almost ended. On the 7th
November of the following year, at the age of 63, he entered into the
joy of his Lord, commending to God his wife and two sons, John and
James, and two daughters, Catherine and Isobel. John, a most
promising youth, was soon " up higher " with his father. Of James,
who became a distinguished' preacher and theological author, we hope
to write in due time.
^Q
586 PSAI^MS AKD HYMNS IN PUBLIC WORSHIP.
PSALMS AND HYMNS IN PUBLIC WORSHIP.
I.
(a papbb read at a TOUNa mbn's uterart association.)
When I undertook to write upon this subject, it was iny intention to
treat it as exhaustively as possible within the limits of our time ;
but the subject has widened and deepened, and my resources of time
have become so limited that the following are rather suggestions
than arguments, and all I can hope to do in this paper, is to show
that there are reasons why our Church should adhere to its use and
wont in its firm adherence to psalm as against hymn-singing in
public worship.
It is one of the fashions of our day to believe and to allege that
questions such as this before us, should be allowed to settle them-
selves, that there can be no harm in our doing as others do, that
whilst facts in all other departments of thought and action can only
be investigated and intelligently understood by the exercise of
exactitude of observation and precision of argument, questions
' affecting religion and worship — especially if they be ranked among
what are called non-essentials — need not be carefully examined, exactly
defined, or firmly believed.
The man who alleges that precision in every detail of observation
and argument is proper to science and art, politics and pleasure,
who maintains that even in such spheres as foot-ball and cricket
minute rules must be more and more rigidly observed, the nearer the
approach to perfection is made, and who, at the same time, denies
this right to religion and its modes of worship, is not- only bringing
religion into discredit as unscientific and unreasonable, but, loudly as
he may disclaim the name, he is a dogmatist, and of all dogmatism
his is the most absolute. Thc^ doctrine he propounds must be
accepted without argument on his part — ^for the moment he tries to
prove his doctrine, that moment does his doctrine break down. It
breaks down in the fact of his trying to prove its legitimacy. It is
legitimate to have definite, intelligent, and logical views on ** small ^
matters in religion such as the question before us^ namely : — Hymns in
Public Worship. There is no more charity or liberality in holding
loose views on such a subject, than there would be in being careless
regarding the fact that two and two make four, whilst very careful in
the use of our knowledge that a thousand times a thousand make a
million. There is no more charity in supposing that the majority of
living Christians are right in doing a certain thing, than there is in
taking for granted that our forefathers were right in doing the
PSALMS AND HYMNS IN PUBLIC WORSHIP. 587
Opposite. We must use our brains as well as our hearts, and we
must use them in every sphere — religion not excluded. You will, I
trust, pardon mj becoming an Irishman for the time being, and
afiBrming that true religion can only exist where head and heart go
hand-in-hand. Argument about the details of religion is Scriptural.
Read the Epistles of the New Testament, and you will see that many
of the subjects of contention among the early Christians were not
more important than that before us to-night or than those we are
sometimes called bigots for defending. What were the Churches of
Asia commended or condemned for 1 Was it not for '^ trifles 1 "
A Yery foolish and yet a very common argument that springs to
the lips of all opponents of what are called narrow principles, is
worthy of notice. Tell any one you belong to a church that does not
aing hymns in public worship, and you are sure to be addressed in
some such terms as these : " You surely do not mean to say that all
the people who sing hymns are not Christians, or that they are doing
an un-Christian thing 1 " To this you may very safely reply, "No, I do
not say so. I do not say that all those who smoke are not Christians;
I do not say that all who drink are not Christians; I do not say that
all who go to the theatre are not Ctiristians ; I do not say that all
who play cards are not Christians ; I do not say that all who refuse
to go to church are not Christians. I must settle each of these
questions on its own merits and quite apart from the application of
■such an irrelevant question. I can imagine the existence of a Chris-
tian who smoked and drank and played cards and attended the
theatre, and never entered a church door. He would, I fear, be a
pretty near approach to the form of Christian life that modem theo.
logians are trying to discover, and might be an interesting object of
study to the psychological professor who makes it his interest to
discover from how frail a thread of faith an immortal soul may dangle.''
It is not without diffidence and some misgiving that I have brought
this subject before you, because I know that our insisting on what may
be deemed trivialities brings us fi*equently into the uuen viable posi-
'tion of having our inconsistencies emphasized. The more we believe
in the matter of creed; the more liable are we to be pointed at, and
the profession we make brought into ridicule by our inconsistencies.
Firmly, then, as we seek to stand by what seems necess^ary even in
detail or trifle, let us never forget that our conduct should be good
in proportion as our creed is narrow. The fact that we are apt to
bring shame on our creed shoiild make us reserved in speaking of it
or parading it. Our inconsistencies do not, however, atfect its truth.
It has never yet been held as any argumeut against the truth of the
* well-known proposition of Euclid that one side of a triangle is less
588 PSALMS AND HYMNS IN PUBLIC WORSHIP.
than the other two, that a great mathematician has been observed
going home from a late supper evidently preferring the two sides to
the one. Let it be understood that in the following remarks about
hymns I have no wish to foster that spirit of pugnacity which a long
history of defensive life has developed in our Church. It will be
better if we can manage by our walk and conversation to draw atten-
tion to the necessary details of our creed, than by our loudness re-
garding details to draw attention to the iuconsistenoies of our lives.
Let us seek quietly to go on our way, persistently doing what we
believe to be right, and having an intelligent answer for every in-
quirer into the details of our belief. If at any time you happen to
be taking a walk on business or for pleasure in the land of the Philis-
tines, and a lion roar against you, go quietly on your way, paying no
heed ; but if he insist on roaring, turn aside and devote a little atten-
tion to him, and it may be when you pass that way again, you wiU
find that if you have not brought sweetness out of the strong, you
have, at least, succeeded in procuring silence instead of noise and roaring.
My last preliminary remark is in answer to the question which
may have suggested itself to your mind ere now : — " What has in-
duced you to take up the subject of hymns rather than any other of
the many subjects regarding which our Church differs from others ?
My answer is — that we are professedly a band of Original Seceders,
and whilst we meet to improve each other's minds, we cannot greatly
err in occasionally helping each other to arrive at satisfactory con-
clusions regarding some of these doctrines and practices that the
prevailing usages of society may be apt to lead us to hold lightly by ;
and if ever our Church is to be tested by attack from without, or to
be surrendered by friends from within, this is the first outwork that
will go. The use of hymns in public worship has become so prevalent
that the young men and women of our Church are in danger of being
led to imagine there is a want of charity — an unreasoning bigotry —
an unnecessary assumption of superiority to our fellow Christians in
our insisting on standing aloof in this matter from other churches.
Not many years ago hymn-singing was a phenomenon in the Presby*
terian Churches of Scotland. Now the Church that does not sin^
hymns is the phenomenal one. So prevalent has the use of hymns
become, that if you foolishly propound in company the doctrine that
psalms, exclusively, are the proper medium for church praise, you will
call forth a manifestsCtion of curiosity and feeling such as only a
sudden appearance of the great auk, in company with the dodo,
might be expected to evoke. My purpose will be accomplished if
what I say serve to prove thaUour position in regard to hymn-singing
is no whim of bigotry, but a reasonable exercise of a sound principle ;
PSALMS AND HYMNS IN PUDLIC WORSHIP. 589
snd if I lead any young man to enquire more fully into this matter,
I shall not regret my choice of subject.
My first argument in favour of psalm-singing is that — ^being part
of the Holy Scriptures — psalms are inspired. Hymns are un-
inspired, and must therefore be infinitely inferior to the psalms, as
expressions of praise, incentives to devotion, and instruments of
edification. I should like to lay great stress on this subject of in-
spiration, for on it the psalm argument chiefly rests. I should sooner
think of instructing a confirmed cannibal in the use of knife and
fork, than mis-spend my time trying to demonstrate that psalms
a.re superior to hymns, as a medium of praise, to the man who did
not believe in Inspiration in the old-fashioned sense of that term.
No one holds that the prose or metrical versions of the psalms, as
we use them, came forth from Grod in their present form. We hold
that Grod revealed to men of old, not only His wiJl, but so guided
them in the committing of it to writing, that they wrote neither more
nor less than He wished them to write — that they were miraculously
and mysteriously guided, not merely in being prevented from error,
but in making known fully what He wished to be made known for
the salvation of perishing men. We hold, further, that whilst by
transcription and translation, the precise meaning may have been
here and there changed, still it has not been so changed as in any
measure to bring our versions of the Scriptures to the level of the
loftiest of our human writings.
So immaterial have these changes been, that we cannot lay ourselves
open to the charge of error when we say of our version of the Psalms,
^* These Psalms are the Inspired Word of God." They are not in-
spired in the sense that Shakespeare, Milton, or Bunyan's works are
inspired — ^not inspired in the sense in which Michael Angelo, or
Dante, Beethoven, or Mendelssohn were inspired — ^not inspired as Bonar,
Toplady and Newman were inspired, but inspired in a sense so much
<leeper, wider, and grander than these, that the word Inspiration has
been degraded hy being brought into such association. The works
of these men, being literally their works, were inferior to them. They
were the product of their minds, and the creature must ever be less
than the Creator. But all Scripture, such as the Psalms, given by
inspiration of God, has a deeper meaning than its human authors ever
fathomed, wider truths than they ever comprehended, loftier flights
than their imaginations ever soared unto, grander heights than their
intellects ever scaled, applications to circumstances they never ex-
perienced, prophecies of events of which they never dreamed. You
will understand what my argument is if I tell you of a picture I once
flaw. It was a landscape in which miles of varied scenery were pre*
590 PSALMS AND HYMNS IN PUBLIC WORSHIP.
sented to the eye. There were lake and wood, mountaiii and yallej^
sunshine and shade. How real it all seemed ! It appeared to refresh
you by transplanting you bodily from the city into the country.
But how different it was from the reality J It was but man's imita-
tion of God's handiwork. The same patch of sunshine was always
on the same hill. The same reeds were bent by a wind that always
seemed to blow in one direction. The same unvarying landscape lay
continually before you. Look at God's handiwork. It is instinct
with life. It never presents to the mind and eye an unvarying
monotony. There is the constant changing of light and shade, the
stillness here one moment, the breeze the next The smooth surface
of the lake alternates with the ripple that makes the water sparkle
and shine. The picture is dead. The landscape is full of life. This
I take to be a true yet very faint analogy illustrating the difference be^
tween the hymns of men and the Psalms of God. His words are life.
If the Psalms are inspired^ are they not likely to be a medium of praise
that any one, even the loftiest genius, may use and derive benefit from?
We have it on authority that has never been questioned that there are
in the world many mute inglorious Miltons (men whose imaginations
are Miltonic), though they have never given vent in words to their im-
aginings. Is it not reasonable on this inspiration argument to sup-
pose that a Milton — either real or mute — would find himself within
his depth in singing an ordinary hymn, whilst in singing a psalm as a
medium of praise his genius would find an exercise for the deepest
thought, and an incentive to still higher flights of imagination ) Is
it not because Holy Scripture (and when I use the term Holy Scrip-
ture, I mean that what is true of Holy Scripture, as a whole, is true
of the Psalms of David as we call them) is so immeasurably above
and beyond men that the greatest efforts of their genius have been in
the main only faint reproductions of its truths ?
Another prima fade objection to the use of hymns in public praise
is that they are likely to be deficient or erroneous in their present-
ment of elements of truth. The hymns of a Bonar are likely to be
tinged with the imperfections of the author, if not in this respect,
that they mis-state truth, at least in this, that they will present a
phase of truth that may be one-sided. The hymns collected by a
church are likely to be a representation of the beliefs of that church.
And as the differences that separate churches are in the main errors,
it follows that error is propagated by the introduction and use of
hynms. That this is not an ill-natured suspicion but an incontro-
vertible fact there is abundant evidence to show. A severe criticism
of Mr. Hunter's recently issued hymn-book appeeu^d the other day
in the " British Weekly " from the pen of Dr. Parker. It is worthy
PSALMS AND HYMNS IN PUBLIC WORSHIP. 591
of quotation not only as showing what objections may be justly
urged against hymn-books, but as expressing Dr. Parker's opinions
as to the frame of mind that is natural to one who takes a hymn-
book in his hand for purposes of examination : — " Beginning at the
beginning," he says, " I cannot but notice that the word * congrega-
tional' is on the title-page. Has that word any denominational
significance, or does it merely indicate the communion to which the
editor belongs? The title-page says, *By the Rev. John Hunter, Trinity
Congregational Chiurch, Glasgow.' General readers have a right to con-
rlvde that the hook represents Congregational faith and life, and there-
fore Congregational doctrine and sentiment Looking at the book
strictly from this point of view, there is not a little that is disappoint-
ing. I am not aware that there is a single piece in the book to
which Congregationalists would object ; the disappointment therefore
is rather from what is not in, than what is in. We have seen that
Mr. Hunter exercises the right of omission. It must be remembered,
however, that omission may amount to repudiation. There is an
omission which is nothing short of doctrinal excommunication.
Omission is not the simple thing which it may appear to be. By
omitting a hymn we may omit a theology, or by altering a hymn
we may alter a doctrine." Even when a man or committee of
men who edit a hymn-book do not err in omission, they err in
showing a bias or tendency towards a certain creed or set of
doctrines. In his lecture on Count Zinzendorf (" The Evangelical
Succession Lectures " : 2nd Series, No. 7), Professor Binuie
says : — " He (C. Z.) had a fanciful theory about the relation
of the Divine Persons in the Trinity, which led him to look
upon the Son alone as the proper object of trust and prayer, to the
exclusion of the Father. An imhappy tendency in this direction
has all along existed in the Lutheran Church, and is seen in the dis,
2>roportionate number of the hymns that are addressed directly and
exclusively to Christ. The evil found place in a very aggravated
form in the sermons and hymns and prayers of Zinzendorf." At a
i-ecent meeting in Glasgow, under the auspices of the Boys*
Brigade, a gentleman expressed a desire that some effort should be
made to introduce hymns of a different tendency into their services,
as those already in iise were too much of a military and warlike order,
and tended to foster a wrong spirit in those who sung them fre-
quently. Instances might be multiplied, but these three taken at
random serve to show that hymns are not a safe medium of worship,
as any hymn-book adopted by a Church is sure to be imperfect either
positively or negatively. You will see to what extent the danger is ex-
aggerated when you take into account how much poetical sentiment or
59^ PSALMS AND HYMNS IN PUBLIC WORSHIP.
musical taste is made the standard for the adoption or rejection of
hymns.
Further, I would argue that even on the assumption that the
dangers already alluded to have been avoided, hymns are infinitely
inferior to the Psalms in this respect — that there are in our lives
peculiarities of circumstance and experience that psalms will be
found competent to deal with, but not hymns. In the *' Life of a
Young Football Player,'' it is recorded that during his protracted ill-
ness his friends offered to sing a hymn by his bedside. His reply
was, " Sing me a Psalm — the Psalms fit,^*
The same testimony is borne by Dr. Cooke of Belfast : — " Having
been appointed to a short missionary tour, I left my home in good
health, but was taken suddenly ill, and during a month was unable
to return ; and it was when wearisome nights were appointed to me,
and tossings to and fro until the dawning of the day, that in frequent
solitude I was thrown almost entirely on the resources of my memoiy.
But with that faculty God had sufficiently endowed me, and the
Psalms committed in schoolboy days, and paraphrases and hymns of
riper years, presented ready subjects of meditation. And it was then
that all unexpectedly, yet irresistibly, it was impressed upon me by
experience and feeling that the most celebrated hymns of uninspired
men were like Job's friends-^* miserable comforters ' — when compared
with the experience of Christ in the days of humiliation, of which
the Book of Psalms is the true prophetic picture." Hymn-books fail
to provide themes of praise for every time and place, and the above
sentences serve to emphasize the fact that there are in the psalms
songs that find no counterpart in any hymn-book. Where is the
analogy in any hymn-book to that large proportion of psalms, of
which this is an example — those psalms to which we apply such tunes
as '* Elgin," " Martyrdom," and " Coleshill" :—
In Thy great indignation,
O Lord, rebuke me not ;
Nor on me lay Thy chastening hand,
In thy displeasure hot.
Lord, I am weak ; therefore on me
Have mercy, and me spare.
Heal me, O Lord, because Thou know*8t
My bones much vexed are.
My soul is vexed sore, but, Lord,
How long stay wilt Thou make ?
Return. Lord, free my soul,
And save me for Thy mercy's sake
PSALMS AND HYMNS IN PUBLIC WORSHIP. 593
I with my groaning weary am,
And all the night my bed
I caused for to swim, with tears
My coach I watered.
The fact is there is uo counterpart to such psalms. Whatever
the reason be, hymn-books differ from the psalms a^d fall short
of them in this important respect. When trouble abounds,
songs that will not merely express trouble but stimulate hope in the
hopeless are needed. Is it not significant and suggestive that the
churches which, above all churches, have been the most persecuted
and afflicted, the church of our covenanting fathers and that of the
Waldensian Valleys have been Psalm-singers i
Hymns tend to destroy the whole aim and spirit of New Testament
worship. The main ideas of New Testament worship are simplicity
and catholicity. The use of hymns destroys simplicity of worship.
By simplicity I mean that New Testament worship as distinguished
from Old Testament worship requires that it shall be of such a nature
that all, old and young, learned and ignorant, may heartily and in-
telligently join in it. Now what are the principles that must under-
lie any attempt to carry out this ideal? That question is Easily
answered. The B(x>k of Praise must be of reasonable dimensions and
the music simple. There is no book that fulfils these requirements
like the Book of Psalms. It is of such dimension that its words can
be committed to memory. It has become a principle of well-recog-
aized utility that it is better to know one book thoroughly than
niany imperfectly, as was recently shown in the replies rebeived in
answer to the question, " Which are the hundred best books ? "
Where the demand for greater variety is made the reason for calling
in the aid of human hymns in public worship, the invariable result
is that such a variety of hymns and music is introduced as to throw
the worship of the whole congregation into the hands of experts. The
people become dumb. Then the service speedily develops into an
entertainment. If the pica for variety is not consistently adhered to,
the congregational praise takes the form of a vain repetition of hymns.
Were you to attend a hymu-singing Church, you would imagine for a
<iay or two that you were having a lightsome change, but you might
soon discover that minister and choir have a set round of hymns more
monotonous by far than the monotony they profess to see in the
Psalms. One would suppose that the variety argument would be
faithfully carried out by the Salvation Army which deals in surprises.
But it does not altogether escape this monotony. Listen every time
you hear its soldiers in the street, and you will recognize the same hymns
from the same singers, and, though I am no wizard, I prophesy that
594 PSAUiS AND HYMNS IN PUBLIC WORSHIP.
in all probability you will be able to identify the strains of ** Will
you go ? Will you go 1 "
Hymns are utterly subversive of catholicity of worship. Is it not
strange that in these days when there is such a demand for union
among the churches, means are being adopted that are sure to lead
men further and further from each other ? Time was, not very long
ago, when you and I might have gone to almost any church in our
large cities with a psalm-book under our arm and rejoiced in the
knowledge that we would be able to join with our fellow-Christians
in singing to God's praise. Now, you cannot do so. I wa»
at a service the other evening that was advertised as pubUc.
Few people present had the hymn-book of the church (I think there
were two books for seven or eight people in my pew), and the choir
was armed with a formidable supply of music which they flourished
with all the triumph of the performers at an amateur concert. Had
they even sung to edification, their breach of all the principles of New
Testamen t worship migh t have been o verl ooked . But it was music and
nothing but music, so far as the general congregation was concerned.
It is sometimes urged by innovators in church worship, that as
every one is taught music nowadays, it is not necessary to adhere to
the metrical version of the Psalms for the same reasons that might
have been deemed sufficient some years ago. You may easily dis-
cover the fallacy that underlies this statement by testing a small
number of your own acquaintances. How many of them can sing
well from music at first or even at fourth sight? Now it must not
be supposed that these results of the introduction of hymns are only
accidental circumstances that characterise isolated congregations. It
is the invariable rule, as might be clearly and abundantly proved bv
testimony even from the Antipodes, that the introduction of hymns
is sooner or later followed by divergence from the simple, homelv
worship that is the glory of the J^ew Testament Church. By the
introduction of hymns not only is the simplicity of worship marred,
but such a variety of sacred songs is introduced as to cause utter
chaos at promiscuous meetings. Not long ago Dr. Pentecost held
some public meetings in the Queen's Park, Edinburgh. He was baffled
in his endeavour to get the people to sing by this very fact that they
had no hymns in common. It was suggested to him in the news-
papers that he might try psalms. This was done, and with better
success ; but, as the psalms have been ousted from their proper place
by the use of hymns, the result was very poor compared with what
it would have been had the psalms been th^ Common Book of Praise
that it was till within the last twenty years. In those days there
was singing from
A P£RSONAL COVENANT. 595,
Young men, yea, and maidens too,
Old men and children smaU.
" But what is the use," some one may say, " of a great gathering
singing one common song to God, if, as you allege, they may all be
singing with different meanings attached to what they sing ] " For
this reason : — They are more likely to come to a common and a right
understanding of the truth by singing the inspired psalms than by
singing each other's hjmns. When a school-boy makes what he
supposes to be a perfect copy of the lithographic line at the top of
his page, he is sometimes conceited enough to copy his own most
recently written line, and to continue this process down the page.
But his slight and at first inappreciable mistakes become by-and-bye
more pronounced, and when he has reached his last line, he is surprised
to discover that his page presents a graduation of lines, each slightly
worse than the one above. Had he kept his eye all the while on the
top line, his writing would have improved.. It would not have
degenerated.
A PERSONAL COVENANT.
Pebsonal covenanting, subscribing with the hand to the Lord, was
a great help to our godly fathers in their Christian life. It was an
eminent means of deepening their spiritual life, better fitted in our
estimation to attain this end than many of our modem methods.
Such a covenant, drawn up by one whose name is still fragrant in the
Secession Church, recently fell into our hands, and we transcribe it to
our pages : —
Gbeenhill, Sab., 6th Sept., 1840.
I would confess before Almighty God that iniquities prevail against
me, that sin reigns in my mortal body, and that I am ever ready to fulfil it,
in its soul- destroying lusts. I would, therefore, through the strength of
Divine grace, vow unto the Lord my Qod, and pay my vow depending upon
Thine aid to endeavour with my whole heart to embrace the offers of salvation
in the Gospel, to receive Christ Jesus into my heart by faith and love, and to
crucify my flesh with its affections and lusts. And I would further vow to
my God in Christ that I will glorify Thy name by showing forth Thy praise, by
declaring Thee to be all glorious and worthy of everlasting adoration, and to
live as an heir of the grace of life. I would make this personal devotement of
myself to Thee cheerfully and willingly, and would desire to abide in covenant
with Thee for ever.
Walter Go\\inlock.
596 THE MISSION FIELD.
IN LOVING MEMORY OF MRS. W. F. AITKKN, GLASGOW.
My ways are not as yoar ways, saith the Lord.
How oft with aching hearts we learn its meaning ?
How oft the gronnd is sinking from our feet
While we upon onr broken reeds are leaning ?
My ways are not as your ways, saith the Lord,
But still we hold our own ways in our blindness ;
We set our idols up and worship them,
While weary, fainting hearts receive scant kindness.
Our Zion mourns, for ah I with sad dismay
This is the truth the opening year hath taught as.
Wine of astonishment to trembling lips.
This is the cup the opening year hath brought us.
We watched our pastor frail and fragile grown ;
The weary months and years rolled on in sadness ;
• But she, the noble partner of his life,
Throughout the gloom, difiPiised a gleam of gladness.
" He must not know my fears/* she bravely said.
While she a smile for all around was wearing,
And to the last her hands were full of work.
While her true heart an untold grief was bearing.
But she is gone, the handmaid of the Lord ;
We*ll see that gracious form on earth, ah, nevef 1
Gone from the House of God she served so well,
To serve Him in His house above for ever.
But still we mourn a mother in Israel,
We mourn our loss, but not with hopeless weeping ;
We know that God at length will bring with Him
His own beloved who are in Jesus sleeping.
Glasgow, Februaryf 1890.
Wljt ifltsston jFieUr.
THE NATIONS BLESSED IN CHRIST.
(A Sermon preached by the Rev. G. Anderson, late of Seoni, at the
Ordination of the Rev. D. Finlajson as Missionaiy to India.)
" In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." — Gen. xxii. 18.
Thb history of Abraham affords us a beautiful illustration of what the
apostle Paul meant when he said, ** Whatsoever things were written
aforetime were written for our learning." From the beginning of the
narrativei recording his call to leave his fatherland, and go to an un-
THE MISSION FIELD. 597
known country, till the end of his dajs^we have a pattern of piety and
faith set before us which Christians in every age and country would do
well to imitate. All believers still unite in giving him the titles long
ago applied to him in the sacred pages — viz., " father of the faithful,"
and " friend sof God."
One of the most remarkable acts of faith ever performed is narrated
in this chapter. The promise of a numerous posterity had been made
to Abraham — a promise to be fulfilled in the line of his son Isaac,
who as yet had no children ; and Abraham believed the promise, and
rejoiced in the hope of its fulfilment. His confidence in God's faith-
fulness was put to a fiery trial. God commanded him to offer up his
son Isaac as a burnt-offering. This would in any circumstances
have been a painful task to perform, owing to the influence of natural
affection ; but to Abraham it was all the more difficult because the
act of slaying his son would do away with all ordinary possibility of
the fulfilment of the divine promise. Looking at things firom a
merely human standpoint, Abraham might well have come to the
conclusion that the only way to secure the fulfilment of the promise
was to be guilty of disobedience to this command. The grace, how-
ever, had been given to the patriarch to be strong in faith, and thus
the matter concerning the fulfilment of the promise, so far from add-
ing to his difficulty, rendered his task all the easier. He was per-
suaded that God would, somehow or other, fulfil His promise by
means of Isaac, even if it should be necessary to its fulfilment to
raise him up again from the dead. So far as we know, Abraham had'
never heard of any creature being restored to life ; but he knew that
all things are possible with God.
As a reward for his obedience, the promise which had previously
been made to him, that in him all the families of the earth should be
blessed, was solemnly renewed to him in the words of the text, " In
tby seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." The words
used are slightly changed ; but the meaning in both cases is sub-
stantially the same. Let us consider —
I. What is the nature of the blessing here promised to the nations
of the world 1 It is not a blessing of one kind exclusively, but ex-
tends to the whole of man's complex nature. For example,
1. In the text spiritual blessing is promised to the nations of the
earth. Most men have very little sense of their need of spiritual
blessings; but no one can seriously consider the state of society
without being convinced that the great panacea for the evils that
prevail must be of a spiritual nature. The hungry may be fed, the
naked clothed, the' slave liberated, the intemperate reformed, and all
that can be done by man accomplished, without reaching the root of
598 THE MISSION FIELD.
the misery and wretchedness that exist everywhere. It is far deeper
than can be reached by merely human instrumentality ; it lies deep
down in the inner life or spiritual nature of man.
In particular, sin needs to be removed, both in its guilt and power;
and we need to be saved from its deplorable consequences. The
sense of guilt on the conscience ever leads men to shrink frona fellow-
ship with God ; and wo see this shrinking in every religion of human
invention. Inferior deities and other mediators are interposed be-
tween the worshipper and Him who alone ought to be worshipped
We see the expression of man's sense of guilt in the many bloody and
other sacrifices of the heathen, in the immolation of human victims,
in self'tortiire and asceticism, in ablution and other rites and cere-
monies. They are not in general fully conscious of their guilt ; it
does not lie as a heavy load upon their consciences. All the same, it
is there, and acts ruinously on the character, preventing the outgoings
of divine grace towards the soul, and binding over the guilty peiaon
to the service of sin. So long as guilt rests on any one, there is no
hope of his attaining purity of heart, and consequently no hope of the
blessedness which is connected with guiltlessness and purity. No-
thing short of spiritual blessings — forgiveness of sin, acceptance with
God, purification of heart — will meet man's sore need ; and we m&j
be sure that they are what is mainly intended in the text when God
says, " In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed."
2. Another thing included in the blessing here promised is social
reformation. The social evils that prevail in heathen countries are
indescribable. The grossest immorality, the most cruel tyranny, the
most abject destitution, the most extravagant luxury, are all to be
found in them. *' It is a shame even to speak of those things which
are done of them in secret." God in the text promises the reforma-
tion of the world from these evils ; for until they be removed, the
nations of the earth cannot be truly said to be blessed. Men try by
philanthropic and other means to reform society; but their efforts
are only partially successful. In heathen countries it can scarcely be
said that they try. Until the root be destroyed, little or nothing
will be done to any purpose. Morality without religion has no depth
and no stability. Wherever the gospel comes in power, its results
appear not only in the piety of those who receive it, but also in. the
purification of the outward life. The individual affects the family,
the family influences the community. Severe penal laws may terrify
men into submission for a time ; but such restraint is only temporary
and ineffectual. The gospel, however, is the power of God unto the
salvation of individuals, families, communities, and nations, where-
ever it is cordially received. Think of the changes produced during
.THE MISSION FIELD. 59Q
this century on the isles of the sea. Formerly they were the abodes
of cannibals who lived in the practice of nameless vices ; now the in-
habitants may be compared with the Christians of our own country,
in respect of both religion and morality.
3. The temporal prosperity of the nations is also included in the
blessing promised, " Godliness is profitable unto all things." Most
men will admit that morality and temporal prosperity are intimately
related, and that vice is ruinous as well as wrong. Not to speak of the
divine blessing which rests on those who do God's will, and His curse
which rests on His enemies, turning fat land into barrenness, sin of it-
self tends to temporal adversity. How much of the misery that exists
in the world is due to intemperance, profligacy and other transgressions
of divine and human law ! And, on the other hand, what prosperity,
even if there be not wealth, is enjoyed by those who live in the fear
of God, especially if that fear prevail in the community 1 God cares
for the bodies as well as for the souls of His people ; and, to encourage
us to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, we are
assured that all the things that go to make up temporal prosperity
shall be added to us. In the millennial age the wilderness and the
solitary place shall be glad, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom
as the rose. This language may be taken literally as well as
figuratively ; for piety and morality tend to industry, and industry
tends to the cultivation of the soil and the right use of the bounties
of Providence.
The blessing promised in the text is therefore commensurate with
the need of man as an individual and as a social being, in spiritual
and temporal things alike. In all these respects the promise was
made to Abraham, " In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be
blessed."
II. We are now to consider the parties who are to be blessed —
** all the nations of the earth." It would have been no small or con-
tracted promise if it had only been to the effect that all the nations
<2cscended from Shem would be blessed in Abraham ; but it goes far
b:yond them, and takes in the more important and powerful race of
Japheth, as well as the descendants of Ham. All the nations of the
earth, barbarous and civilised, of every colour and every tongue, in
^veiy country and climate of the world, are to be blessed in the seed
of Abraham. In Abraham's day the population of the world was very
small in comparison with what it is now, and still more in comparison
with what it shall yet be, ere the perfect fulfilment of the promise.
It is sad to think of the vast multitudes who shall not be blessed in
Abraham's seed ; but we are called on at this time rather to con-
emplate those who shall be blessed in him. There have been^ and
6oo THE MISSION FIELD,
still are, men calling themselves Christians, who ridiculed the idea of
sending the gospel to certain low and degraded races, as if it were not
suitable for them, on account of what they have been pleased to call
the want of the religious instinct in them. And yet, after all, these
lowest races have been to a greater or less extent evangelised and
civilised ; and their civilisation is such as no commerce or education
could have given them. The blessing is gradually becoming diffused
in every quarter of the globe ; and in (rod's appointedrtime the know-
ledge of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.
As we look around us, we are apt to become dispirited and dis-
couraged, and to say, " How shall these things be ? " Infidelity of
every description is spreading in professedly Christian countries ; and
in the churches there is a vast deal of worldliness, formalism, and
sensuous worship, indicating a low state of spirituality. If we were to
look to man, we might well despair of success ; but our confidence is
in that God whom Abraham obeyed when he left his native country
to go he knew not whither, and when afterwards he proceeded
without hesitation to offer up his son as a burnt-offering. He was
stroug in faith, giving glory to God, assured that what He had pro-
mised He was able also to perform. In the text we have the promi&e
of the same God ; and as surely as the oue promise is being fulfilled, so
• surely will the other be ; in fact, it is in process of fulfilment. There
are now millions professing faith in Christ among races which at tbe
beginning of this century had never heard His name. These millious
are but the first-fruits ; and our hearts are fiUed with joy as we think
of them. How glorious shall the harvest be ! We can form no ade-
quate idea of the blessed condition of the world when the promise of
the text shall be realised in all its fulness, '^ In thy seed shall all the
nations of the earth be blessed."
III. The last thing to which our attention is directed in the text
is " the seed " of Abraham, in whom all the nations of the earth are to
blessed. What is this seedl The word is used with reference to
Abraham with some diversity of meaning.
I. The seed of Abraham may be understood to mean all his natural
posterity. In the preceding verse God says, " I will multiply thy
seed as the stars of the heaven, and as tbe sand which is upon the sea-
shore." We cannot tell to what extent the earth is peopled by the
natural posterity of Abraham ; for v;e know little about any of his
descendants except the Jews and the Arabs. These are numbered by
millions ; and in all likelihood in the future both these races will
be employed in benefiting and evangelising the rest of the world.
Hitherto they have been most determined opponents of Christianity ;
and the Ara^ have been and still are a terrible scourge to the barbarous
THE MISSION FIELD. 6ot
raoes of Africa. Both Jews and Arabs give evidence of qualities.^
'which, if consecrated to the service of Christ, would greatly hasten the
•conversion of the world. It is generally believed that the Jews,
.scattered throughout all the nations of the world, will, when the
time comes for their conversion, be extensively employed in preaching
the Messiah whom their fathers unbelievingly rejected and crucified.
Begarding the Arabs we have very distinct promises in the 72nd Psalm
•Jtnd the 60th chapter of Isaiah. *" They that dwell in the wilderness
shall bow before him The kings of Sheba and Seba shall
offer gifts." " The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the
dromedaries of Midian and Ephah ; all they from Sheba shall come ;
they shall bring gold and incense ; and they shall show forth the
praise of the Lord," etc. Little progress has yet been made in their
•conversion to the faith of Christ ; but we need not fear as to the faith-
fulness of God. " All the promises of God in Him are yea, and in
Him amen." The Lord hasten their ingathering in His time.
2. The seed of Abraham is, however, sometimes limited in the
sacred volume to the family of Isaac, as it is written, " In Isaac shall
thy seed be called." There is thus a limitation, which gives special
importance to those of Abraham's posterity who are called children
of the promise. Again, there is a limitation in the race of Isaac cou-
£ning the promise to the family of Jacob or Israel. And still further,
there is a limitation to those of the seed bf Jacob who are children of
Abraham by faith. It is by means of these last — the children of
Abraham by faith, including the Gentiles who have become his children
by believing — that the gospel has spread thus far already. The
apostles and most of the early preachera of the gospel were believing
Israelites, who not only resembled Abraham in faith, but be-
longed to his race. Through their instrumentality others have been
raised up in £urope and America to carry the tidings of redeeming
love to the remotest countries of the world ; and the good work shall
-go on and iticrease, till the whole earth shall be filled with the glory
of the Lord. The time is coming when all Israel shall be saved ; and
then shall be fulfilled the words of the prophet Micah, " The remnant
of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the
Lord, as the showers upon the grass." There is scarcely a country
where Israelites are not to be found, or a language which some of
them cannot speak ; and when they shall turn to the Lord, a great
company of preachers will be ready and prepared for the great work
of universal evangelisation. We should rejoice in the signs of
awakening that are appearing among the Jews in certain quarters,
:and pray that the veil which hinders them from believiilg may be
speedily removed from their hearts. Then, in a very important
2 R
6o2 THB MISSION FIELD.
sense, will the promise be fulfilled, '' In thy seed shall all the nations
of the earth be blessed."
3. The seed of Abraham is in a very special sense the Lord Jesas
Christ, who was bom of his seed according to the flesh. In GaL iiu
16, Paul says, " Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises
made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many ; but as of one, And
to thy seed, which is Christ."
It is a remarkable fact that though the false religions of the world
are innumerable, none of them set forth any one who can be compared
in respect of character or claims to the Lord Jesus Christ. They
doubtless profess to be able to save men from their sins, but not in a
way which can be approved by any unprejudiced man of intelligence
who knows what sin is. Other saviours are either human, or at best
inferior to the Divine, and, as creatures, unable to save other creatures
from their sins, or to do more in the way of serving God than thej
are required to do for themselves. All pretences made on behalf of
such that they can save sinners are manifestly vain. Mohammedans
trust in the intercession of the false prophet ; the heathen generally
have the idea that their gods and goddesses will somehow be able to
save them.
The false teachers of the world, indeed, tell us that we must get
rid of sin ; and they profess to explain how — by repeating the name
of God, almsgiving, pilgrimages, ablutions, ascetic practices, and other
ceremonies equally vain — we may not only get rid of it, but also be-
come possessed of merit entitling us to the enjoyment of God's
favour. No man who is truly convinced of his sinfulness could be
satisfied with any or all of these combiued. Uow different is the
salvation which Christ wrought out on our behalf ! We have to do
in Him with One who is at once the omnipotent God and our brother,
on whose personal obedience the law had no claim, and who yet
magnified the law and made it honourable. Instead of the unbloody
sacrifices presented by some, or the animal sacrifices presented by
others, we have the blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and
without spot. When we are justified through the faith of Christ, it
is not in the way of bringing dishonour upon the character or law of
God, but in the way of glorifying both. In Christ, mercy and truth
meet together, righteousness and peace embrace each other. God is
at once just and the justifier of the ungodly. The great blessing of
acceptance with God and justification before Him is intended in the
words of the text, ** In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be
blessed." All the cruelty and self-torture which men practise in order
to pacify God, at once comes to an end when the gospel is received in
faith.
THE MISSION FIELD. 603
Just as hnmanlj-devised religions err grievously in the matter of
justification before God, so do they equally err in showing how the
sinner maybe saved from the impurity and evil tendencies of his nature.
They tell men to be holy, to purify themselves, and to perform certain
rites and ceremonies for that end ; but all such observances fail to
accomplish the end they have in view. In Christ, however, we have
both the command and the power enabling us to obey the command,
to be holy, as well as the moral influence to attract us to holiness.
Christ gives us in His word and character a higher standard of
holiness than ever was conceived by the unaided reason of man. He
is Himself our pattern and example. Moreover, by the love which
He showed towards us in giving His life for our redemption, He pro-
duces love in us, which leads us to desire conformity to His image.
** We love Him, because He first loved us." But beyond all this is the
powerwhich He in His unspeakable loveputs forth todeliver us from the
bondage of corruption, and to bring us into the glorious liberty of the
sons of God. He opens our eyes to see the hatefulness of sin, and the
beauty of holiness ; and we are irresistibly but sweetly drawn to-
wards God and His ways. In this respect, too, may we say that the
text is applicable, '^ In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be
blessed." How different from all the painful and fruitless efforts of
the heathen to attain their ideal of holiness ! All the nations of the
earth shall yet be elevated and purified to a degree never yet seen
in any of them.
How shall this glorious result be brought about 1 It shall be
realised by means of the gospel of Christ, which is the power of God
to the salvation of all who are effectually called by the power of the
Spirit. The work of the Church in heathen lands may be decried
and depreciated by men wh^ ought to do all in their power to pro-
mote it ; but all the same it is fruitful of far more good than appears
to the eye, or than can be presented in the form of statistics. Every
year the conquests of the gospel are increasing , and they would
increase far more rapidly if the professed followers of Christ were
only alive to their duty in the matter. As compared with last cen-
tury^ there is a very great change for the better in the attitude of
believers towards the work of evangelisation ; but there must yet be
a great improvement before things come to be as they ought. There
is a vast amount of carelessness and indifference in regard to the
glory of Christy the interests of the Church, and the salvation of souls
even among those who may themselves be real Christians ; otherwise
there would not be so many perishing in ignorance and neglect at
our own doors.
To-day we are met together for the purpose of setting one apart
604 THE MISSION FIELD.
to be an ambassador of Christ in the mission-field in India ; and by
so doing are endeavouring to hasten the time when all the nations of
the earth shall be blessed in Christ, the seed of Abraham. We send
him forth to preach the old gospel which has proved to be the pover
of Grod nnto salvation in every country where it has been received.
We send him forth to hold up Christ to the view of the perishing
heathen^ so that they, looking to Him in faith, may become par-
takers of eternal life.
Those who remain at home have solemn responsibilities resting on
them ; and it becomes us all to lay them to heart, so that we may
individually discharge the obligations that rest upon us. We should
engage in this work in hope and confidence, for the cause of Christ
is sure to prosper. ^' His name shall endure for ever : His name
shall be continued as long as the sun ; and men shall be blessed in
Him : all nations shall call Him blessed."
OUR FOREIGN MISSION.
It has already been reported that a considerable quantity of wearing
apparel, books, and playthings for the children in our Orphanage, had
l^een provided by kind friends in Scotland, and sent out in boxes
under the care of Mr. Finlayuon. The boxes were delayed somevhat
between Nagpur and Seoni, but at length reached their destination
in safety, and their contents appear to have not only gratified the
<5hildren, but filled them with unbounded joy. Mrs. Blakely thus
writes on the 3rd February last : —
" Will you thank all the people who sent out things for the children?
" I am writing in the name of all the children, and they desire me to say
how pleased and delighted they were with everything sent ; and gratified to
see how much the people thought of them at home. I am sure if you bail
seen Jcanie's face when the little box and the two pieces of cloth were given
her — you would have been quite repaid for your thoughtfulness.
'' We had a * show ' of all the things last week. You should have heard the
scream of delight from the boys when they saw the array of balb and
marbles. My husband divided the marbles among them, and it was great fun
to fiee them putting them in their mouths to make sure they were not * sweeties.
The little boys were made the happy possessors of trumpets, &c. All of them
got several things each. The girls showed their joy more quietly, but they
were none the less pleased. The bigger girls got the pretty needle-caces
— the little mirrors in them being much admired. The others got the
dolls, and the two youngest, Margaret Downie and Margaret Finlayson,
went off delighted with the rattles. The tea service and all the
books I am keeping in the bungalow, and they will get them sometimes as a
^reat treat, otherwise they would soon be broken and torn. I gave the largest
pair of scissors to the matron, as she has a lot of cuttmg out for the orphan-
age, and a pair each to the teachers in the girls' school. I have as many
thimbles as will give our girls one each, and all the girls in school. All our
^irls will get a pair of scissors, also all the girls in the 3rd and 2nd classes.
THE Ml^ON FIELD. 605
There has heen enough wool and cotton aent to keep us husy for a long time
in school. All the artic>ei knitted there, of course, we intend selling, and in
this way helping the ' Mission.' All the girls have got a new chintz dress
each made already. To-morrow the unhleaehed cotton and all the pieces of
twill sent are to he cut into clothes for ' the hoys.' We hope there is enough
to make them two suits and two shirts each. There ia a lot of pieces of chints
over, hut they will come in useful later on. There is enough flannel sent to
make them all warm jackets next cold season, and still have some over.
Little * James Scott' was greatly pleased with Mrs. Scott's gift of hlue
serge. It will make him a splendid cold- weather suit. Also Janet Millar
will get a dress of the chintz later on. Mrs. Anderson sent two pieces
of muslin which will make all the girls a dress each and a piece of muslin
for * chaddars.' The girls have not got them made yet, hut their eyes
gleamed at tlie sight of the pretty pink muslin. The boys were delighted
with their scarfs — they wear them on all occasions. There is exactly a caf) for
each boy, and they are the same shape as they usually wear. £ver3rthing sent
is useful, nothing but what the children can wear, and just the things they
like. The sewing cotton, tape, buttons and needles, are among the best things
that can be sent, as they are expensive out here. Mrs. Rettie, Aberdeen, sent
a splendid large bundle, also Mrs. Aitken, Mrs. White and Mrs. Smith. The
^t that touched me most was a piece of strong cloth, woven by Janet Stir-
ling, Waterside, Kirkintilloch, and sent to the ' little orphan children.' One
of the little boys will get a fine cold-weather suit out of it. Andrew
Thompson is delighted with his piece of white cloth, he wants a coat made
for the hot season. His books are much admired by all ' the boys.' I
think I have remembered everything and everybody, in a general way. If I
have forgotten anything or anybody, I hope they will pardon me, and remem>
>>er it is not easy to make a full acknowledgment among so much. ^
" I have only specially mentioned the ladies who sent out to the special
children — but I hope the other ladies will understand we are all just as grate>
f ul to them as to the others. It is rather nice that some send out without
mentioning any particular child, as the little ones without any patron do not
feel left out in the cold."
Mr. Finlayson writes on the 11th March : — " Since I came out here
I have dispensed the sacraments of Baptism, and the Lord's Supper.
On the first Sabbath of this year I baptized the daughter of Henry
Firth. On the first Sabbath of February I baptized three of the
Orphanage children. Their names are Margaret Wallace Downie
Margaret Campbell Finlayson, and *Dudu,' a boy. Regarding the
second one, I may say that my mother is to be her patron. On the
second Sabbath of Februaiy I dispensed the Sacrament of the Lord's
Supper. We had two preparatory services — one in English on the
previous Wednesday in the bungalow, and one in vernacular, on the
Saturday, in the church. Sixteen sat down at the Lord's table. I
preached the sermon, dispensed the ordinance, and addressed the
intending communicants. Mr. Blakely gave the subsequent address.
At present, we take day about in conducting the English service on
Sabbath, and night about at the prayer meeting. I am teaching for
two hours each day in the Boys' School. My subjects are English,
£uclid, Algebra, Arithmetic, and Physical Science.*'
6o6 PAGES FOR THE YOUNG.
$ages for t\)t goung.
BIBLE QUESTIONS.
In managing large classes little mistalces will sometimes occnr. *' Persevere,^
Thurso, is afraid that as this motto did not appear on the list in March, the
answers sent us had not been correct. There is no real ground for this fear
as the answers were very good. The motto had inadvertently been omitted.
We are pleased to see the most of you in your places this month, and at
ready as ever to answer the questions put, like an ancient worthy evidently
refreshed just by being allowed to speak.
The Junior class is well represented. It has cost some little fingers a good
deal of toil to put down the answers, but they are all very correct. I take, as
a sample, those given by '* Den," Coupar- Angus : —
1. To keep it and dress it.
2. That they might eat of the fruits of every tree, except the Tree of
Knowledge of good and evil.
3. Life for themselves and their posterity.
4. They were to die and bring death on all their posterity.
5. The serpent tempted Eve, she ate of the foroidden fruit, gave it to
Adam, and he ate.
Good answers have been received from : — Aberdeen — ** A. D.," ** Purity ; "
-4yr— "Zoar," "Onward," "Gowan," "Blythe;" Coupar- Angus— ''Bmk-
bud;" Dundee— ** Lily ;" Edinburgh— ** Youth," "Love;" A^winning-
" Honeysuckle," " Apple-blossom ; " Kirkcaldy—'' Try ; " Midlem—*' Tried,*'
" Beginner ; " Paisley— '* Ada ; " Perth—'* Rose ; " Stranraer—" Blessedness,*'
*' Truth," '' William ; " Thurso—" Dolly," " Lily."
The Middle class has taken up the study of Daniel, and an intimate know-
ledge of the subject is revealed in the answers given. I take the paper that
stands first on the list, that of " Honour," Aberdeen, as a sample of the answers
given : —
1. All the four quickly excelled their fellows in comeliness and learning,
and were admitted to attend the King. 2. Their wisdom was fonnd
far superior to that of all the wise men of Babylon.
. 2. From his God, through prayer and fastinar. The dream and the in-
terpretation thereof was revealed to him. Thus by faith in God as
the revealer of secrets, Daniel and his fellows found help in God
Almighty.
3. He dreamed of a large Imaee, whose head was of gold, its breast and
arms silver, its belly and thighs brass, its legs iron, its feet part of
iron and clay, &c.
4. Daniel ii. 46. Cornelius, Acts x. 25-26. John to the Angel, Rev. xiz.
10.
5. Daniel ii. 49. Genesis xix. 1, Lot sat in the gate. Eli .sat by the side
of the gate, &c., 1 Samuel iv. 13 and 18. Psalm Ixix. 12, they that
sat in the gate, &c. They were public places of intercourse.
Judges annually held their courts at them and reproveii in the gate
and judged cases.
Capital answers have come from: — Aberdeen — "Mabel;" Ayr — "Snow-
drop," "BluebeU;" BaUoch—" BerUi ;" Car/til-e—" Pansy : " CamouMie—
• * Standfast ; " Coupar- A ngus — * * Gowan ; " Olasgow, Mains Street — " Know-
edge ; " Hamilton—" Hope ; " KiltoinntJig—" EXhve ; " Kirkcaldy^" Sidus ;"
KirkifdUloch—" G. L. ; " Midlem—" Endeavour ; " Perth—" Mispah ; " JPo/-
odbAa«7«—" Daisy ; " -Stranraer— " Fear Not." "Obedience," "Marion;"
TAttrw— "Snowdrop," "Persevere," " Res Secundae." One or two have
I
PAGES FOR THE YOUNG. 607
again dropped out this month, and though some have come to fill the gaps, we
will look for their retnm.
The Senior class has had for its theme Jesns as oar Life. The most com*
mon texts given in answer to the first question, " Where is Jesus said to be
'* The life ? ' " are these : John xi. 25, xiv. 6 ; Colossians iii 3-4. . Various
passages have been written down, in which, in answer to the second question,
it is shown that they who do not believe in Christ are dead. The most
common are these : John viii. 24, iiL 36, vi. 53 ; Ephesians ii. 1 ; I John v.
12. The examples of His raising from the dead, given in answer to the third
question, are the three— the raising of Jairus' daughter, Matthew ix. 18-26;
of the widow's son at Nain, Luke viL 11- IS; and of Lazarus, John xi. 1-46.
In proof that Jesus still lives, these are prominent among the texts adduced :
MaUhewxxviiL 9-10, 16-18; Luke xxiv. 5-6; Revelations i. 18, ii. 8 ; Hebrews
viL 25; Romans viii. Si. The principal texts given in answer to the last
qnestton are these two : Revelations i. 18 ; John xi. 26.
Excellent answers are to hand from : — Aberdeen — " Sapere Aude ; " Ayr —
^* Cyrus," " Mount Zion," "Speedwell;" ^»r«iy—" Hinder Me Not," "The
Monving Cometh," "Ever True;" Car^iiX^—" Peace," "Winter," "Snow-
drop ; " Dundee^'* Unity," "No Cross, No Crown," " Verit6 ; " Edinburgh^
"Simplicity," "Lelive;" Olatgow, Mains Street^' 'Uoj^y" "Try Again,"
" Grace ; " ffamillon—'* Old Light ; " KirhccUdy—'* Flos," " Signifier ; " Mid-
iew— " Hold on," " Faithfulness ; " Olrig--*' Pansy ; " PoUockehaws-^
•' Wreathe ; " SholUbum — " Patience," " Amos," " Try ; " Stranraer^
*• Jehovah-Nissi," " Sincerity," " Guillot," " James ; " Toberdoney--" AhrsJUi
Tabula."
Some old members are also awanting in this class, but we hope to see them
oext month. The questions yon are asked to answer for June are those : —
Unpeb 10.
Tell the following things about Lot : —
1. Why did he leave Abraham, and stay elsewhera ?
2. Why did he go to live in Sodom ?
3. What did he lose by going there ?
4. What was God^s reason for destroying- Sodom ?
5. Why was Lot's wife not saved when he escaped ?
Under 13.
Read Daniel iii.
1. Where is the worship of images forbidden?
2. What is meant by a cubit ? Name some building you have seen that
you think to be of the same height as Nebuchadnezzar's image.
•3. Read verse 22, and name another case in which those who harmed
God's people were punished.
4. Verse 25. Where does Jesus promise to be with His people in
trouble ?
5, What good was done by the refusal of God's servants to worship the
golden image?
Above 13.
1. Where is Jesus compared to Light ?
2. W^hy does He call Himself Light ?
3. Where does He tell us to be l^e lights ?
4. Where are we commanded to walk in the Light ?
5. Prove that Jesus will be the Light of Heaven.
Answers to be addressed, 0,S, Magazine, the Rev. R. Morton, 23 Jamea
Street, Perth.
6o8
PAGES FOR THE YOUNG.
A FOLDED LAMB.
It 18 said of the Good Shepherd : *' He shall gather the lambs in His arms
and carry them in His bosom." Eastern shepherds took this care of the litUe
lambe in their flock, and Jesus deals as tenderly and lovingly with little ones
who put their trust in Him and follow Him. In His tender care for them H»
sometimes takes them early to the fold where they will be completely sheltered
from every cold blast — the fold of heaven. This was the case with little
Annie, whose experience, I think, was so remarkable as to deserve a short re*
cord. I trust that the reading of it will be blessed to draw you closer to that
Saviour who was so precious and helpful to her.
She was only twelve years of age when she died, but for some years before
this, she had been living a life of trust in Jesus, and of delight in His com-
XMuiionship. Bodily weakness induced by attacks of disease gave her the-
feeling or presentiment that her life was to be a short one, and the thought
of going home — for this was the way in which death was always viewed by
her — was one not causing gloom and sadness, but joy and gladness. In the
summer of 1888 she had a severe attack of pleurisy which seriously reduce<l
her strength, and so undermined her health as to injure it permanently. She
was never strong after this, and often complained of shortness of breath, and
of pain after making the least exertion. Turns of f aintness and sickness would
frequently come over her in school, leading her sometimes in weariness to say :
" I would be better home than always turning sick like this. I would like if
Jesus would take me home." If she was spared, her one desire was to be able
to do some work by which Jesus would be magnified. She thought that the
work of a teacher was one in which a sweet Christian influence might he
exerted, and this was the work to which she leaned in forming plans for her
future if it should be prolonged. She was indeed made a teacher, but not in
this sense. Out of her lips, not in living, but in dying, God has perfected praise.
Her mother, in looking back over the two years that preceded her death, sees
how she was all during the time growing in grace and in meetness for heaven.
About six months before her last illness she had a sharp attack of pain,
accompanied and followed with a distressing shortness of breath. One
Sabbath afternoon her mother stayed at home with her, and to her she ex-
pressed very quietly and cheerfully the feeling that had been deepened by her
illness, that she was not long for this world. She said, "Ma, I have been
thinking to-day that perhaps Jesus is going to take me home now. I think it
would be very kind if Jesus took me home before He takes you. Don't you
think it would be very kind if Jesus took me first ? " So strong was the feel-
ing that it gave shape to her dreams. There was one dream which she had at
this time that made a very deep impression upon her, and was simply accepted
by her as an intimation of her coming departure. In it she saw Christ with a
lovely angel coming to the kitchen where she fancied herself sitting. He was-
very beautiful and glorious, but she knew who He was. To her surprise and
delight He took her up in His arms, and kissing her, called her His lamb.
When she described her dream she said, ** Now, I think that Jesut means to
take me soon to heaven."
In the beginning of this year the influenza that has been so widely prevalent
seized her, and touching the weak part, brought on inflammation of the lungs.
She suflered very severely, but she was very patient. Once a blister wa»
applied, and the pain was so severe that although she struggled against it she
PAGES FOR THE YOUNG. 609
coald not help crying. She did not want to cty, and asked her mother to pray
that she might get patience, saying, " This is not so bad as the spear in Jesas'
side." Soon after she fell asleep and slept calmly until it was time to take the
blister off. On awaking she said, '* Oh, ma, how kind of Jesus to let me
sleep. 77uU shows He answers prayer." Some very bitter medicines were
prescribed for her. Once she asked her mother to taste them, and on her say-
ing that they were very bitter, she replied, " Yes, but not so bitter as the gall
and vinegar." She was patient because she had a sweet sense of Christ's near-
ness to ber. Often during the last wearisome days and nights, she would say,
" You know I am not afraid to die. I know Jesus. He kissed me and calle^l
me His lamb. Oh, He was lovely." She would sometimes ask if Jesns would
kiss her in heaven. After a very severe fit of coughing one night, lasting for
an hour and a half, she became very quiet. Her mother who was beside her,
wondering what she was thinking, said, "Where is Jesus now, my wee
darling ? " Her reply was, *' He is here ; very near me. I am very happy."
Ere long, in her exhaustion, she fell into a quiet sleep, which continued for
two hours. On awaking, it was said to her, *' You have had a fine sl^ep ; "
and she answered, " Yes : He giveth His beloved sleep. God is very kind to
me." On the Wednesday morning before she died her mother wanted to take
her breakfast in the bedroom with her, but she would not hear of this. "No»
no, take your breakfast with the rest. Jesus has been with me all morning.
He is here now, and I am very happy." She was very anxiods tliat her
brothers and sister would meet her in heaven. On the clay before the end
she calmly gave each of them a little keepsake, and said to them, "Remember,
this is my last day on earth. Work and live for Jesus, so that I may meet
you in heaven." She thought that Jesus meant to do them good by her illness
and death, and she rejoiced in it. There was no cloud upon the prospect
that cheered and sustained her in all her sufferings. She knew where she
was going, and a' doubt was never allowed to cross her mind. One
Sabbath morning she began to sing the 23rd Psalm, but her breath failed
her when she reached the last verse. She quietly looked up and said,
" No breath to sing here. I will sing the new song when I go home.
What will it be, do you know ? " Her mother said she thought it would be
" Worthy is the Lamb that was slain ; " and she said, "Oh, yes, that's it.*^
She could not bear to see her friends crying in her presence, the prospect
seemed such a joyful one to herself. Once, noticing tears in her mother's eyes,
she said to her, " Ma, you must not cry, I will give yon this ring (a favourite
toy) if you promise me, not to cry now nor when I am away. Remember my
spirit will be always near you, and I will see if you cry. Don't be sorry. It
is kind of Jesns to take me first, and I will look for you coming in at the
pearly gate, and show you the beautiful walks in heaven." Her father, who
does business on the mighty waters, broke down in presence of her patient
suffering, and she said to him, " Papa, you most not cry, I am going home.
A saved sinner going to heaven, that is not a thing to cry for. Rather be
glad, p&pa, and perhaps God will allow me to be your guardian angel when
you are at sea." The same thing happened with an aunt who could not
restrain herself at her bedside. " Don't cry, auntie," she said. " Is it a thing
to cry for to see a saved sinner going to heaven ? Be glad, be glad, be very
glad. Good-bye, auntie. Meet me in heaven.'* The end came when her
mother was changing her night-dress, and is thus described by her : " Before I
had time to button it, she said, ' Be quick, ma, or Jesus will bo here before I
6lO PAGBS FOR THE YOUNG.
am ready,' and with the next breath she exclaimed, ' Jeans is coming, Jesni b
coming, Ht is hert,* In a few minutes she was with her faithful Jesus where
there is fulness of joy, and parting is not known."
This is the folded lamb we wanted to tell you about She hsa left a sweet,
sweet memory behind her, and shown, as few have done, the power of a simple
faith in Jesus. May this faith be yours, my dear children, that whether yoD
live, you may live unto the Lord, or whether you die, you may die unto tfa«
Lord.
WHAT A LOOK CAN DO.
Boys and girls, you often think, and sometimes you say, you can do little good
in the world. You fear you cannot do much to make those around you better
and happier. When you are older, you think you will be iible to do great
things, but not now. This is a mistake. There are many things even the
youngest can do to make others joyful and good. Did you ever think how
much even a look can do ?
A lame man has sat at the street corner for several years. He is there in
fine weather and in foul. You would be surprised were you to see how few
people look at him as they hurry along. Some are too busy to look at aoj
thing — their minds are so full of care. Others do not like to face the poor
mairs look of appeal. They know he is there. They see him long before they
draw near him, but they steel their heai*t8, and when they pass him they ton
their eyes in another direction. One stormy day he was sitting there. It was
so cold, and wet, and windy, that very few people were to be seen in the street
The few who were out of doors were too busy struggling with the wind to pty
much heed to the poor lame man, who sat in his chair by the comer. A young
fish -wife came along with her creel on her back. She stopped suddenly.
Taking the broad strap from her brow she swung her basket from her back
and set it against the wall. She put her hand in her pocket and drew out a
copper. Had you only seen the sweet smile that lighted up her face and the
smile of the lame man in return you would have felt how much a look can do
to make others happy. I have seen rich people give money to that lame maut
but never before nor since have I seen any one give to him with such grace and
sweetness. It was queen-like. I do not think the lame man valued the copper
coin he received nearly so much as the kind look that accompanied the gift
A look can not only make people happier, it sometimes does great and last-
ing good. Never smile or look heedless when you hear coarse or profane
words. Show by your face that you do not love sin, that you hate it. Boys
who would scorn to utter a vulgar word themselves are sometimes tempted
to smile at a coarse jest. They do it thoughtlessly. A farmer had in his
employment two men whom he had influenced for good ; he woald not alloir
them to swear or behave in any unseemly manner. They were one evening
in a stable after their day's work was over ; a new servant came in, he removed
fais horse^s harness and tried to hang it on a peg in the wall ; the peg was too
high and he missed it ; he uttered a wild oath ; the words had barely escaped
his lips when he looked at the other two men ; they were gating silently at
«ach other as if to say, " This is surely a wild character who has come among
ua." The swearer could not get that look from his mind. It remained on his
memory, and it was one of the means in God's grace of leading bim to bethink
himself and forsake his sins.
A look will sometimes do what words would fail to do. You remember the
LITERATURE. 6tI
•&postl« Peter. The zught was cold and Peter wanned himself by the fire ; at
^he other end of the hall was Jesus — alone among His enemies. All had for-
saken Him, even Peter was afraid to come near Him lest he too should be
mocked and buffeted and spat upon. He remained there at the fire anxious to see
'what was to be done to Jesus, but afraid to say he was one of His disciples. A
^rl who saw him at the fire looked stedfastly at him and then said, " This
man was also with Him. " Peter denied and said, " Woman, I know Him not. "
Then a man seeing Peter said, " Thou art also of them." And Peter said,
** Man, I am not." An hour passed by and Peter was beginning doubtless to
think himself safe, when another man said he was sure Peter was one of
•Jesus' friends for he spoke like Him. Then Peter for the third time denied
that he knew Jesus. He denied his Master with oaths and curses. Then
the liord looked upon Peter — a look full of pity and tenderness. And Peter
remembered the word of the Lord how He had said, •* Before the cock crow
thou shalt deny Me thrice." That look of Jesus-^so fall of sadness — melted
Peter's heart. He went out and wept bitterly.
literature.
At a time when the Westminster Confession of Faith — hitherto the
accepted symbol of Presbyterian Churches throughout the world — is
being subjected to severe criticism, any helps to the intelligent study
of it should be gladly welcomed. Dr. Hetherington's well-known
work on the Assembly that framed it has just been republished, and
it could not come at a more opportune time. History of the West-
minster Assembly of Divines, By W. M, Hetherington^ D^D,^ LLD,
tHfth Edition. Edited by the Rev. Robert Williamson^ Ascog,
Rot/iesay. (James Gemmell, George IV. Bridge, Edinburgh.) It is
needless to say anything about the work itself which has gained for
itself a high place in our ecclesiastical literature, and remains the
history of this famous Assembly. Still, since it was published, ad-
ditional light has been thrown upon the proceedings of the Assembly
by the discovery of the minutes that were regularly kept, a portion
■of which has recently been published by Dr. Mitchell of St. Andrews,
and Dr. Struthers of Preston pans. Dr. Hetherington supposed that
these minutes had been lost. He had heard that some volumes of
Xotes on the Assembly's proceedings were contained in Dr. Williams'
Library in London, but found it impossible at the time of his writing
the historv to consult them. If he had been able to examine them,
fae would have been surprised and pleased to find that in the volumes
there were the minutes which he thought were irretrievably lost.
The editor has t^ken advantage of the publication of these valuable
minutes to correct wrong statements, and to supply deficiencies in
. the history. The work, too, has been broken up into shorter
chapters and made more readable. It is enriched with fac-similes of
the title pages of the original editions of the Confession of Faith,
the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, and the Directory for Worship
and Church Government. Its value and usefulness have been in-
creased by the carefully prepared indices to names and subjects which
have been appended. Everything is found here which is necessary
6l2 LITERATURE.
to an understanding of the Assembly, its composition, its manner of
procedure, and its productions. It is to be hoped that many will
avail themselves of it in order to form an intelligent judgment on
matters in connection with the Confession which are being agitated.
Dr. Hetherington's work covers only a few years — though years full
of life and activity — but the next volume we take up, also historical,
embraces an extended period. The Gospd in Great Britain, From
St. Patrick to John Knox and John Wesley, By the Rev, Samuel
Mflcnauffhton, M,A, Second Edition (James Gemmell, George IV.
Bridge, Edinbiu-gh). It consists of a series of lectures originally
prepared for Sabbath evening congregations. The different periods,
are, as might be expected, lightly touched on, but yet their salieut
points have been grasped, and are effectively presented. A better
idea of the growth of the Gospel in these islands in early times may
be obtained from these sketches than from more learned and pre-
tentious treatises. The author's own standpoint — that of a thorough-
going Protestant and Evangelical — is never concealed ; but there is
no manipulation of the facts of history to serve a dogmatic purpose.
Perhaps the position taken up in relation to the Presbyterian
character of the Culdee Church is too strong. It was certainly more
Presbyterian than Popish, but it evidently had a character of its own
in some features distinct from either. Seldom, however, has the
story of the spread of the Gospel in these islands, the restoration of
true religion from Papal and Prelatic tyranny, and the manifestation
of its mighty power in such revivals as those that took place under
the preaching of Wesley and Whitefield, been told with such vigour,
and brevity, and breadth of view, as in these attractive pages.
The latest issue of the valuable series of Bible Class Primers
(T. & T. Clark, George Street, Edinburgh) differs from those that have
gone before it. It was prepared not so much for Bible Classes as for
Young Men and Young Women's Christian Associations. The
Seven Churches of Asia, or the Seven Golden Candlesticks, By th
author of " The Spanish Brothers." It is att exposition of the first
three chapters of the Apocalypse, and is admirably done. It reveals
a careful, painstaking study of this most fruitful portion of Sacred
Scripture, great power of spiritual insight, and an enviable command
of clear, forcible expression. The association of young men or
women that accepts it as a guide to the meaning of the Spirit in this
part of Scripture, and uses it wisely, will be the richer, mentally and
spiritually.
There is abundance of birthday text-books of one kind or another^
but few have been so handsomely got up or so skilfully aiTanged as
the one we lift from our table. The Young MaWs Tejci-hook and
Birthday Calendar. With an Introduction by George Williams, Esq^y
President of the Parent Y.M.C.A. (London, Simpkin, Marshall, &
Co.) The texts for each day of the year are arranged in Biblical
order — ^the one for Jan. 1st being taken from Genesis, 5th chap.,
and the one for Dec. 3 1st being taken from Rev., 22nd chap. The^
"flection has been made with great care and skill.
BCCLESIilSTICAL INTELLIGENCE. 6 1 3 ,
XctUr to the €bitor.
Dear Sib, — In view of the forthcoming meeting of Synod, I venture the fol-
lowing suggestions : — (1) That tracts bearing upon our histor}', distinctive
principles, &c., as a Church, should be drawn up and circulated. (2) That a
children's paper for our Sabbath Schools should be published.
In support of the first suggestion, I may state that very few whom I come
-across know of such a Church as the O.S. In fact, I am told by some that I
am not a Presbyterian since severing my connection with the Free Church.
Others have asked me, Are the U.O.S. Baptists, Methodists, or Plymouth
Brethren ? Very few indeed understand that they are Covenanters. Now,
suppose we had tracts on the subject, I am certain they would do in half the
time taken to explain orally. And those of us who are not so gifted with speech
might have a more effective way of enlightening our questioners. Often have
I wished (and, I am sure, others must have wished the same), I had tracts
bearing on our Church, for I believe a greater interest could be awakened
thereby. If we are to advance we must act more on the aggressive, and try
by all lawful means to strengthen our position.
(2) In regard to a children's paper. I understand that the R.P. Church
has one, and it has proved very successful indeed. If we as a Church are to
maintain our Testimony for "Christ's Crown and Covenant," it must to a
large extent be through the education of the young. '* Train up a child in
the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it."
No doubt there are many excellent papers published already, but that is no
reason why we should not have one for ourselves. An interest in our Church
«ould be awakened by stories bearing upon its history, &c. , and enthusiasm
kindled in the young breasts in regard to our Foreign Mission work in SeonL
How many scholars there are in our Mission Sabbath Schools whose parents
go nowhere, and take no interest where their children go. Perhaps the only
interest taken is when the young people bring home their monthly paper, and
read some interesting tale therefrom. Now suppose we had an O.S. children's
monthly paper, ably edited, would it not go far to educate these children and
their careless parents ?
The Press is a mighty factor for good, and let us by all means use it in be-
half of those grand and glorious principles for which our fathers fought
and bled, and which they strove to hand down to posterity a blood-bought
heritage.
Are Covenanting truths worth contending for ? Thank God they are, and let
MH take courage and stand up in defence of the Faith once delivered to the
saints. Are Covenanting truths applicable to the present time ? Yes ; and
if they were put in practice they would very soon settle the questions which
are so much disturbing the Churches at the present day. Trusting you may
see your way to insert these suggestions, — I am, &c., M. M.
Glasgow.
€c£ledta6tijca:I Intelligence.
ORDINATION AT MIDLEM.
Ok Thursday last the vacancy which had existed in the Original Seces-
aion Church at Midlem for about a year was filled up by the ordination
6l4 ECCLESIASTICAL INTELLIGENCE.
and indnction of tho Rev. James Young, probationer, Perth. Unfor-
tnnately, the weather was most unfavoural^le, and many from a distance
who would otherwise have been present were consequently absent ; still,
there was a very considerable gathering in the quaint old church when the
Rev. Mr. Gardiner, Pollokshaws, entered and read three times the edict of
the Presbytery. Needless to say, no objections were offered, the settlement
being a most harmonious one ; and presently the ministers who had been wait-
ing in the adjoining manse entered. The opening services of devotion were
conducted by the Rev. Mr. Anderson, Kirkcaldy, after which the Rev. Mr.
Sturrock, Edinburgh, preached an able and appropriate sermon from Revela-
tion iii. 8 — " I know thy works ; behold, I have set before thee an open door,
and no man can shut it ; for thou hast a little strength and hast kept My
word and hast not denied My name." In his sermon Mr. Sturrock suggested
an interesting parallel between the struggling but faithful church at Phila-
delphia and the staunch, though comparatively small, congregation at Midlem.
The questions were put to Mr. Young by the Rev. Mr. Hobart, Carluke, and
satisfactorily answered ; and Mr. Hobart thereafter very solemnly gave the
ordination prayer, the ministers round the pulpit laying their hands on the
young pastor's head. The address to the newly- ordained pastor was given by
the Rev. Mr. Matthew, whose translation to Kilwinning had caused the
vacancy, and, as every one expected, it was both simple and impressive. Mr.
Matthew's former pastorate of the congregation rendered him peculiarly able
to give the charge to his successor. He reminded him of the duties that
lay before him as an individual Christian, as a btudent, as a preacher, and as
a pastor, and in each respect set before Mr. Young a lofty ideal. The
address to the congregation was given by Mr. Gardiner, who recommended tlie
people to give their minister a welcome enti*ance, both to their homes and to
their hearts, and to support him in his work by prayer, by Christian service,
and by missionary liberality. At the close, an opportunity to welcome the
new minister was given to the congregation, among whom were many from
churches of other denominations, including the Rev. Mr. Sym, LiUiesleaf
Parish Church, whose presence with them, as well as the part he took in the
after proceedings of the day, was very gratifying to all more immediately
concerned. In the afternoon the ministers and elders, and some others, were
entertained to dinner in the manse, the Rev. Mr. Hobart presiding. After a
substantial dinner, for which Mrs. Mem received special thanks, short
speeches were delivered by tlie chairman. Rev. Messrs. Gardiner, Morton,
Sturrock, Anderaon, Matthew, and Sym ; and by Messrs W. G. Sturrock, J.
Scott, and Youns, sen. An apology for absence was intimated from the Kev.
Mr. Paterson, U.P. Church, Lilliesleaf. A social meeting was held in the
evening. The Rev. Mr. Sturrock presided, and there was a large attendance.
After exercises of praise and prayer, suitable addresses were delivered by the
Rev. Thomas Hobart, Carluke : Rev. A. P. Sym, Lilliesleaf; Rev. Thomaa
Matthew, Kilwinning ; Rev. George Anderson, Kirkcaldy ; Rev. W. B.
Gardiner, Pollokshaws; and Rev. Robert Morton, Perth. An interesting
part of the evening's programme was the presentation to Mr. Young of a purse
containing thirty sovereigns from the ladies of the congregation. The presenta-
tion was neatly made on their behalf by Mr. W. G. Sturrock, session-clerk, who
expressed the satisfaction of the congregation at bavins once more a settled
minister amongst them , and his hope that Mr. Young would long be in their midst as
a faithful pastor. Mr. Youn^ briefly, and with much feeling, returned heartythanks
to the congregation for their friendly welcome, to the ladies for their thoughtful
present, and to Mr. Sturrock for his cheering words. Mr. Cochrane, Galashiels,
one of the elders, handed another purse of sovereigns to the Rev. Mr. Sturrock^
ECCLESIASTICAL INTELLIGENCE. 6 1 5
as a slight acknow]edgmentof his services as interim moderator. Mr. Sturrock, iu
reply, said he hoped it would be Ions before they required another interim moder-
ator. After « pleasant and protitable evening had thus passed, votes of thanks to
the speakers and to the chairman were accorded on the motion of Mr. Gouinlock,
Traquairknowe, and Mr. Scott, Midlem, two of the elders. On Sunday, Mr.
Young was introduced to his flock by his former minister, the Rev. R. Morton^
Perth, who took for his text 2nd Corinthians ix. 15 — ** Thanks be unto Ood
for His unspeakable gift." Mr. Young also preached, taking as his text
Romans i. 15— *'As much as in me is I am ready to preach the Gospel.'^
There was a large attendance, increased by the fact that Lilliesleaf u.P.
Church was doseil owing to the illness of the Rev. Mr. Paterson, who, we aro
glad to learn, is now convalescent. In the evening Mr. Morton again preached,
from Proverbs xxix. 18 — *' Where there is no vision the people perish. ' (From
Southern Reporter of 20th March. )
CALLS.
Kirkintilloch. — At a meeting of this congregation, held on Wednesday, 9th
April, a very harmonious call was given to the Rev. David Matthew, B.D.,
Toberdoney, to be their pastor. The Rev. A. J. Yuill moderated in the calL
Mains Street^ Olasgow. — A meeting of this congregation was held on Mon-
day, 14th April, for the purpose of electing one to be colleague to the Rev.
Professor Aitken, M.A., in the pastoral charge of the congregation. After a
sermon by the Rev. W. B. Garainer, it was unanimously agreed to call the
Rev. Alexander Smellie, M.A., Stranraer.
MEETINGS.
Aberdeen, — At the close of the communion service on the evening of Monday,
7th April, the Rev. W. B. Gardiner, who had been assisting on the occasion^
made an interesting statement regarding the mission at Seoni, and asked the
continued interest of the people in it. Mr. Ritehie, the pastor, also gave an
address on the importance of the Church vigorously pro^cuting missionary
operations both at home and in distant heathen lands. Ayr, — The annual
social meeting in connection with the mission and Sabbath school was held pn
the evening of Tuesday, 13th March, in the Wooflen Church, Wallacetown.
The Rev. John Robertson presided over a gathering which filled the place to
overflowing. After tea, earnest and instructive addresses were delivered by
the Chairman, the Rev. Messrs. Miller, Kirkintilloch, and Matthew, Kilwin-
ning, and Messrs. Gray, missionary to the blind, A. Cuthbert, R. Cuthbert,
and A. S. Taylor. Darvd. — The usual anniversary services here were conducted
on Sabbath, 23rd March, when the Rev. A. Smellie, M.A., Stranraer, preached
in the forenoon and evening, and the Rev. W. W. Spiers, pastor, preached in
the afternoon. There were large congregations, and the collections amounted
to the handsome sum of £57 l£. S^d. The annual social meeting was held on
the following evening^ under the presidency of Mr. Spiers. Addresses were
delivered by the Chairman and the Rev. A. Smellie, M.A., and a varied pro-
gramme of music was gone through. Dundee, — The annual social meeting of
the congregation and Sabbath school was held on the evening of Monday, 3rd
March, in the Upper Hall of the Y.M.C.A. The Rev. P. M*Vicar, pastor,
in the chair. There was a large attendance. After tea, addresses were
delivered by the Chairman, Rev. Andrew Inglis, Dudhope Free Church, and
the Rev. Robert Morton. A large number of prizes were distributed to
scholars. — On the previous week the annual social meeting of those con-
nected with Irvine Square mission was held in the Hall, whicn was crowded.
Addresses were delivered by Mr. M 'Vicar who presided, and Mr. Duncan
Ritehie of the Sailor's 'Home. — We are eratifled to learn that the result of the
sale of work in Dundee at the end of the year was a sum of upwards of £400.
A larse number of articles were left over. A supplementery sale is contem-
plated soon. The congresation feel indebted to all friends who contributed
to this result. Edivbiargh, — The closing meeting for the season of the young
6t6 ecclesiastical intelugence.
•
men's matoal improTement aasociatton was held on Mopday, Slat Mardi,
under the presidency of the pastor, the Rev. J. Starrock. Mr. T. Robertson
^ave an address which was highly appreciated. The report read at
the close showed that the session had been a very successfnl one — four
lectures having been delivered, seven essays read, and one debate had been
'Conducted. Olcutgow, Mains St. — The ninth annual social meeting of the
literary association was held in the hall on Thursday evening, 20th MareL
The chair was occupied by the Rev. £. Ritchie, Paisley, Honorary Prtsaident
of the association, and there was a good attendance. Addresses were de-
livered by the Chairman, and the Rev. 6. Lambie, M.A., Assistant, St
Mary's, Partick. The Secretary, Mr. Robert Wilson, gave in his annual report,
which showed that two addresses had been given — the opening one by the
Honorary President, on Christianity and Secularism, and the other by Mr. D.
Mackinnou, M.A., and that ten papers had been read and a debate conducted.
The evenine's proceedings were much enjoyed. GUugow, Bridgeton. — The
annual sociiu meeting of the Sabbath school was held on the evening of Feb.
121st. There were upwards of 200 children present, and a goodly sprinldlDg
of adults. The Rev. J. M'Kay, pastor, filled the chair, and after tea delivereii
an instructive address bearing on the welfare of the young. He was followed
by the Rev. W. B. Gardiner, and Messrs. M'Kay, Conn and Allan. A lai*ge
number of prizes were distributed. The children themselves contributed
largely to the evening's enjoyment in the way of recitations and music — The
-annual social meeting of the home circle took place on the evening of Tues-
day, 25th March. Mr. John Allan occupied the chair in the absence, through
indisposition, of the esteemed Honorary President, the pastor. Addresses
were delivered by the Chairman and Messrs. James Gray, T. A. Boyd, A.
Pollock and D. Forsyth. The Secretary's Report (Mr. James Conn) was the
most pleasing item in the programme. It was done in rhyme, and toucheil
pleasantly on all the subjects taken up during the session. Olauigov.
I^nnrieston, — The annual social meeting of the Sabbath school was held
on the evening of Tuesday, 4th March, under the presidency of the
pastor, the Rev. A. J. Yuill. After tea in the hall, an adjournment « as
made to the church, when stirring and instructive addresses were delivered
by the Chairman, the Rev. John Buchan, John Knox's Free Church, the
Rev. D. M. Conner, M.A., LL.6., GovanhiU U.P. Church (who was
baptised in Shottsburn church by the late Mr. Hill), and the Rev. W. R
(xardiner, PoUokshaws. The meeting was much appreciated and enjoyed.
Kilwinning. — A missionary meeting was held in Kilwinning Church on the
evening of Monday, 3rd March. There was a good attendance. The Rev.
Thomas Matthew occupied the chair, and, after devotional exercises, addressed
the meeting on the A B C of Christian missions. He referred to the fact
that Kilwinning Congregation had always taken a deep interest in missionary
work, and expressed the hope that they would never cease interesting them-
selves in the Lord's work both at home and abroad. The Rev. W. B.
Gardiner, Convener of the Foreign Mission Committee, made a statement re-
garding the work carried on in and around Seoni, India. Thereafter, addresses
were delivered by the Rev. Thomas Hobart, M.A., Rev. A. J. V'uill, Rev.
John M*Kay and Rev. Ebenezer Ritchie. PoUokshawH — A meeting was held
at PoUokshaws on the evening of Tuesday, 25th March, to hear of the operations
that are being carried on in Seoni, and about mission work generally. The
Rev. William B. Gardiner presided. After devotional exercises had been
conducted by the Rev. Alexander Smellie, M. A., Stranraer, the chairman gave
an account of the work in Seoni — a town containing about 11,000 inhabitants,
but situated in the centre of a very populous district. He referred to the
agents employed, the schools for both boys and girls, the village school of
Bandolc and the Orphanage. He also mentioned that PoUokshaws Congre-
gation had contributed the sum of £205 for Foreign Mission purposes during
the post ten years— being an average of £26 10s. per annum. Stimulating
addresses M'cre delivered by the Rev. John Sturrock, Edinburgh ; Rev.
Thomas Hobart, M.A., Carluke; Rev. Robert Morton, Perth ; and Rev. A. J.
Yuill, Glasgow.
THE
ORIGINAL SECESSION MAGAZINE,
^ JULY, 1890.
n
3(
THE SYNOD MEETING.
Thb various reports submitted to the Synod will be found in this
number of the Moffcuine as well as the interesting account of its pro-
ceedings furnished, as usual, bj the clerk. These will give fall in-
formation as to what was done at the recent meeting, which was felt
bj all present to be pleasant and encouraging.
It is matter of regret that the minimum stipend of our aid-receiving
ministers has this year been reduced considerably. But for a special
effort made not long before the Synod, the reduction would have been
greater. It is well to remember, however, that this has arisen, not
merely from the falling off in the contributions to the Mutual Assist-
ance Fund, but from the larger number of congregations which this
year has shared in the division of it. Still there has been a falling
off in contributions, and it is needful that the attention of our people
should be called to the importance of this Fund, and the need of
its being liberally supported. Both it and the Home Mission Fund,
from which ministers who engage in Home Mission operations receive
their supplements, must be generously remembered, if the work
undertaken by the Church is to be maintained, and none of the posts
presently occupied need to be abandoned. Aid-receiving congrega-
tions require to be reminded that their position of dependence is not
one in which they should be content to remain stationary. The cir-
cumstances of some may be such that their holding their ground is
all that can be reasonably expected ; but this is not the case with
all. The example given by Darvel and Paisley is one worthy of
being followed. If the missionary spirit were diffused more largely
^mongj all our office-bearers and members, it would have an excel -
NO. X. VOL. XIX. 2 S NEW SERIES.
6l8 THE SYNOD MEETING.
lent effect upon the spiritual life of all our congregations, and this
would soon show itself in the finances. It is the money which is
the outflow of spiritual life that the Lord will bless for the oncarrjing
of His work. The little that is given out of love to Christ, and the
desire to see His Kingdom advanced, will do more spiritual work thau
large sums given from lower and less worthy motives. Let none
think that because they cannot give great things, they need give
nothing. The widow's two mites had more value in Christ's eyes
because they were the offering of love and self-denial, than the costly
offerings of the rich, that were given as a matter of custom, and per*
haps for the sake of display.
Our readers will be very sorry to learn that Mr. Robert Blak^ly,
who has laboured with energy and enthusiasm in Seoni for the i^i
two years, has been under the necessity of resigning on account of
his wife's health. She has had repeated attacks of fever, and a re-
turn to her native land is deemed absolutely necessary for the pre-
servation of her health. We are sure that both Mr. and Mrs. Blakelv
have the kind sympathy of the Church under this trial which leads
them to lay down so soon what they had accepted as their life-work.
It is a severe blow to the Mission, but God may be sending it that
we may look all the more to Him, and be more earnest and importun-
ate in our prayers. May He send us an agent to take the place of
those who are coming home, and carry on the good work in which they
have been so zealously engaged. Let us bespeak your prayers that
God may put it into the heart of some one to respond to the call of
the Church for a labourer in the Foreign Mission Field.
The Synod Conference was felt to be very refreshing and stimu-
lating. The need of the Spirit's influences, and the duty of guarding
against everything that would tend to restrain them, was the theme
mostly dwelt upon. Many felt that it was good to be there, and
that it was one of the most helpful meetings we have ever had.
We are thankful that the Report dealing with this periodical is of
such an encouraging nature. The position attained is due to the
energy with which our esteemed Treasurer has done his work, and
the enthusiasm and hopefulness which the worthy Convener throws
into all that he does. We do trust that an effort will be made by
present subscribers to increase its circulation so that the proposals
made in the Report may be fully carried out. The matter rests very
much with our readers, and with our congregations, and we have the
confidence that the call will be responded to. The yoang folks will
find their pages at the end of this number and we are glad to inform
them that the prospect of a large prize-list at the end of the year is
very good.
NOTES ON RECENT SYNODS AND ASSEMBLIES.
An understanding of the times is essential to a knowledge of what
we ought to do. Grod is behind all events in every sphere, and gives
by means of them indications of the path of duty to those who have
the discernment to receive them, Our times, as we have recently
been reminded, are the times of Jesus Christ just as much as the
period during which He appeared among men in the flesh, and even
more so. He is a living force in the history of to-day, and we must
never shut our eyes to this important fact. If our eyes be not
opened to the vision of His throne, with the emerald rainbow of the
covenant encircling it, we shall greatly err in our interpretation of
present movements, and miss altogether their divine and highest
meaning. The Church still, we believe, is His ordained instrument
for the accomplishing of spiritual work, and establishing God's
reign in the hearts and consciences of men. His doings in this
sphere are to be carefully observed, and where He leads we ought to
follow. Viewed in this light, the proceedings of recent ecclesiastical
assemblies are fitted to suggest some useful thoughts.
♦
There is danger of the mere external business of the churches so
engrossing the attention of these gatherings that the higher aspects
of their great work are to a large extent overlooked. Some feel this
so much that they have expressed a desire for a second yearly meet-
ing to be devoted entirely to the spiritual side of the work, and to
the quickening and strengthening of those who are engaged in it.
They wish this meeting to be very much on the lines of the Confer-
ences from which in recent years many have derived so much spiritual
benefit, with this addition, that burning public questions and the
Church's relation to them should form themes of discussion and con-
sultation. A proposal to hold such a meeting was brought forward
in the United Presbyterian Synod, and has been sent down to the
Presbyteries to give them the opportunity of expressing an opinion
about it. There seems to be no reason why more of the time of
the present gatherings should not be devoted to this matter. If
a full tide of spiritual life swept over them, then even the discussion
of purely business matters would have a tone that would lift it high
above that of the world. It is matter of reproach that the times for
devotion should be the times when there is the sparsest attendance.
620 NOTES ON RECENT SYNODS AND ASSEMBLIES.
In the memorial volume of the late lamented Dr. Hatch— one of
the foremost scholars of the day — there is a discourse on the ^* Place
of Controversy in the Christian Life." WhiU justifying controversy,
he strives to show that the great thing to be aimed at is conformity
to Christ in the character and life. " It is of consequence that ve
should have well-grounded beliefs ; it is of consequence that we
should not let the marvellous powers which God has given us for
finding out the truth grow rusty from disuse ; it is of consequence
that we should ascertain for ourselves what God hsis said and what
He has not said ; it ts of consequence that we should not pick up
our opinions hap-hazard, and let them be like loose stones upon the
surface of the mind, ready to be kicked away by any passer-by. Bnt
it is of vastly greater consequence that through all our search for
truth, or our controversy with supposed errors, we should remember
that belief is subordinate to practice, and that the highest knowledge
which it is possible for us to hold fades into obscurity when compared
with the love of God and the love of men, with the endeavour after
a holy life, and the active effort to do good in our generation." This
is true, but beneath the life characterised by this divine love and
benevolence there must lie a certain stratum of solid belief. If the
belief decays, then the power by which such a life is sustained must
necessarily be weakened. Our beliefs must be defended when they
are attacked, and in thus defending them they gain a firmer hold
upon our minds and hearts, and become more precious to us. In
every age sissaults upon the truth have been overruled to lead the
Church to a larger apprehension of it, and to a stronger attachment
to it.
♦ *
*
This, we feel sure, .will be the ultimate issue of present con-
troversies which are agitating the churches, whatever may be their
i nmediate effect. Christ will use them to lead His Church to a
higher, clearer vision. The controversy that has excited the deepest
interest in Scotland has been that waged in tiie Free Church around
the published utterances of two of its Professors of Theology, Dr.
Dods and Dr. Bruce. The free manner in which they treated the
Bible record, as well as some of its doctrines, gave rise to wide-spread
dissatisfaction which found vent in meetings of various kinds. The
case was brought before the recent Assembly by a report from the
College Committee on the matters complained of, and by a reference
from the Edinburgh Presbytery before which a libel on Dr. Dods had
been laid by some ministers of the Church. The report of the College
Committee was to the effect that after careful investigation into the
writings of the two Professors, it had come to the conclusion that
there was no ground for instituting a process against them for heresy,
but that they had laid themselves open to animadversion and ad-
monition on account of the unguarded way in which they had not in-
frequently expressed themselves. This verdict was practically
Adopted by the Assembly in the motions that were carried. In the
NOTES ON RECENT SYNODS AND ASSEMBLIES. 62 1
discussion on Dr. Dods' views, it was the motion proposed by Dr.
Adam that was carried, and is as foilows : —
The Assembly approve of the report of tlie College Committee in respect of
the conclusions arrived at, that the writings of Dr. Dods do not afford ground
for instituting a process against him as teaching what is at variance with the
Standards of the ('hurch.
But having regard to qu€s:ions which have been raised in connection with
certain passages in Dr. Dods' writings, the Assembly find it necessary to de-
clare as follows : —
(1) This Church holds immovably the cardinal doctrine of our Lord's
Divinity, ami liigldy disan:):oves of all reprcsentfitions, by whatever motive
dictated, which tend to louc. the sense of it.-> vit:il iinportiuice in the minds of
many hearers 01 Li.v' Cuj-yx'!.
(2) This Ciiureli atcadti uly a»lheres to the fundamental doctrine of the
Atonement cis laid down in iic St:iudarfls, and cannot consent to sanction its
l)eing set forth as a mere theory, or U3 only one among many phases or aspects
of the Jjaviour's ileath.
(3) This Clmrcii Ih-mlv b^Moves that the Resurrection of our Lord ia not
only an ineonte-stubly provv- l ii.-',, but one which lies at the very foundation
of the Chriatian system, and it lo jks with lii«;li disjipproval on any apparent
coantenance being given to speeiibitions fitted to bring the reality of it into
question.
(4) With regard to the Holv Scriptures, this Church continues to hold, aB it
has ever done, that they are *' all j^iven by inspiracion of God to bo the rule of
faith and life," and that of thiur infallible and divine authority we are assured
by the inward work of the H«)lv Spirit. It views the use of tiie term "mis-
takes and immondities " to <1 '>oril)c recognised difticuliies in tiie Scriptures as
utterly unwarranted and fitL'/(i to give grave orfcnee.
Finally, the Assembly, whjio thaokiully acknowledging Dr. Dods' strong
declaration of adherence to the doctrine of the Church as laid down in her
Standards, and desiring to do jnsUcti to his higti char.icter and services, find it
necessary in present circumst^mces to remind him, and tiie Churcii's Professors
^nerally, that the primary duty wliich devolves on them in the responsible
offices they have been called to occupy, is to teach and doiond the Church's
faith as embodied in her Confession, and it earnestly exhorts them, even when
engaged in laudable efforts, to convince gains-iyer8, and to help the douljting
to be on their guard ag-ainst all lines of argument and forms of expression
which may have a tendency to endanger the faith of others, and to wound
the hearts of those who tremble at the Divine Word.
It was a similar motion that won a majority in the dincnssion on
Dr. Bruce's critical views. It was proposed by the Rev. R. G.
Balfour, and was in the following terms : —
The General Assembly approve of the report of the Committee as regards its
conclusion, finding no ground for a process agiinst Dr. Bruce as teaching
doctrine opposed to the Standards of the Church. But the Assembly also
declare as follows : — (1) With respect to the inspiration of the Gospels and the
reliable character of their reports as to the life and ministry of our blessed
J»rd, the Assembly find that, by want of due care in his modes of statement.
62 2 NOTES ON RECENT SYNODS AND ASSEMBLIES.
and by his manner of handling debated questiouB as to the niotiveB and
methods of the Evangelists, Dr. Bruce has given some ground for the mis-
understandings, and for the painful impressions which have existed. (2) With
respect to Dr. Bruce's doctrinal positions and his statements about the system
of the Christian faith, the Assembly find ground for reminding Dr. Bruce that,
in endeavouring to state afresh the bearing of our Lord's teaching, and in set-
ting forth aspirations after fresh light upon the matter of the teaching received
among us, he was bound to express himself not only with essential loyalty to
the Church's faith, professed by him along with all his brethren, but also k
as to make that continued loyalty evidenc to the world. With reference to
both departments of this finding, the Assembly call Dr. Bruce's special atten-
tion to the responsibilities attaching to his position. Finally, the Assembly
cordially recognise the good gifts which Dr. Bruce has brought to the service
of the Church in the line of theological literature and otherwise, as well u
those which distinguish Dr. Dods, whose case was before the Assembly at &
former diet. They assure those brethren of the Assembly's earnest desire for
their acceptance and success in the important work which the Church has en-
trusted to them.
Both motions may be cited as good examples of the attempt to '* rau
with the hare and hunt with the hounds." Thej have the look of
conserving the truth as exhibited in the Church's accepted standards—
and are meant to have this, and yet they virtually grant toleration
to the views and methods that have been made matter of such
serious complaint. All that the professors are asked to do, is to
exercise more prudence and caution, and to take into account the
susceptibilities of brethren whose consciences are apt to be wounded
by their straying from the beaten path. It is difficult to see how a
middle position like this can long be maintained. In defending the
professors a great deal was made of the apologetic aim, which they had
in their utterances and writings, and of the fact that failure to imder-
stand this had led to misconstruction and misinterpretation. Dr. Dodh
in his now famous St. Giles' Sermon, was holding out the olive branch
to those who had intellectual difficulties about such doctrines as the
Incarnation, the Atonement, the Resurrection, and the Infallibility
of Scripture, and by making every possible concession to them, waj*
seeking to win them to the side of Christianity. It is held that the
sermon as a whole, and in its various parts, can only be rightly
interpreted in the light of this aim, and that grievous misunderstand-
ing of it has arisen from losing sight of it. Dr. Bruce again, in bis
critical investigations into the origin, character, and teaching of our
Gospels, had in view those who deny that in them we possess auy
authentic record, and by taking as far as possible their ground, and
adopting their principles, sought to show that their negative con-
clusions are unwarranted. If this had been kept in view, it is
maintained, the charge brought against his book — that it was
destructive and not constructive — w^ould never have been made.
Whatever truth there is in this contention — and we do not say there
is none — it must be said that the sympathy shown in the writings
under review with negative positions, in contrast to the indifferenco
NOTES ON RECENT SYNODS AND ASSEMBLIES. 623
<lisplayed to accepted doctrines, furnished ample cause for the
apprehensions and anxieties that were felt and expressed by many.
If the concessions were made for the sake of argument, this should
have been far more plainly stated than it was. This is Jiot the first
time in theological controversy or in apologetic argument this method
has been adopted, but we know of no case in which the writer did not
make it dear that the positions taken up were assumed for a distinct
purpose. One cannot help having the feeling, notwithstanding all
that has been said, that there is a disposition to leave behind the old
well-defined landmarks in doctrine — a disposition that may be
checked for a season by what has taken place, but will not be alto-
gether repressed.
*
The fundamental point, which has been very much left untouched
by the decisions, is the quality and the effect of the inspiration en-
joyed by the writers of the sacred volume. If it did not secure
accuracy and reliableness in the record of the progressive Divine
ro'velation, culminating in Christ and His Apostles — if in the literary
part of their work it left them very much on the level of other writers
of their time, then there can be no harm not only in subjecting their
work to the same critical investigation as that of others, but in ex-
plaining it in the same way. But this, as was clearly pointed out, is
not the doctrine of Scripture that has hitherto been held in the Free
Church, or even in the Presbyterian Church, as a whole. The per-
fection of the Bible record as a vehicle of the Divine revelation hsis
certainly formed an essential part of the doctrine hitherto accepted.
This doctrine is, we think, more in harmony with the facts than oue
that would virtually reduce the record of Scripture to the level of
other human records. Both in form and in substance the Old
Testament, as well as the New, stands immeasurably above all other
writings belonging to the same period. Mr. Gladstone has emphasised
t liis point in his recent valuable and weighty contributions to the
iliscussion of Old Testament literature. The only satisfactory ex-
planation of this is the old one, that the writers were the subjects of
a Divine afflatus or inspiration, that did not destroy their individu-
ality, but cousecrated it to the great task of giving a faithful, trust-
worthy record of supernatural Divine revelation. Whatever might
be the literary methods adopted by them — this offers a field for
interesting fruitful investigation — they had the guidance of the Spirit
in the employment of them, and hence the result has a character
lifting it high above ordinary human records.
*
The current is, however, running strongly away from this old and
well-tried standpoint. It is not only in the Free Church of Scotland
that it has made itself felt. In the High Church party iu the Anglican
624 NOT£S ON RECENT SYNODS AND ASSEMBLIES.
Communion it has made its appearance, very much to the grief and
conoem of its leader, Dr. Liddon, who, in this matter, takes his
stand firmly and resolutely in the ''old paths." The publication of
** Lux Mundi," a series of essays by prominent High Church divines,,
has caused, apd is still causing great agitation. The one by Dr Gore,
Principal of Pusey House, Oxford, and the editor of the whole series
on "The Holy Spirit and Inspiration," is the one to which most
sericttis exception is taken. In it the doctrine of plenary inspiration is
abandoned. It is affirmed that the inspiration enjoyed by the sacred
writers differs not in kind, but only in degree, from that enjoyed by
the wise men of heathen nations. The difference arises from the voca*
tion to 'which Israel was called by God, and the training to which it
was subjectedf with a t^iew to fit it for the fulfilment of it. It arose
very ipuch from the tpecial point of view from which, through God*j>
training of the nation, Jewish writers looked at things. The chrono-
logical arrangement of Old Testament literature advocated by the most
advanced school of Higher Criticism is accepted. What is presented
as history may yet be unhistorical. Prophetic inspiration is held to
be confdstent with erroneous anticipations. Christ's treatment of the
Old Testament in His discourses, in ascribing the Pentateuch to Moses
and the CXth Psalm to David, is explained to mean nothing more
than that He adopted the commonly received opinions of His time.
It is on this teaching of Christ that Dr. Liddon, in opposing this
movement in the ranks of his followers, takes his stand. These are
his words : — '* His authority is as vital an element in the settlement
of controverted matters respecting the Old Testament, as is the
science of language or the science of histoiy, and — it must be added,
in our present circumstances, even although the addition should
appear to be ironical — of greater weight. The appeal to Him on
these Old Testament questions really corresponds to an axiom in
mathematics, or to a first principle in morals, when some calculation
or discussion has for the time lost itself in details which shut out
from view the original truth on which all really depends."
The trend of opinion manifesting itself in this circle, is seen else-
where. The very fact that the name of the Rev. G. A. Smith of
Aberdeen was mentioned in connection with the chair in the English
Presbyterian College, rendered vacant by the lamented death of Pro-
fessor Elmslie, shows that there are some in this Church favourable
to these views with which he is prominently identified. It is under-
stood that his name was withdrawn, in deference to a strong desire
that controversy on those points should be avoided in the meantime.
No guidance in relation to them is given in the Articles of Faith,
which have this year been adopted. Strong objection was taken, it
may be remembered, last year to the Article on Holy Scripture —
both to the place given to it in the series near the end, and to the
colourless character of it. It has been amended, and has now re-
ceived the sanction of the supreme court. It now reads as follows :
"We believe that God who manifests Himself in creation and pro-
vidence, and especially in the spirit of man, has been pleased to
NOTES ON RECENT SYNODS AND ASSEMBLIES. 625
reveal His mind and will for our salvation at successive periods and
in various ways ; and that this revelation has been, so far as needful,
committed to writing by men inspired of the Holy Spirit in the Scrip-
tures of the Old and New Testaments, which are therefore to be de-
voutly studied by all as God's written Word or message to mankind ;
and we reverently acknowledge the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scrip-
tures to be the Supreme Judge in questions of faith and duty."
This is a great improvement upon the one formerly proposed, but
does not affirm the perfection and sufficiency of Scripture, and falls
far below the grand and comprehensive declarations of the West-
minster (yonl'ession on this vital subject. It leaves room for the most
diverse views on the question of iuBpiratiou.
In the United Prcbbyterian Synod this subject came before it only
in a very indirect way. The complaint as to the teaching in the
Theological 1 1 ill, which gave rise to a koen discussion ending in the
appointment of a large and representative committee to make in-
vestigation into the whole matter, shows that these modern currents
are making themselves felt here. "J'he ground of the complaint is
that the questions raised by modern critical investigation are not
adequately discussed by the Professors — one in particular — who
ought to deal with them. That it indicates a leaning on the part
of some to the modern critical views is pretty evident.
A battle on the character of the sacred writings is impending, but
the Book has come scatheless through many a heated furnace before,
and we need have do fear as to the issue.
♦
Even in the discussion of the literary methods employed by the
sacred writers, regtu'd must be had to the inspiration under which
they worked. This is finely and eifectively put in a recent sermon
preached by Dr. Liddon at Oxford in which he most ably defends the
old doctrine of plenary inspiration. He calls it an inspiration of
selection — enabling the writers to select from a mass of materiala
lying to their hand, what would best servo the purpose which they
had in view. And he lays down the principle that the action of the
Holy Spirit in this infallible guidance *' is limited by His own attri-
butes. He is the Spirit of Truth, not only because it is the Truth
which He teaches, but also because He Himself is true. Therefore
He cannot contradict Himself. .... Nor can He take into His
service literarv fictions which trifle with the law and sense of truth.
If it could really be shown that the addresses ascribed to Moses in
Deuteronomy were the comjwsition of a writer of the age of Josiah,
who desired to secure for later legal decisions or institutions the
countenance of the great law-giver ; or that speeches attributed to
David in the Book of Chronicles were never uttered by the real
David at all, but only represent the opinion of a sacerdotal tribe after
the exile, as to what David, if properly instructed, would or should
have said ; or that passages in Daniel that claim to be predictions of
626 NOTES ON RECENT SYNODS AND ASSEMBLIES.
Gftill future events are really a history of events which the writer had
himself witnessed, and are thrown into a predictive form, in order to
invigorate national enthusiasm at a critical moment by the spectacle
of the imaginary fulfilment of a fictitious prophecy ; or that the dis-
courses of our Lord reported by St. John are not the tpstssima ver^xt
of the same Son of Man who speaks in the Synoptic Gospels, but
only the voice of some Christian of the second century or earlier,
whose thought has been steeped in the Platonised Judaism of
Alexandria, or, perhaps, of the Apostle of Love, who, however, could
not distinguish clearly between his own and his Divine Master's
words ; or that the sermons of St. Peter and St. Paul in the Acts
resemble each other too closely to have been really uttered by those
Apostles, and only represent a literary effort to produce ecclesiastical
harmony in the sub-apostolic age ; or that the pastoral epistles of St
Paul, although expressly claiming to be his work, were, in fact, com-
posed when the struggle with Gnosticism had obliged the Church to
create a more elaborate organisation, and are largely due to an
endeavour to procure for this organisation the sanction of the great
Apostle's name ; if, I say, these and such-like theories which might
be mentioned, could be shown to be based on fact, it surely would
be shown at the same time that the Holy Spirit could not have
inspired the writings in question."
*
The relation of the churches to their accepted symbol of doctrine
— the Westminster Confession — was not directly matter of discussion
in any of the recent gatherings. It seems to be the general idea
that the Articles of Faith adopted by the English Presbyterian Synod
will ultimately supersede the Westminster Confession as a declara-
tion of its belief and a term of communion. As a recommendation
of them Dr. Dykes mentioned, in submitting them for the Synod's
approval and sanction, that they contained only 2108 words, where-
as there were 11,741 found in the Westminster Confession. The
Committee in the Free Church that was appointed a year ago to
consider its relation to this standard has, by a majority, oome to the
conclusion that the best course is to follow that taken some yeai>
ftgo by the English Presbyterian and United Presbyterian Churches,
and frame a declaratory Act explaining the sense in which some parts
of Confessional doctrine are understood, and setting forth more fully
some aspects of doctrine to which, it is thought, justice is not done
in the Confession. It has been re-appointed to travel in this direc
tion, and to report to the Assembly of 1891. In America the move-
ment for revision has been • agitating all parts of the Presbyterian
Churoh. The question as to whether revision should be gone about
or not was sent down to Presbyteries last year, and gave rise tu
many animated discussions. The returns which were laid on the
table of the General Assembly meeting at Saratoga in May gave a
large majority in favour of revision. 132 Presbyteries have favoun>i
NOTES ON RECENT SYNODS AND ASSEMBLIES. 627
it, 66 have opposed it, 7 have declined to vote, and 8 have not Bent
in any return. Dr Shedd, who has been one of the ablest opponents
of this movement, says that the party which he represents will take
no part in the revision, as they cannot consistently share the responsi-
bility. He expresses a hope that the revision when made will reflect
the opinion of the conservative revisers, and at the same time
€xpresses his fear of the consequences if the views of the advanced
party in the Church should prevail. He thinks that if Puritan
Calvinism should be modified by the admission of Arminian elements,
that in its turn will sink into Unitarianism.
* *
In the discussions on Foreign Mission work the place given to
-secular education was again prominently brought forward. The
report of the deputies appointed some time ago by the Free Church
to visit the Indian Mission field, submitted to the recent Assembly,
has made it all too plain that far too much of the Church's energy and
means are being devoted to mere secular education. While admitting
that higher education must find a place, and an important place,
among mission agencies, if caste Hinduism is to be reached, the depu-
ties express their conviction that in the Colleges and High Schools sup-
ported by the Church the Christian element is reduced to a minimum ;
in fact, that their character has become very much changed since
their institution. '^ Our missionaries in the old days were accus-
tomed to combine the evangelistic and educational sides of our mission
in a manner not possible now, owing to the pressure of the Govern-
ment University and Upper School systems, which has compelled
them to concentrate their attention on the educational side, and to
^ve an amount of time and strength to prepare their students for
examinations which was not required in the earlier days.'' Place
side by side with this a statement made by Dr. Lindsay, in reply to
a pointed inquiry, at a mission breakfast. " The Indian Mission
-Oolleges were not anti-Christian, but they were secular ; and though
the teachers were not allowed to speak of Christianity in College
hours, they could do so after College hours." It is little wonder
that while at the first, when they were recognised as Christianising
institutions^ they produced many converts, in more recent years con-
versions should practically have ceased in connection with them. It
is difficult to see how, in maintaining these institutions, the Church is
carrying out the great command, '' Go ye unto all the world and preach
the Gospel to every creature." There is a growing feeling in all the
•churches that in entering into competition with Government Colleges
and High Schools, missionaries have made a sad blunder, which has
bad a most injurious effect upon the progress of the Gospel in India.
With this there is a deepening conviction that the main work of the
<^hurch is to make known the Gospel message, and that to this its
•educational work ought to be made subordinate. All missionary
628 NOTES ON RECENT SVNODS AND ASSEMBLIES.
educational institutions should have a Christian character, and thi»
so stamped upon them that none may fail to recognise it.
♦ ♦
Signs of coming conflict between the churches made their appear-
ance in the past meetings. Mr. Gladstone's recent speech and vote
in favour of the disestablishment of our Scottish National Church has
quickened the activities of those who take opposite sides on this que&-
tion. The Established Church has taken up an attitude of defiance,
and is preparing the sinews of war for the coming struggle. The
pity is, that it does not see the need of reformation within. For the
first time, we suppose, since the Reformation, was the opening
prayer at the Assembly gatherings read this year from a prayer-
book. Both the United Presbyterian Church and the Free Church
are jubilant at the prospect which they cherish of a speedy attain-
ment of their end. Whether the prospect is well grounded or not,
events ere long Will prove. If it were a question of one church beiug
deppived of a civil privilege and social status it has long enjoyed, it
would be a matter of little coucern to us what the issue might be.
But there are far more momentous matters involved, which are being
sadly overlooked. The Protestant character of the nation may not be
bound up with the maintenance of Established Churches, but it is
certainly very intimately connected with it. And surely the preser-
vation of this ought to be earnestly sought, in view of the encroach-
ments of Romanism, the sworn foe of all liberty, civil and religious.
♦ ♦
•ft-
The mention of Romanism recalls the loss which the Protestant
cause has sustained in the death of Dr. J. A. Wylie. We cannot
do better than place before our readers the remarks on this yeteran
Protestant champion made by the Rev. J. Stnrrock, Edinburgh, on
the Sabbath after his lamented death.
Dr. Wy lie's end came so quickly that it may with truth be said he
died in harness, for he had just seen issued from the press the third
volume of his " History of the Scottish Nation." Only a few dav^
before he took unwell he kindly presented me with a copy of the
volume, as he had done with the previous ones, and when I thanked
him and congratulated him on seeing the heavy undertaking half
done, he mentioned the interesting periods in our history that were
to be taken up in the other three volumes that were to follow, ant)
he remarked, *' That will finish the work, if it does not finish me."^
Little did either of us think that the words spoken were to be in a
sense prophetic. May the Lord raise up a worthy successor to take
his place and carry on the important work in which he was speciallr
engaged — work in which all the churches should be alike interested —
that of instructing divinity students, the future ministry in our land.
NOTES ON RECENT SYNODS AND ASSEMBLIES. 629
in the knowledge of the erroneous and dangerous tenets of Popery,
and in the knowledge of their grand antidote, Protestant truth and
Keformed principle, drawn directly from the inspired Word of God.
By what I felt to be a strange coincidence, there came into my hands,
only yesterday, a small volume containing the Bond of Adherence to
our National Covenants that was sworn and subscribed by ministers,
preachers, and students of divinity belonging to the Original Secession
Synod in September, 1828, just after the union of the Constitutional
Presbytery and the Protestors had been effected; and among the
names of the students I found that of James Aitken Wylie side by
side with those of Archibald Brown, David Bum, George Roger, and
other well-known names, and of all these subscribing Covenanters Dr.
Wylie, I believe, was the last survivor. The same little volume con-
tains also the names of those who subscribed the Bond in 1842, after
the union of that year — ministers, preachers, students, and elders —
and there again Dr. Wylle's name appears as minister at Dollar, and,
along with many others, that of my own father, at whose ordination
at Midholm Dr. Wylie preached the concluding sermoil. Even of
those who signed then — a much larger number than in 1828 — com-
paratively few, I believe, are now living, the only ones I recognised
being our revered father. Rev. John Robertson of Ayr, who subscribed
as a preacher of the gospel, and Rev. Edward A. Thomson, of this
city, and Rev. Robert Mackay, still labouring at an advanced age in
America, both of whom subscribed as students of divinity. I need
hardly say it was with very peculiar feeling I scanned these faded
yet legible signatures, 40 and 60 years old — names of men whose
memories we revere and cherish, who have nearly all passed away —
all of them, let us trust, to be with Him whom they served on earth,
and to be for ever crowned with the honour which His Father
bestows. A very interesting and full sketch of Dr. Wylie's life and
work appears in the Bulwark for June, prepared, we believe, by the
Rev. Dr. Scott, Saltcoats. We trust that some permanent memorial
of him will, in time, be given to the world.
THE UNITED ORIGINAL SECESSION SYNOD.
Mekting at Glasgow, Mat, 1890.
The Synod of United Original Seceders met in Mains Street Churchy
Glasgow, on Monday, 26th May, 1890, and was opened with a sermoD
by the Rev. Peter M*Vicar, Dundee, the retiring Moderator, from
2 Peter, iii. 18 : " But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." At the close of public worship, the
Synod was constituted with prayer by the Rev. Peter MTicar,
Moderator,^nd the roll of members called and adjusted. It was
reported by the Clerk of Perth and Aberdeen Presbytery that, since
last meeting of Synod, the Rev. Robert Brash, Birsay, had resigned
the pastoral charge of that congregation, and that the pastoral tie
had been dissolved on the ground of physical weakness, and he moved
that Mr. Brash's name be dropped from the roll, which was agreed to.
It was also reported by the Clerk of Ayr Presbytery that, since former
meeting of Synod, the Rev. David Matthew, B.D., had demitted the
pastoral charge of Toberdoney congregation, and that he had been
loosed from his charge ; and he moved that Mr. Matthew's name be
dropped from the roU, which was agreed to. It was reported by the
Clerk, in name of the Clerk of Glasgow Presbytery, who was imable
to attend on account of domestic affliction and bereavement, that
since Synod last met the pastoral relationship between the He?.
Andrew Miller and the Kirkintilloch congregation had been dissolved,
and he moved that Mr. Miller's name be dropped from the roll, which
was agreed to. The Convener of the Foreign Mission Committee re-
ported that, since last meeting of Synod, the Rev. George Anderson
had ceased his connection with that Committee, and with the congre-
gation at Seoui, thereby depriving himself of a seat as a constituent
member of Synod, and he moved that Mr. Anderson's name be
dropped from the roll, which was agreed to. The Clerk of Edinburgh
Presbytery reported that, since previous meeting of Synod, Mr. James
Young, preacher of the Gospel, had been ordained to the pastoral
oversight of Midlem congregation, and he moved that Mr. Young's
name be added to the roll, which was agreed to. On being called,
Mr. Young answered to his name, and took his seat as a member of
Court It was reported by the Convener of the Foreign Mission
Committee that^ since last meeting of Synod, Mr. David Finlayson,
preacher of the Gospel, had been ordained as a missionary for the
foreign field, and had been placed in charge of the mission congrega-
tion at Seoni, and he moved that Mr. Finlayson's name be added to
the roll, which was agreed to. On proceeding to the appointment of
MEETING OF THE UNITED ORIGINAL SECESSION SYNOD.
631
a moderator for the current jear, it was agreed, on the nomination
of the Moderator, to appoint the Kev. Thomas Matthew of Kilwinning
to the office, and Mr. Matthew having taken the chair^ addressed th&
Synod on '^ Our Position and its Duties." The following is a list of
the members of Synod for the current year :
PRESBYTERY OP AYR.
Ministers.
Rev. John Robertson
Rev. Professor James Spence
Rev. William W. Spiers
Rev. Edward White
Rev. Thomas Matthew
Rev. Alexander Smellie, M.A.
Ruling Eiders.
Mr. John Taylor
Mr. Daniel Wilson
Mr. Jo|m Laird
Mr. Ribert Howie
Mr. James Rankin
Congregations.
Ayr
Auchinleck
Darvel
Dromore
Kilmarnock
Kilwinoing
Stranraer
Toberdoney
PRESBYTERY OF EDINBURGH.
Rev. Thomas Hobart, M.A.
Rev. John Sturrock
Rev. James Young
Mr. Archibald Brown
Mr. David Harley
Mr. James Crombie
Mr. William Scott
Carluke
Edinburgh
Kirkcaldy
Midlem
PRESBYTERY OF GLASGOW.
Rev Professor W. F. Aitken,M.A. Mr. S. W« M'Cracken
Rev. Alexander J. Yuill
Rev. John M'Kay
Rev. Ebenezer Ritchie
Rev. William B. Gardiner
Rev. John Ritchie
Mr. James Robertson
Mr. WUUam Peterkin
Mr. William Lyon
Mr. David Be^
Mr. William Kyle
Mr. James Strathern
Mains St.,Glasgo«»
Laurieston, Do.
Bridgeton, Do.
Kirkintilloch
Paisley
Pollokshaws
Shottsburn
PRESBYTERY OF PERTH AND ABERDEEN.
Rev. Ebenezer Ritchie
Rev. Alexander Stirling
Rev James Patrick
Rev. George Anderson
Rev. Peter M'Vicar
Rev. Robert Stewart
Rev. Robert Morton
Rev. David Finlayson
Rev. Charles S. Findlay
Mr. John Govan
Aberdeen
Mr. John Matthew
Arbroath
Birsay
Mr. James J. Anderson
Carnoustie
Mr. William Raitt
Coupar AngusL
Mr. James H. Galloway
Dundee
Kirriemuir
Olrig
Mr. James Hendry
Perth
Seoni
Thurso
<632 MEETING OF THE
It Mras intimated that au apology for absence had been receWed
from the Rev. John Ritchie, Shottsburn, and the Rev. Edward White,
Droraore. on the ground of domestic affliction, and it was agreed to
sustain the reason assigned' for absence. An extract from the
minutes of the Secession Synod in Ireland wtis submitted, intimating
the appointment of the Rev. John F. Moore, M.A., Garmany's Grove,
and the Rev. George M*Mahon, M.A., Belfast, as deputies to the
^ynod, and it was agreed to place their names on the roll. The
Rev. Robert Brash, late of Birsay ; Rev. George Anderson, late of
Seoni, and Rev. Andrew Miller, late of Kirkintilloch, being present,
were invited to sit and deliberate. The Business Committee presented
a report of the business to come before the meeting, and the order in
which it was proposed to be considered, and the report was received.
A Committee on Bills and Overtures was appointed, with the Moder-
ator as Convener, to receive any additional papers for the Synod.
This Committee submitted a report on Tuesday morning which wu
adopted. The Rev. James Young, Midlem, was appointed to conduct
•devotional exercises on Tuesday mornings and Mr. Archibald Browu,
ruling-elder, Carluke, on Wednesday morning, after the Synod had
been constituted.' The following is a summary of the more iuh
portant business that came before the Synod at the different
sederunts : —
I. FINANCK — Reports bearing on the financial conditioH of the
Church, and containing evidence of the continued liberality of those
under the inspection of the Synod, were submitted. These reports
included : —
1. TJie Accounts of the Syn/nl Treasurer. — The accounts of the
Synod Treasurer for the year ending. 30th April, 1890, were laid on
the table, and printed copies distributed among the members. The
portions read comprised : (1) The comparative statement of contribu-
tions in connection with each Synodictd Fund for the past and pre-
ceding years; (2) The comparative statement of congregational
contributions for the years 1888-89 and 1889-90; and (3) The state
of the Funds at the close of the financial year. The Auditor's
certificate attesting the accuracy of the Treasiu*er's Books was also
read.
2. The Report of the Finance Conimitiee, — The report of the
Finance Committee was presented by the Rev. William B. Gardiner,
donvener. The report having been printed and in the hands of
members, was held as read. Reference was made in the report to the
gratifying circumstance that the total receipts for the past year
amounted to £1,721 198. 2d., being an increase of £90 18s. 6^,
over the receipts for the previous year. The report gave details re-
garding the different schemes of the Synod, and indicated the sources
from whence the income had been derived and the mode in which the
outlay had been expended. After various explanations had been given
concerning portions of this report^ it was moved by the Rev. Robert
Morton, seconded by the Rev. Thomas Hobart, and unanimously agreed
UNITED ORIGINAL SECESSION SYNOD. 633
to, that the report now suhmitted be received with gratitude to the
Lord for the measure of Christian liberality displayed by our people ;
that the report be adopted; that the Committee, and particularly
the CoDTener, be warmly thauked for attending to the finances of the
Synod during the past yeflir ; and that the Committee be re-appointed
— Mr. Gardiner, Convener. It was remitted to the Finance Committee
to issue a recommendation to Managers and Office-Bearers of the
congregations in regard to the best mode of raising contributions for
the different Svnod Funds.
3. The Report on t/ie Mission Box and Card Scheme. — The report
on the Family Box and Collecting Card Scheme for augmenting the
Funds devoted to Foreign Mission Work was submitted by the Rev.
Alexander Stirling, Arbroath. The following is the report —
Report AnttU Family Box and CoUectin(f Card Scheme, 1889-90,
It must be most gratifying to the Synod to learn that the financial condition
of this department of the Foreign MiBnion Source of Revenue is in a much
more satisfactory condition tlian it has been for three or four years, through-
out which period it had all the appearance of being on the declining scale ;
but, as the following statement will show, during the year now closed there
has been a most encouraging increase in the contributions. Let us hope that
it may be the beginning of still better and brighter days.
In eleven of our Congregations, the Family Boxes have been in use, with the
result that the sum of £37 198. O^d has been raised. Last year it was
£32 Is. 6d., and the year before £37 Gs. 9d — the contributions for the year now
closed thus showing an increase of £5 17s. GJd. compared with those of last
year, and of 13s. 34d. compared with 1887-88.
In twenty-one of our Congregations the Collecting-Cards have been used,
and the amount raised is £97 13s. Last year it was £84 10s. 4d., aud in 1887-88
it was £94 3s. Id., thus showing an increase for the year now closed of
£13 2s. 8d. compared with last year, and of £3 98. lid. compared with the
year before.
In three of the Congregations connected with the Irish Synod the Collecting-
Cards have been used on behalf of the Seoni Orphanage Fund, and the sum
raised thereby is £6 8s. 4d., which is a few shillings more than was collected
last year.
The total amount raised by both Synods is £142 Os. 4id., which is £19 6s. O^d.
more than the total of last year. The outlay in connection with the manage-
ment of the Scheme amounts to £5 2s. 6d., thus showing a clear gain of
£136 178. lO^d., which is an increase of £15 178. 64d., compared with last
year. Respectfully submitted by
Alexander Stirling.
Arbroath, 24M May, 1890.
After hearing this report, it was moved by the Rev. William W.
Spiers, seconded by the Rev. Oharles S. Findlaj, and agreed to, that
the Synod adopt the report now presented ; thank Mr. Stirling very
heartily for attending to the matter with which he was entrusted ;
and re-appoint Mr. Stirling to take charge of the Scheme during the
ensuing year. It was agreed that for the current year the proceeds
2 T
634 MEETING OF THE
of the Mission Boxes be appropriated to the general Foreign Mission
Fond, while the amount raised by the young people who receive col-
lecting cards be devoted to the Seoni Orphanage.
II. THE ORIGINAL SECESSION MAGAZINE.— The Report
of the Magazine Committee wits presented by the Rev. Thonus
Hobart, Convener. The report being in print and in the bands of
members, was held as read. It referred to the number of copies
printed and disposed of during the past year, to the income and ex-
penditure for the year, and to certain proposals connected with the
future management of the periodical.
After hearing this report, it was moved by the Rev. James Patrick,
seconded by the Rev. Ebenezer Ritchie, Aberdeen, and unanimously
agreed to, that the report be adopted and printed in the Magazim ;
that the thanks of the Synod be given to the Committee, and parti-
cularly to the Convener und Treasurer, for attending to the periodical
during the past year ; that a special vote of thanks be given to the
Editor for the ability and fidelity he has displayed in conducting the
Magazine ; that the Synod approve of such honorariums being given
to the contributors as they shall see cause, and as the state of the
funds permit ; and that the Committee consist of the following :—
Rev. Thomas Hobart ; Rev. Robert Morton ; Rev. William W. Spiers;
Mr. Robert Robertson, Edinburgh ; and Mr. William Peterkin, Ghis
gow — Mr. Hobart, Convener, and Mr. Robertson, Treasurer.
III. THE DIVINITY HALL.— The Report of the Hall Committee
was presented by the Rev. Thomas Hobart, Convener. The report
having been printed and distributed among members, was held as
read. The report referred to the number of students attending the
past session of the Hall and the work overtaken by the Professor?.
Reference was also made to the intersessional studies of the young
men under the supervision of different Presbyteries, and the nature
of the last Bursary Competition.
On the motion of the Rev. Alexander Stirling, seconded by the
Rev. Peter M*Vicar, it was unanimously agreed to adopt the Hall
Committee's report, and accord the warmest thanks of the Synod to
the Committee, and especially to the Convener, for all their diligence
in attending to the interests of the Theological Hall. The following
were subsequently appointed members of the Hall Committee : — The
Rev. John Robertson, Rev. Professor Aitken, Rev. John Ritchie, Rev.
Thomas Hobart, Rev. William B. Gardiner, Rev. John Sturrock, Re?
James Patrick, Rev. Alexander Stirling, Rev. Professor Spence, Rev.
Alexander Smellie and Mr. Hugh Howie, Glasgow — Mr. Hobart,
Convener.
The Hall Committee brought up a report on the Syllabus of inter-
sessional study for students. The report was to the effect that, at
the request of the Committee, all the Presbyteries had submitt^ed a
list of books and subjects designed for being prescribed to students
in Arts and Theology. These the Committee had carefully revisud,
UNITED ORIGINAL SECESSION SYNOD. 635
and now presented a scheme of study ex.tendiQg over the whole course.
On the motion of the Rev. William B. Gardiner, it was agreed to
adopt the new Syllabus and substitute it for the one presently in
force ; and it was remitted to the Committee to get it printed and
copies sent to each Presbytery for their future guidance in the ex-
{imination of students.
IV. PULPIT SUPPLY.— The Report of the Committee of Sup-
plies was presented by the Rev. William B. Gardiner, interim con-
vener, in room of the Rev. Andrew Miller, who had ceased acting as
Convener during the past sis months. The report referred to the
number of vacant charges throughout the Church, and the efforts
made to provide them with a supply of sermon. The report is as
follows : —
Report op Comiaittee of Supplies, May, 1890.
Tile Committee appointed to provide supply for the vacant pulpits of the
Church have pleasure in reporting that they have been enabled, through the
generous assistance rendered by brethren in the different Presbyteries, and
otherwise, to give almost constant supply, throughout the year, to the congre-
gations who are without a settled dispensation of ordinances.
Various changes have taken place in several congregations in connection
with the special work of your Committee, and these may be thus reported on :
1. Kirkcaldy Conrfregation was partially supplied up till the end of September,
when arrangements were made for locating the Rev. George Anderson, recently
returned from India, for six months. Mr. Anderson still continues to labour
there as an ordained minister of the Gospel.
2. Kirriemuir Conr/refjcUion, after having Mr. David Finlayson statedly
labouring among them as a preacher of the Gospel for a few months, lost his
serxdces in the end of October, when he was ordained by the Perth and Aber-
deen Presbytery as a missionary for the foreign field. Since November pretty
regular supply has been provided for this congregation.
3. MidUm Cowjreijation received almost regular supply up till the middle of
March, when Mr. James Young, who was licensed at the close of last session
of the Hall, and who had accepted of a call given him by this congregation,
was ordained to the pastoral oversight of the people there.
4u KirkirUtUKich Congregation was rendered vacant in the beginning of October
last through the regretted resignation of the Rev. Andrew Miller, and after a
pastorate of sixteen and a half years. Since then supply has been provided for
xhe vacant pulpit each Sabbath. In a short time this congregation will again
enjoy a stated dispensation of word and ordinance through the settlement of
the Rev. David Matthew, who has accepted of a call to take the spiritual
oversight of the congregation.
5. Toberdoney Congregation has again been entered on the list of vacancies,
after a brief period of pastoral work on the part of the Rev. David Matthew,
who recently tendered his resignation.
6. Birmy Congregation has just become vacant through the resignation, on
the ground of long-continued physical weakness, of the Rev. Robert Brash,
who has faithfully discharged his pastoral duties there for thirty-six years.
During the past year your Committee had to provide supply for Dundee
Congregation for six Sabbaths, on account of the enforced absence of thei
636 MEETING OF THE
pastor, whose health required recrnitmg. Supply has also been provided for
the congregation of Mains Street, Glasgow, from time to time, and more par-
ticularly during the two months of the Theological Hall, when Mr. Samuel
Walker, B.A., preacher of the Gospel, assisted Professor Aitken in the dis*
charge of pulpit and pastoral work ; and then in the months of January and
February, when Mr. James Young, preacher of the Crospol, was appointed to
assist Professor Aitken. At present Mains Street pulpit requires supply at
least every alternate Sabbath.
It has to be reported with deep regret that Mr. Samuel Walker intimated
to the GSommittee that he would cease taking appointments from the fourth
Sabbath of January, as he had resolved to leave for one of the Colonies.
Mr. Carruthers has been employed occasionally in giving supply to vacant
pulpits, and his services are available by any minister requiring assistance.
Mr. Tyndal is now wholly unable to engage in any public service.
Our brethren in Ireland have cheerfully given what help was asked of them,
and their services have always been welcomed by those to whom they have
ministered.
Since resigning his charge, Mr. Miller has boen regularly engaged preaching
in various parts of the Church. In these circumstances it was considered more
prudent that he should cease acting as Convener of the Committee, and acconi-
ingly the only other member of Committee agreed to act in this capacity till
the meeting of Synod.
In closing, your Committee would remind their brethren in the ministry
that, until another preacher is licensed, each of them will be expected to give
as much assistance as possible to maiutain ordinances in the different vacancies:
but, judging from the past, it is believed that all will be ready and willing to
respond to the demands judiciously made upon them by any Committee the
Synod may appoint to superintend this important branch of ecclesiastical work.
Respectfully submitted by William B. Gardinbk, interim Convener.
After hearing this report, it was moved by the Rer. Charles S.
Findlay, seconded by Rev. Ebenezer Ritchie, Aberdeen, and unani-
mously agreed to, that the report be adopted and printed in the
Magazine along with the Synod minutes ; that the thanks of the
Synod be given to both members of Committee for their attention to
pulpit supply during the past year, and that the Rev. William B.
Gardiner, and the Rev. Peter M*Vicar, be appointed the Committee
of Supplies for the current year — ^Mr. Gardiner, Convener.
V. MISSIONARY WORK.— Interesting Reports on Missionary
operations both at home and abroad were presented on the Tuesday
evening, and indicated that much was being done to bring the Gospel
to bear on the non-churcb-going population in the vicinity of several
of our congregations in different parts of Scotland, and on thousands
of the heathen in that part of the Central Provinces of India where
our Mission is located. The Reports were called for in the following
order : —
1. Home Missionaiy Operatums. — The Annual Report of the Home
Mission and Congregational Work Committee was laid on the table
by the Rev. Peter M* Vicar, Convener. Printed copies of the Report
UNITED ORIGINAL SECESSION SYNOD. 637
^eing in the hands of the members, it was held as read, and the
'<Jonvener gave a summary of its contents. The Report referred to
the Mission Work carried on during the past year in Ayr, Carnoustie,
Bridgetoi], Laurieston, Kilmarnock, Kirkcaldy, and Kirriemuir, and
also took notice of work of an Evangelistic kind performed in several
other congregations where no Missionary is located. Statistics
were likewise furnished concerning Bible Classes and Sabbath
-Schools. It was then moved by the Rev. John Robertson, seconded
by the Rev. Robert Morton, and unanimously agreed to, that the
Report be adopted ; that the Committee, and particularly the
K 'onvener, be warmly thanked for attending to the Home Missionary
operations carried on in different parts of the Church ; and that the
fallowing Committee be appointed to superintend the Home Mission
Work of the Synod during the ensuing year : — Rev. John Robertson,
Rev. Professor Aitken, Rev. John Ritchie, Rev. Thomas Hobart, Rev.
William B. Gardiner, Rev. John StuiTock, Rev. Peter M*Vicar, Rev.
Thomas Matthew, Rev. George Anderson, Coupar-Angus ; with Mr.
Hugh Howie, Glasgow ; Mr. Robert Sproull, PoUokshaws ; Mr.
William Gibson, Kirkintilloch ; Mr. John Taylor, Ayr ; and Mr.
Robert Mathieson, Perth. — Mr. M' Vicar, Convener.
2. Foreign ^fiss^onary Operations, — The Report of the Foreign
Mission Committee was submitted by the Rev. William B. Gardiner,
Convener. The Report embodied the first Report sent home by
Mr. Blakely of his labours during the past year, and referred among
other things to the ordination of Mr. David Finlayson as a Missionary,
and his safe arrival in India in December last, to the services con-
ducted in the Seoni Church, to Bazaar and Village Work, to Zenana
and Educational Work, to the Orphanage, to the efforts put forth at
home to create or deepen an interest in the work, and to the state
of the finances. The Report being in print was held as read, and the
Convener gave an outline of its contents. Thereafter, it was moved
by the Rev. Alexander Smellie, seconded by the Rev. Thomas
Hobart, and unanimously agreed to, that the Report be adopted ;
ihat the Committee, and especially the Convener, receive the best
thanks of the Synod for looking after the interests of the work in the
Foreign field during the past year; that Mr. Gardiner be re-
appointed Convener, and that the following constitute the Foreign
Mission Committee during the coming year : — Rev. John Robert-
son, Rev. Thomas Matthew and Rev. Alexander Smellie, from Ayr
Presbytery; Rev. Thomas Hobart and Rev. John Sturrock, from
Kdinburgh Presbytery ; Rev. Professor Aitken, Rev. John Ritchie,
and Rev. John M'Kay, from Glasgow Presbytery ; Rev. Alexander
Stirling and Rev. Robert Morton, from Perth and Aberdeen Presby-
tery ; with the following : Mr. Hugh Howie, Glasgow ; Mr. A. G.
Anderson, Ayr ; Mr. William Lyon, Kirkintilloch ; Mr. James H.
Galloway, Dundee ; and Mr. Robert Thomson, Edinburgh. The
Rev. John Robertson took special notice of the Educational Branch
of the work carried on in Seoni, and it was agreed to take up this
subject at another sederunt. It was subsequently agreed, after
» 638 MEETING OF THE
some conversation, to instruct the Foreign Mission Committee to
I consider the propriety of combining Educational with Evangelistic
Work with all convenient speed, and with power to act in this
matter as they see cause.
VI. REFERENCES AND PETITIONS. -A number of Reference*
from Presbyteries and Committees were considered by the Synods
together with Petitions for assistance from some of the Funds, an'l
among others the following : —
1. Call to Rev, Alexander Sniellie, Stranraer. — The Synod took ii]»
the Call addressed by the Congregation of Mains Street, Glasgow, to
the Rev. Alexander Smellie, M.A., Stranraer, and which was referred
simpli^ter to the Synod by the Ayr Presbytery. There appeared
as Commissioners from Mains Street Congregation, Messrs. S. W.
M^Cracken, William J. Isbister, David Roddick, and James Stewart.
From Stranraer Congregation, there appeared as Coramissionerg,
Messrs. Alexander Rankin, John M. Gordon, William M^Math,
Thomas Rankin, and Alexander M'Lelland, juu. From Glasgow
Presbytery, the Rev. AVilliani B. Gardiner and Rev. Alexander J.
Yuill, appeared as Commissioners. Extracts from the minutes both
of Glasgow and Ayr Presbyteries referring to the Call were read.
The minutes of Congregational Meetings held both at Mains Street
Church and in Stranraer were also read. The Reasons for the trails
lation drawn up by the Commissioners from Mains Street, and
Answers to these on the part of the Commissioners from Stranraer,
were likewise read. The Commissioners were then beard at length.
Questions were put to the Commissioners, after which they were
declared to be removed. Before asking Mr. Smellie to state his mind
in reference to the Call, the Rev. Thomas Hobart offered up prayer.
Mr. Smellie was then heard, when he stated to the effect that, after
long and pi*ayerful consideration, and while sympathising deeply witli
Professor Aitken in his present affliction, he regarded it as clearly his
duty to remain at Stranraer ; but at the same time, he w^as willing
to go to Glasgow should the Synod see it dutiful to translate him.
It was then moved by the Rev. John Robertson, seconded by the
Rev. Thomas Hobivrt, and ^agreed to neniine contradicente, that Mr.
Smellie be retained in Stranraer — wherefore the Synod did, aud
hereby do, retain Mr. Smellie in his present pastoral charge. The
Commissioners from Stranraer acquiesced in the decision, took
instruments in the Clerk's hands, aud craved extracts. The
Moderator suitably addressed the Commissionera from both Con-
gregations.
2. Overture anent MemhefTBlup of Committees, — The following over-
ture anent the membership of standing Committees of the Synod was
transmitted by the Perth and Aberdeen Presbytery from the Rev.
James Patrick, Carnoustie, '* Whereas it is desirable that the standing
Committees of Synod should generally vary in their members and be
representative in their character, it is humbly overtured to the
Synod to adopt such means as in its wisdom shall secure these ends.*'
UNITED ORIGINAL SECESSION SYNOD. 639
The overture was read, and Mr. Patrick was heard in its support.
After oonversation it was moved by the Rev. James Patrick, and
seconded bj the Rev. John Sturrock, that the Synod adopt the over-
ture, and appoint a small committee to ascertain how its prayer could
be carried out, and report to a future sederunt. This motion was
agreed to and a committee appointed accordingly, with Mr. Patrick
as Convener. This Committee submitted a report at a subsequent
sederunt. The report was received and the Committee thanked for
their diligence. The Committee afterwards submitted a list of nominn-
tions for the different committees which was approved. The Committee
fiu-ther recommended that one-fourth of the members of the standing
committees retire by rotation, whilst eligible for re-election ; and that
a small committee of selection be appointed to take* charge of arrang-
ing the Committees of Synod. This recommendation was adopted by
the Synod, and the following were accordingly appointed as a
Selection Committee : — Rev. William B. Gardiner, Rev. John
Sturrock, Rev. James Patrick, and Rev. Alexander Smellie — Mr.
Patrick, Convener.
3. Reference from Foreign Mission Committee, — A reference from
the Foreign Mission Committee relative to the resignation of Mr.
Robert Blakely, and asking to be relieved from his engagement in the .
month of September ensuing, was considered. The reference was
read and it is as follows : — " The Convener laid on the table and read
u letter from Mr. Robert Blakely, and dated 6th May, containing his
resignation as Evangelist, and asking to be relieved of his engagement
with the Committee in September ensuing, so as to return home, on
the ground of the state of Mrs. Blakely's healtli. A medical certificate
was also submitted from a surgeon in the Civil Service at Seoni,
declaring the necessity for Mrs. Blakely having a change of air to
her native climate at the earliest date possible. The Committee
i<eceived this intimation with surprise and sorrow, and yet would
desire to sympathise with Mr. and Mrs. Blakely in this affliction. It
was resolved to submit the resignation to the Synod simpliciter for
advice, and the Convener was instructed to give any explanation
necessary."' Mr. Gardiner was heard in explanation, and, after
conversation, it was moved by the Rev. Thomas Hobart, seconded by
the Rev. Alexander Stirling, and agreed to, that the Synod sustain
the reference, accept of Mr. Blakely's resignation for the reason
mentioned and to take effect at the time he specifies, if he cannot
remain longer ; and that an exprension of the deepest sympathy with
Mr. and Mrs. Blakely in the peculiarly trying circumstances in which
they are placed be recorded in the minutes, and transmitted to Mr.
Blakely. It was also agreed to instruct the Foreign Mission Com-
mittee to consider the question as to the appointment of another
Missionary with all convenient speed, and in view of Mr. Blakely 's
return to Scotland.
4. Reference anent Licence of Mr, James Patrick, — A special report
was submitted by the Convener of the Hall Committee from the
Perth and Aberdeen Presbytery anent the licence of Mr. James Patrick,
640 MEETING OF THE
M. A., B.Sc., as a preacher of the Gospel. The report was to the eflect
that Mr. Patrick, who is " a student of Theology of the 3rd year, has
attended at St. Andrews University during the session 1888^9 the
junior classes in Hebrew and Biblical Criticism, and during the
session 1889-90 the senior classes in Hebrew, Biblical Criticism, Church
History, and the Middle Class of Divinity. From the class certificates
it appeared that he has done the work of all the classes with distinguish-
ed ability and success. He has, besides, received from the Senatus of thf
University a Travelling Scholarship, affording him the opportunity of
studying in some German University for three months, of which
privilege, with the consent of the Presbjrtery, he purposes taking
advantage. On this account Mr. Patrick will be prevented attendin*:
the 4th Session of the Divinity Hall in our own Church." The
Presbytery recommend that he be licensed without any further
attendance at our own Divinity Hall. On the motion of the KeT.
Thomas Hobart, seconded by the Rev. Alexander Stirling, it was
agreed, in the special circumstances stated, to instruct the Perth and
Aberdeen Presbytery to license Mr. James Patrick with aD convenient
speed, and on the understanding that he give the usual pledge to
embrace the first favourable opportunity of joining in Covenanting.
5. Petitions for Grants from Home Mission Fund, — Petitions from
the Congregations of Laurieston, Bridgeton, and Carnoustie, regularly
transmitted by the respective Presbyteries under whose inspection
they are, and asking for a renewal of the grant from the Home
Mission Fund to enable them to carry on Missionary operations in the
localities where they are situated, were read. After conversation, it
was moved by the Rev. Peter M* Vicar, seconded by the Rev. Thomas
Hobart, and agreed to unanimously, that the sum of fifty pounds be
granted from the Home Mission Fund to each of these congregations
for the ensuing year.
6. Petition anent Kirriemmr Congregation. — A Petition from the
congregation at Kirriemuir was transmitted through the Perth and
Aberdeen Presbytery to the effect that the congregation is reduced
both in numbers and material wealth, and is unable meantime to call
a pastor ; but being desirous of abiding by the principle:^ for which
they have so long contended, petition the Synod to appoint one to
labour among them as a Missionary. After hearing the petition and
the Rev. Alexander Stirling in its support, it was moved and unani-
mously agreed to that the petition be remitted to the Home Mission
Committee, in conjunction with the Perth and Aberdeen Presbytm,
with instructions to grant the prayer of the petition as soon :i.s
possible, and that the sum of £20 be given out of the Home Mission
Fund to supplement the amount that may be required for the support
of a Missionary during the current year.
7. Reference anent Kilmarnock Congregation. — A Reference from
the Home Mission Committee was considered regarding the allowance
to be given for assisting to maintain a Missionary in Kilmarnock.
The Rev. Peter M* Vicar stated the reference, and after conversation
it was moved and unanimously agreed to that the sum of £35 be
UNITED ORIGINAL SECESSION SYNOD. 64I
granted from the Home Mission Fand to supplement the amount to
be given by the Kilmarnock Congregation as a salary to the present
Aiissionary for the ensuing year, it being understood that the Kil-
marnock Congregation would give a salary of £40. A Reference
from Ayr Presbytery anent certain financial matters connected with
Kilmarnock Congregation was taken up. The reference was read and
the interim Moderator of Kilmarnock Session was heard in explana-
tion. The reference was to the effect that certain sums of money
belonging to Kilmarnock Congregation had been lodged in two Banks,
and as the right to use any portion of this money for cleaning and
repairing the church at Kilmarnock had been called in question,
permission was asked to uplift the money required for this object
from the Bank in Kilmarnock. After hearing parties, it was moved
by the Rev. Charles S. Findlay, seconded by Mr. David Begg, and
•agreed to, that the congregation has a right to draw on the money
■derived from the rental of property in Kilmaniock for the object in
view, and they are instructed accordingly.
8. Reference from EdinlAirgk Presbytery, — A Reference from Edin-
burgh Presbytery anent the placing of a copy of our Testimony in
the Public Libraries throughout the country, and also that a copy of
the Magazine be placed in Public Reading-Rooms was considered.
The reference having been read, and the Rev. John Sturrock heard
in explauation, it was moved and agi'eed to that a copy of the
Original Secession Testimony be sent to each Public Library, and
that the cost be defrayed out of the Synod's Business and Hall Fund \
and further that it be remitted to the Magazine Committee to con-
sider the advisability of placing a copy of the Original Secession
Magazine in the Public Reading-Rooms throughout our country.
VIL REPORTS FROM SPECIAL COMMITTEES.— ^veral Re-
[>orts were received from Committees appointed at last meeting of
Synod, and among others the following : —
1. jReport on Union with the Reformed Presbyterian Synod. — The
Report on negotiations for Union with the Reformed Presbyterian
i >hurch was submitted by the Rev. Alexander Smellie, Convener.
The Report is as follows :
Report of the Committee on Union with the Reforjned Presbyterian Church.
Your Committee are sorry that the Report which they have to submit shoul
be of a discouraging and disappointing character.
During the past year three meetings have been held with the brethren of the
Reformed Presbyterian Church. At all these meetings there was frank and
friendly conversation regarding the distinctive principles of the two Churches.
It should be matter for rejoicing that so much agreement was found to prevail.
About the doctrines of grace, the faith delivered to the saints ; about the great
truths, too, on which our fathers laid such stress in the days of the Reforma*
tton and the Covenants, there was full and perfect harmony. That being 8o»
it is with much grief that the Committee have to announce that they are not
in a XH>8ition to recommend the speedy union of the two Churches.
644 MEETING OF THE
cr
a
were denying the Lord that boaght them, and undermining and deatroyin
that precious faith once for all delivered to the Saints. The commendation of
the risen Saviour to the Church at Ephesus was that she "oould not bear
them which were evil," and this must ever remain a note of a True Church
thut desires above all things to enjoy the presence and favour of Him who
ever walks in the midst of the Seven Golden Candlesticks.
The tokens of the divine blessing have manifestly attended yon in your
protesting against their destroying of the faith, and in your efforts to order the
churches in their doctrine, worship, and government according to the teach-
ings of the unerring and all-sufficient Word. It is our earnest prayer tbat
these tokens may be ever more abundantly enjoyed, and your hearts made
strong to fight the Lord's battle until victory is won all along the line. The
way in which your people have responded to the large demands made upon
them is an evidence of their entire and hearty sympathy with yon, and mast
have been very encouraging and stimulating. This has been of the Lord in
whose hand the hearts of all men are, that He may turn them as the rivers of
water whithersoever it pleaseth Him. It would be a means of strengthening
you both could an amicable imion be effected between your churches and those
of the Christian Reformed Church, but it is well that such a step should not
be taken hastily, but every point bearing on it well considered. We earnestly
trust that the Lord may open up a way for your being brought together, and
unitedly giving forth an emphatic and clear testimony in favour of those
doctrines of grace which were dear to the Reformed Churches in Holland in
days gone by.
We are being enabled as a little church attached to the principles of the
Reformation to hold on our way. The rationalistic spirit which has so much
laid waste the Lord's vineyard in Holland is making its appearance in the
religious life of our native land. The foundations of the faith in our inspired
Bible are being tampered with. Keen discussion will take place in some of
our ecclesiastical gatherings this month on the question whether the inspira-
tion enjoyed by the sacred writers secured them against mistakes and errors
and made their record as handed down to us thoroughly reliable. The issues
of this controversy are in God's hand, and will, we are convinced, be in the end
overruled for good ; but many fear that with the advance of a rationalistic spirit,
a blight may descend, as it has in other countries, upon our spiritual life. We
need your prayers, and the prayers of God's people all the world over, that we
all, who stand in the *' old paths," may have grace to abide in the faith, not
allowing any influence to cause us to drift away from it, and earnestly and
zealously to contend in its behalf.
Our Synod meeting last year was one full of encouragement, and the present
has been of a like character. Difficulties have come up in the way of the desir-
able union between the Reformed Presbyterian Church and ourselves, and
negotiations have ceased for the present. The pleasant intercourse between
the representatives of the two churahes in the negotiations that have been
carried on for some time past will, it is hoped, bear fruit in our being brought
closer together in the future, and in the Lord's time in our being made
one.
And now, belored brethren, our earnest desire and prayer is that the ever-
living Head of the Church may be with you in your coming Synodical delibera-
tions, strengthening your hands, and enconraging your hearts, turning every
UNITED ORIGINAL SECESSION SYNOD. 645
mountain of difficulty into a plain before you, and bO showing in an unmistak-
able way that He is with you in the struggle in which you are engaged.
(Signed) THOMAS MATTHEW. Moderator opSynod.
WILLIAM B. GARDINER, Synod Clerk.
The Synod adopted the letter now presented, and instructed the
Moderator and Clerk to subscribe and transmit it to the Synod of
the Dutch Reformed Church. A Committee, consisting of the
Moderator and Clerk, with Rev. Robert Morton, was appointed to
manage this correspondence.
4. Btports on Records of Associate Synod, — The Rev. John Sturrock
submitted a verbal report in name of the Committee appointed at a
former meeting of Synod to adopt measures for securing the Records
of the Associate (Burgher) Synod. The report was to the efifect that^
in terms of the a^^reement formerly made with the officials of the
Free Church, in whose custody these Records are, access had been
obtained to the volumes, and they had been carefully copied out
by Mr. David Harley, ruling-elder, Edinburgh. The Records com-
prised six volumes, and consisted of the minutes of the Associate
Synod from 2nd October, 1799, till 17th May, 1842 ; the minutes of
the Associate (Burgher) Presbytery of Edinburgh from 3rd Septem^
ber, 1805, till 10th April, 1838 ; the minutes of the Associate Pres-
bytery of Glasgow from 3rd September, 1805, till 8th December,
1840 ; and the minutes of the Associate Presbytery of Perth and
Dunfermline from 3rd September, 1805, till 26th February, 1839.
Mr. Sturrock, in name of the Committee, now handed over these
volumes to the Synod, and reported that the expense of transcribing
these Records had been met by a balance on hand after defraying the
expenses previously incurred in obtaining possession of the Secession
Records.
After hearing this report, it was moved by the Rev. Thomasi
Hobart, seconded by the Rev. John Robertson, and unanimously
agreed to, that the Records now presented to the Synod be cordially
received and committed to the Synod Clerk for preservation and
reference ; and that a special vote of thanks be passed to Mr. Jack
and Mr. Sturrock for the deep interest they have taken in this matter
for several years, and for seeing the work successfully completed. It
was also moved and agreed to unanimously that Mr. David Harley
be cordially thanked for his diligence in transcribing the Records so
carefully, and for the time and attention he had given to this matter;
and the Moderator conveyed the thanks of the Synod to Mr. Harley
accordingly.
5. Report on Bible-Class Manual, — The Rev. William B. Gardiner-
submitted a verbal report concerning the proposed publication of a
Manual for Bible-Classes. The report was to the effect that the
Committee appointed to draw up the Manual had been unable, from
a variety of causes, to carry out the instructions given them, and
they asked to be discharged. On hearing this report, it was agreed
•646 MEETING OF THE
^0 discharge the Committee, aud take no further action in the pre-
,paration of a Manual in the meantime.
6. Report anent the " Acts Rescissori/." — The Rev. Thomas Hobart
reported verbally that nothing further had been done in the way of
obtaining the repeal of these " ActS|" and as there was no immediate
prospect of any action being taken in this direction, he asked that
the Committee should be discharged. It was agreed to accede to
this request, and the Committee was discharged accordingly.
7. Report anent " Universiti/ Tests.*^ — A Report was presented by
the Rev. Thomas Hobart in name of a deputation consisting of the
Rev. John Sturrock, Rev. James Patrick and himself, who, at the
request of certain Presbyteries of the Church, had attended a meeting
of the University Commission and had given evidence on the question
-^of Theological Tests in connection with the appointment of Professors
in Scotch Universities. 'Sir. Hobart submitted the statement dravn
up by the three brethren and presented to the Commission. It was
agreed to receive this report and convey the thanks of the Synod to
the Rev. Messrs. Hobart, Sturrock aud Patrick for their diligence in
this matter.
8. Report from, Committee on ^^ Bills and Overtures.^* — The Com-
mittee on Bills and Overtures mentioned in their Report that at their
meeting on Tuesday, 27th May, Dr. Donald Munro, Wheatholm,
Pollokshaws, appeared and laid on the table ceitain petitions designed
for transmission to the Synod. Before reading these petitions the
Clerk called attention to the decision come to at last meeting: of
Synod bearing on Dr. Munro's case. The Moderator having put the
question to Dr. Munro if he has ob tempered the decision of the
• Synod referred to in the Synod minutes, Dr. Munro acknowledged
that he had not, when it was moved by the Rev. John Sturrock,
seconded by the Rev. Alexander Stirling, and agreed to, that the
petitions now laid on the table be not received. Against this deci-
sion Dr. Munro protested and appealed to the Synod. On Thursday,
29th May, Dr. Munro was heard in support of his protest. After
reasoning, it was moved by the Rev. Robert Morton, and agreed to,
that in view of certain statements now made by Dr. Munro, a Com-
mittee be appointed to meet with the appellant and report at this
sederunt. This Committee consisted of the Rev. Thomas Hobart,
Rev. James Patrick and Mr. David Begg — Mr, Hobart, Convener.
At a later stage this Committee returned and submitted a report^ at
the same time requesting to be continued till next meeting of Synod,
as they had not certain documents before them to enable them to go
fully into the subject. On hearing this report, it was moved by the
Rev. Robert Morton, and agreed to, that the Synod dismiss the pro-
test and appeal of Dr. Munro, and sustain the decisioo of the Com-
mittee on Bills and Overtures. It was further moved by the Rev.
Robert Morton, seconded by the Rev. John Sturrock, and agreed to,
that the report of the Committee which had just met with Dr. Munro
«be received, but that the request made by the Committee, in name
UNITED ORIGINAL SECESSION SYNOD. 647
of Dr. Munro, be refused, and accordingly the Committee was dis-
charged.
VIII. SPECIAL FUNDS.— The usual Reports on three Special
Funds of the Synod were presented in the following order : —
1. The Mutual Assistance Fund. — The Report of the Committee on
the Mutual Assistance Fund, drawn up by Mr. A. G. Anderson, Con-
vener, was laid on the table and read by the Clerk. The report indi-
cated that the amount available for dividend, including £25 raised by
donations since the books of the Treasurer were closed, was £322 18s.
4d., and the Committee proposed that the minimum stipend should
be XI 20 with a mause. The Clerk submitted a supplementary report
to the effect that, through the efforts of the Rev. John Sturrock, an
additional sura of £29 4s. had been raised among friends in Edinburgh,
St. Andrews, and Easter Langlee for immediate use, and that this
would enable the Synod to make such an allocation as would make
the minimum stipend £1 24 with a manse. The report submitted by
the Committee is as follows : —
The Committee on the Mutual Assistance Fund have to report that the
receipts reported by the Synod Treasurer for this Fund at the close of the
financial year, 18S9-90, amounted to £271 lOs. O^d. ; that there has since been
received by him for the same year by Donations £25 — amounting together to
£296 10s. 9id. The receipts in the former year amounted to £302 58. lO^d. ;
and the comparative statement of these is as follows :
From Congregational Collections in former year, £271 Is. 4}d. ; this year,
dB227 38. 5di. ; decrease, £43 17s. lid. From Contributions in former year,
£1 ; this year, £2 ; Increase £1. By Donations in former year, £17 58. ; this
year, £58 2s. ; increase £40 17s. From Interest on Investments and Bank
Interest in former year, £12 19s. 6d ; this year, £9 5s. 4d. ; decrease,
£3 14b. 2d. Net decrease this year, £5 15s. Id.
Including a balance of £26 78. 6id. brought forward from former year, the
amount available for dividend this year is £322 Ids. 4d. ; whereas the amount
available on the previous year was £373 17s. 6id. ; showing a deficiency of
£50 19s. 2id. But, in explanation of this, it will be observed on examination
of the former year's accounts that there was transferred from Investment
Account, £80— legacy of Miss Wood — and of that sum, £7 198. Ud. was taken
for bcJance brought forward against the Account from previous year, Ss. 5d.
for printing, and £45 4s. IJd. was used for dividend, leaving the balance of
this legacy, £26 7s. 6id.» to be carried forward to this year's Account.
Of the amount divisible last year there was allocated to aid-receiving Con-
gregations, £347 lOs., giving normally £130 Stipend per annum to each, with
a Manse.
The rate of dividend the Committee have to submit to the Synod this year
falls short of previous year by £10, giving £120 instead of £130 Stipend with
a Manse, to be alioeatod as under :
648 MEETING OF THE
Stipend.
Aberdeen £100 0 0
Auchinleck 80 0 0
Blnajr 80 0 0
Goupar- Angus 70 0 0
Dromore 80 0 0
Midlem 100 0 0
Olrig 80 0 0
Shottebnrn 110 0 0
Thurso 85 0 0
Toberdoney 100 0 0
Sacramental For »
8applem<nt
TMal
Expenses. Manse
to Stipend.
Stipend.
— —
£^0 0
£180 0 0
— —
50 0 0
80 0 0
£8 0 0 —
82 0 0
ISO 0 0
— £10 0 0
60 0 0
120 0 0
— —
40 0 0
190 0 0
— aay 6 wkt.
2 5 0
— 10 0 0
iO 0 0
120 0 0
— . ..
10 0 0
120 0 0
6 0 0 —
30 0 0
120 0 0
- 8 0 0
90 0 0
120 0 0
£28 0 0
£2M 5 0
For MAQses,
28 0 0
£322 5 0
ATailable for dividend £322 18 4
Amount of proposed diTidend 322 5 0
Balance £0 13 4
Whilst from the reduction of the rate of diyidend by £10, and from Darvel
Congregation having become self-supporting, £61 IBs. 4d. less will be divided
to aid-receiving Congregations, there will actaally be only £25 5e. leas in
amount divided this year than there was last, owing to the vacancy of Dromore
having been filled, with the result of an increase in dividend to that Con-
gregation this year of £36 13b. 4d.
There is one feature in regard to the receipts for the year deserving special
notice — that, while the total amount of these is within a few pounds of the
amount of last year, there has been a considerable decrease in Congregational
Collections — a circumstance which is to be regretted, even although this has
been nearly balanced by increase in Donations. The Committee would hope,
however, that upon the attention of members of congregations being again
drawn to this, an effort will be made and sustained to increase those collec-
tions in future.
The Committee would only further appeal for consideration of the claims of
this Fund, to the importance of maintaining an organised Church, although
numerically small — a Church which has been honoured to contend for Cove-
nanted Reformation principles, as the only ground upon which the malignant
civil despotism, and spiritual wickedness of the Romish Apoetacy, can be met
and overthrown — a Church, moreover, honoured to maintain a faithful testi-
mony for Scriptural Truth, in the face of increasing heresy, and dishonour cast
on the Word of God.
The return for the year of membership is herewith presented. The average
contributions per member for all purposes is £1 ISs. 2d., as against £1 19s. 8Jd.
in the preceding year. The average contribution for the Synod Funds is
r>s. 5|d., as against 5s. 4d. last year.
Respectfully submitted in name of the Committee.
A. G. AXDKBSOK, Convener,
On hearing this report, it was moved by the Rev. Thomas Hobart^
seconded by the Rev. Peter M 'Vicar, and agreed to, that the report
be adopted and printed in the Magazine; that the thanks of the
Synod be given to the Committee, and particularly to the Convener,
for the interest taken in the management of this Fund ; that the
amount to be allocated to aid-receiving ministera for stipend be in
UNITED ORIGINAL SECESSION SYNOD. 649
accordance with the supplementary statement submitted by the Clerk,
viz,^ £124 with a manse ; and that the Committee be re-appointed —
Mr. A. G. Anderson, Convener.
A Petition from the Rev. Robert Stewart, Olrig, and transmitted
through the Mutual Assistance Fund Committee, was read, and Mr.
Stewart heard in its support. The petition was to the effect that,
while a manse had recently been erected at Olrig, at a cost of £600,
about £350 had been borrowed on the property, for which Mr. Stewart
was personally responsible ; and while the title-deeds were being drawn
lip in favour of the congregation, the usual allowance for a house rent
was asked for a few years to pay the interest thereon. It was then
moved, and agreed to, that while pleased to hear of the manse having
been built at Olrig, the prayer of the petition be not granted, on the
ground that it is contrary to Synod regulations for the Synod to bind
itself to continue such a grant for house rent out of the Mutual
Assistance Fund.
2. The Ministers^ Widows^ and Orphans* Fund. — The Report on the
Ministers' Widows' and Orphans' Fund was submitted in name of the
Committee by the Clerk. The report was to the effect that the
amount raised during the past year was <£58 lis. 2d., that there had
been no disbursement, and that the total amount at the credit of the
Fond was £1,092 5s. 4|d. It was intimated that the Rev. Jamea
Young, Midlem, had been admitted as a member of the Fund. On
the motion of the Rev. George Anderson, Coupar- Angus, seconded by
the Rev. Alexander J. Yuill, it was agreed to adopt the report, thank
the Committee for their dihgence, and re*appoint the Committee, with
the Moderator as Convener.
3. The Aged and Infirm Ministers' Fund. — The Report on this
Fund, submitted by the Finance Committee, was to the effect that
the receipts for the year amounted to £82 18s. l^d., and that the
sum of £35 had been disbursed. On the motion of the Clerk, it was
agreed to renew the grant of £35 out of the Aged and Infirm Minis-
ters' Fund in aid of the Rev. A. Ritchie and family.
IX. CONFERENCE ON RELIGION.— The Annual Conference
on the state of Religion was held on Wednesday afternoon. After
praise, the Rev. John Robertson offered up prayer. The Clerk then
intimated that the Rev. David Matthew, who had been appointed to
submit a paper on practical religion, had intimated by writing his
inability to have it prepared. At the call of the Moderator, Mr.
Robertson introduced the conference by speaking on the nature and
progress of spiritual life. Members were then asked, in the order of
the roll, to offer remarks and submit reports on Congregational life
and work, and many availed themselves of the opportunity granted
them. The brotherly conference was felt by all present to be both
refreshing and stimulating. It was agreed that, instead of having a
paper prepared on any phase of practical religion, the subject of
" Grieving the Holy Spirit " be taken up at next annual conference.
2u
650 MEETING OF THE
X. PUBLIC QUESTIONS.— The Report by the Committee on
Public Questions was presented by the He v. Thomas Matthew,
Convener, during the consideration of which, the Rev. Peter M'Vicar
took the chair. The report being in print and in the hands of
members was only partially read, and its contents stated by the
Convener. The report referred, among other things, (1) to the Ser-
mon recently preached by the Rev. Dr. Marcus Dods on " What is a
Christian r* (2) to the Rev. Professor Bruce's recent volume on "The
Kingdom of God ; " (3) to the relations of Capital and Labour ; (4)
to Sabbath Observance ; and (5) to the Progress of Rcjmanisra.
Thereafter it was moved by the Rev. John Sturrock, seconded by
the Rev. John M*Kay, and agreed to, that the report be adopted and
published ; that the Committee, and particularly the Convener, be
cordially thanked for preparing such an able and elaborate report ;
and that the following Committee be appointed, with instructions to
bring up a report on Public Questions at next meeting of Synod : —
From Ayr Presbytery — Rev. Professor Spence and Rev. Thomas
Matthew ; from Edinburgh Presbytery — Rev; Thomas Hobart and
Rev. John Sturrock ; from Glasgow Presbytery — Rev. Professor
Ait ken; and from Perth and Aberdeen Presbytery — Rev. Ebenezer
Ritchie and Rev. George Anderson ; — Mr. Matthew, Convener.
XI. TEMPERANCE.— The Report of the Temperance Committee
was submitted by the Rev. Alexander Smell ie, Convener. The
report having been printed and circulated among the members wajs
held as read. It referred to the duties encumbent on us, Ist. as
individuals, 2nd. as citizens, and 3rd. as Office-bearers of the Church
of Christ in connection with the alarmingly-increaaed traffic in strong
drink. Reference was made in the close to the importance of
organising an '^ Original Secession Church Abstinence Society."
After hearing Mr. Smellie speaking on the different parts of the
report^ it was moved by the Rev. Professor Spence, seconded by the
Rev. Alexander J. Yuill, and unanimously agreed to, that the report
be adopted and circulated ; that the cordial thanks of the Synod be
given to the Committee, and especially to the Convener, for the
report now submitted; and that the following be appointed the
Temperance Committee for the current year, with instructions to
prepare a report on the subject of Temperance for next meeting of
Synod, viz, — From Ayr Presbytery — Rev. Professor Spence, Rev.
William W. Spiers, and Rev. Alexander Smellie; from Edinburgh
Presbytery — Rev. Thomas Hobart ; from Glasgow Presbytery — Rev.
John M*Kay, Rev. Alexander J. Yuill, Rev. Ebenezer Ritchie, and
Mr. William Lyon ; and from Perth and Aberdeen Presbytery — Rev.
James Patrick and Rev. Robert Morton ; — Mr. Smellie, Convener.
XII. PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS.— On the recommendation
of the Committee on Bills and Overtures it was agreed to memorialise
the Government against the Project in Law regarding Marriages in
Malta, and also against the Marriage Affinity Bill. It was also
UNITED ORIGINAL SECESSION SYNOD. 65 1
agreed to Petition the House of Commons (1) Against the Opium
Traffic between India and China; (2) Against the Opening of
Museums and Picture Galleries on the Lord's Day ; (3) Against the
Religious Disabilities Bill ; and (4) Against the Cempensation Clauses
in the Local Taxation Bill. It was further agreed to send a
Memorial to the Government protesting against the sanction given
to impurity amongst the British Troops and others in India. A Com-
mittee, consistiog of the Moderator and Clerk, was appointed to
prepare, subscribe, and transmit these Petitions and Memorials.
XIIL MISCELLANEOUS.— Among other parts of business that
came before the Synod, the following may be noted : —
1. Deputy from the Irish Secession Synod. — The Rev. George
Anderson of Kirkcaldy reported on the cordial reception which the
Rev. Edward White and himself had met with when attending the
Irish Synod last year, as deputies from the Synod, and he introduced
the Rev. George M'Mahon, M.A., Belfast, as the only deputy able to
attend this year. Mr. M*Mahon subsequently addressed the Synod.
At the close of his address, it was moved by the Rev. Thomas
Hobart, and unanimously agreed to, that the Synod give the
warmest thanks to Mr. M'Mahon for his attendance and interesting
address, and ask him to convey our brotherly greetings to the Church
he represents. The Moderator, in appropriate words, thanked Mr.
M'Mahon accordingly.
*
2. Appointment of Deputies to the Irish Synod, — On the motion
of the Clerki it was agreed to appoint the Moderator and the Rev.
John Robertson as deputies to the Irish Secession Synod, which
meets at Boardmills on the Monday after the 5th Sabbath of June.
3. Grant to Ayr Mission Committee, — After hearing a statement
from the Rev. John Robertson and the Convener of the Home
Mission Committee, it was moved and unanimously agreed to that a
grant of £15 be made out of the Home Mission Fund to supplement
the salary raised by Ayr congregation for the Missionary employed
in carrying on mission work in that town.
4. Grant to Kirkcaldy Congregation, The Convener of the Home
Mission Committee reported that the Rev. George Anderson, late of
Seoni, had been located at Kirkcaldy, and had been appointed by the
Edinburgh Presbytery to take charge of the congregation there, and
engage in mission work in and around Pathhead. The engagement
terminates in the end of May, and both the Committee and congrega-
tion desired Mr. Anderson to be continued for some time longer. On
the motion of the Rev. William B. Gardiner, it was agreed to sustain
the reference and continue Mr. Anderson in Kirkcaldy for another
four months from 1st June ; that the salary paid out of the Home
Mission Fund be at the rate of £50 per annum ; and that it be
remitted to the Home Mission Committee, in conjunction with the
Edinburgh Presbytery, to instruct the Kirkcaldy congregation to pay
652 MEETING OF THE
Mr. Anderson a salary at the rate of £50 per annum, and, if possble,
provide a sufficient amount for a house rent.
6. Report of Presbyterian Alliance, — The Clerk laid on the table
and read the following Report submitted by the Eastern Section of
the Executive Commission of the Alliance of the Reformed Churches:—
The Executive Commission, Eastern Section, have great pleasnre in
informing the Synod that, during the last year, the work entrusted to them has
been attended to with diligence.
As the result of much personal visitation and oorrespondenoe, many of the
Continental Churches have been led to a more correct conception of the nature
and objects of the Alliance than they previously possessed. This has led to
the expression in many quarters of a strong desire to come into as dou
connection with us as in their circumstances is possible.
Many of these Churches are the children of the old Reform ; aome are
descended from the Waldensiau Exiles, and others from the French Huguenots
and Refugees ; but between all of these and the British Churches there
existed, in former days, very special intimacy. If the Alliance, as it is seek-
ing to do, shall succeed in bringing about a renewal of that intimacy, it vill
have rendered no small service to the cause of Christ on the Continent of
Europe.
The important matters of Co-operation and Union among the agents of the
Presbyterian and Reformed Churches on the Foreign Mission field, have ^^
ceived great attention. Movements, with such objects in view, are at present
in progress, both in China and in India, and are regarded by the Alliance with
the deepest sympathy. Through encouraging such movements, the Home
Churches fulfil their high mission, — planting in the lands of heathendom not
Mission Stations merely, but organised Churches, which in turn may enga^^e
in the planting of Churches in the regions still beyond.
The Quarterly Befjiater has been issued regularly, and serves as a valnaMe
medium for diffusing among our members information respecting the ctrcnm*
stances and difficulties of the various Churches of the Alliance.
The Commission do not think it needful or desirable to occupy the time of
your Court by calling attention to many other modes of work in which they
have been engaged. They have sought, and they believe not in vain, to
promote the general interests of Christ's cause, so that Churches and brethren
who hold the same Faith and Polity, have been brought into closer relation-
ship with one another.
The C^eral Council of 1888 accepted an invitation from the Presbyterian
Church in Canada, to hold its meeting of 1892 in the city of Toronto. Pre-
parations for this meeting, which promises to be of very special interest, are
now being made, and the Commission trust that your Church will then, as at
previous Councils, be fully represented.
In name of the Executive Commission, Eastern Section,
W. G. Blaikie, President.
6. D. Mathbwa, General Secretary.
On hearing this report, it was agreed to receive it and express our
UNITED ORIGINAL SECESSION SYNOD. 653
continued sympathy with the work carried on by the Alliance, and
our satisfaction with what has been already accomplished.
6. Appotntrrunt of Next Meeting. — It was moved and agreed to,
that the next meeting of Synod be held in Victoria Terrace Church,
Edinburgh, on the Monday after the third Sabbath of May, 1891, at
seven o'clock evening.
The Moderator briefly addressed the Synod, after which he offered
up prayer. The last three verses of the 122nd Psalm were sung, and
the Moderator thereafter closed the Synod with the Apostolic
Benediction.
WILLIAM B. GARDINER, S^^ Clerk.
SYNODICAL COMMITTEES— 1890-91.
I. Finance Committee.
The Synod Treasurer, Convener, Mr. Charles P. Leiper,
Mr. Hugh Howie. Mr. James Paton.
Mr. Laurence Henderson. Mr. S. W. M'Cracken, L.D.S.
Mr. A. G. Anderson.
II. "Magazine" Committee.
Rev. Thos. Hobart, M.A., Convener, Rev. William W. Spiers.
Rev. Robert Morton. Mr. William Feterkin.
Mr. Robert Robertson, Treasurer,
HI. Divinity Hall Committee.
Rev. Thos. Hobart, M.A., Convener. Rev. William B. Gardiner.
Rev. Professor Aitken, M.A. Rev. John Sturrock.
Rev. Professor Spence. Rev. James Patrick.
Rev. John Robertson. Rev. Alexander Stirling*
Rev. John Ritchie. Rev. Alexander Smellie, M.A.
Mr. Hugh Howie.
IV. Home Mission and Congregational Work Committee.
Rev. Peter M* Vicar, Convener, Rev. Thomas Matthew.
Rev. John Robertson. Rev. George Anderson.
Rev. Professor Aitken, M.A. Mr. Hugh Howie.
Rev. John Ritchie. Mr. Robert Sproull.
Rev. Thomas Hobart, M.A. Mr. William Gibson.
Rev. William B. Gardiner. Mr. John Taylor.
Rev. Tohn Sturrock. Mr. Robert Mathieson.
652 MEETING OF THE
Mr. Anderson a salary at the rate of £bO per annum^ and, if possible,
provide a sufficient amount for a house rent.
5. Jieport of Presbyterian Alliance. — The Clerk laid on the table
and read the following Report submitted by the Eastern Section of
the Executive Commission of the Alliance of the Reformed Churches:—
The Executive Commission, Eastern Section, have great pleaanie in
informing the Synod that, during the last year, the work entrusted to them has
been attended to with diligence.
As the result of much personal visitation and oorrespondence, oiany of the
Continental Churches have been led to a more correct conception of the nature
and objects of the Alliance than they previously possessed. This has led to
the expression in many quarters of a strong desire to come into aa close
connection with us as in their circumstances is possible.
Many of these Churches are the children of the old Reform ; some are
descended from the Waldensian Exiles, and others from the French Haguenots
and Refugees ; but between all of these and the British Churches there
existed, in former days, very special intimacy. If the Alliance, as it is seek-
ing to do, shall succeed in bringing about a renewal of that intimacy^ it will
have rendered no small service to the cause of Christ on the Continent of
Europe.
The important matters of Co-operation and Union among the agents of the
Presbyterian and Reformed Churches on the Foreign Mission field, have re-
ceived great attention. Movements, with such objects in view, are at present
in progress, both in China and in India, and are regarded by the Alliance with
the deepest sympathy. Through encouraging such movements, the Home
Churches fulfil their high mission, — planting in the lands of heathendom not
Mission Stations merely, but organised Churches, which in turn may engage
in the planting of Churches in the regions still beyond.
The Qiiarttrly Register has been issued regularly, and senres as a valuable
medium for diffusing among our members information respecting the circam-
stances and difficulties of the various Churches of the Alliance.
The Commission do not think it needful or desirable to occupy the time of
your Court by calling attention to many other modes of work in which they
have been engaged. They have sought, and they believe not in vain, to
promote the general interests of Christ's cause, so that Churches and brethren
who hold the same Faith and Polity, have been brought into closer relation-
ship with one another.
The General Council of 1888 accepted an invitation from the Presbyterian
Church in Canada, to hold its meeting of 1892 in the city of Toronto. Pre-
parations for this meeting, which promises to be of very special interest, are
now being made, and the Commission trust that your Church will then, as at
previous Councils, be fully represented.
In name of the Executive Commission, Eastern Section,
W. G. Blaikie, President,
G. D. MathsWj^, Oeneral Secretary,
On hearing this report^ it was agreed to receive it and express our
UNITED ORIGINAL SECESSION SYNOD. 653
continued sympathy with the work carried on by the Alliance, and
our satisfaction with what has been already accomplished.
6. Appointment of Next Meeting, — It was moved and agreed to,
that the next meeting of Synod be held in Victoria Terrace Church,
Edinburgh, on the Monday after the third Sabbath of May, 1891, at
seven o'clock evening.
The Moderator briefly addressed the Synod, after which he offered
up prayer. The last three verses of the 122nd Psalm were sung, and
the Moderator thereafter closed the Synod with the Apostolic
Benediction.
WILLIAM B. GARDINER, Synod Clerk
SYNODICAL COMMITTEES— 1890-91.
I. Finance Committee.
The Synod Treasurer, Convener, Mr. Charles P. Leiper.
Mr. Hugh Howie. Mr. James Paton.
Mr. Laurence Henderson. Mr. S. W. M'Cracken, L.D.S.
Mr. A. G. Anderson.
IL "Magazine" Committee.
Rev. Thos. Hobart, M.A., Convener. Rev. William W. Spiers.
Rev. Robert Morton. Mr. William Peterkin.
Mr. Robert Robertson, Treasurer,
in. Divinity Hall Committee.
Rev. Thos. Hobart, M.A., Convener, Rev. William B. Gardiner.
Rev. Professor Aitken, M.A. Rev. John Sturrock.
Rev. Professor Spence. Rev. James Patrick.
Rev. John Robertson. Rev. Alexander Stirling*
Rev. John Ritchie. Rev. Alexander Smellie, M.A.
Mr. Hugh Howie.
IV. Home Mission and Congregational Work Committee.
Rev. Peter M* Vicar, Convener. Rev. Thomas Matthew.
Rev. John Robertson. Rev. George Anderson.
Rev. Professor Aitken, M. A. Mr. Hugh Howie.
Rev. John Ritchie. Mr. Robert Sproull.
Rev. Thomas Hobart, M.A. Mr. William Gibson.
Rev. William B. Gardiner. Mr. John Taylor.
Rev. John Sturrock. Mr. Robert Mathieson.
652 MEETING OF THE
Mr. Anderson a salary at the rate of £50 per annum^ and, if possible,
provide a sufficient amount for a house rent.
6. Report of Presbyterian Alliance. — The Clerk laid on the table
and read the following Report submitted bv the Eastern Section of
theExeoutive Commission of the Alliance of the Reformed Churches : —
The Executive CommiBsion, Eaatem Section, have great pleasare in
informing the Synod that, during the last year, the work entrusted to them has
been attended to with diligence.
As the result of much personal visitation and oorrespondence, many of the
Continental Churches have been led to a more correct conception of the nature
and objects of the Alliance than they previously possessed. This has led to
the expression in many quarters of a strong desire to come into as close
oonneotion with us as in their circumstances is possible.
Many of these Churches are the children of the old Reform ; some are
descended from the Waldensiau Exiles, and others from the French HngnenoU
and Refugees ; but between all of these and the British Churchea there
existed, in former days, very special intimacy. If the Alliance, as it is seek-
ing to do, shall succeed in bringing about a renewal of that intimacy, it will
have rendered no small service to the cause of Christ on the Continent of
Europe.
The important matters of Co-operation and Union among the agents of the
Presbyterian and Reformed Churches on the Foreign Mission field, have re-
ceived great attention. Movements, with such objects in view, are at present
in progress, both in China and in India, and are regarded by the Alliance with
the deepest sympathy. Through encouraging such movements, the Home
Churches fulfil their high mission, — planting in the lands of heathendom not
Mission Stations merely, but organised Churches, which in turn may engage
in the planting of Churches in the regions still beyond.
The Quarterly Reijister has been issued regularly, and serves as a valuable
medium for diffusing among our members information respecting the circum-
stances and difficulties of the variooa Churches of the Alliance.
The Commission do not think it needful or desirable to occupy the time of
your Court by calling attention to many other modes of work in which they
have been engaged. They have sought, and they believe not in vun, to
promote the general interests of Christ's cause, so that Churches and brethren
who hold the same Faith and Polity, have been brought into closer relation-
ship with one another.
The General Council of 1888 accepted an invitation from the Presbyterian
Church in Canada, to hold its meeting of 1892 in the city of Toronto. Pre-
parations for this meeting, which promises to be of very special interest, are
now being made, and the Commission trust that your Church will then, as at
previous Councils, be fully represented.
In name of the Executive Commission, Eastern Section,
W. G, Blaikik, President,
G. D. Mathbwa, General Secretary,
On hearing this report, it was agreed to receive it and express our
UNITED ORIGINAL SECESSION SYNOD. 653
continued sympathy with the work carried on by the Alliance, and
our satisfaction with what has been already accomplished.
6. Appointment of Next Meeting, — It was moved and agreed to,
that the next meeting of Synod be held in Victoria Terrace Church,
Edinburgh, on the Monday after the third Sabbath of May, 1891, at
seven o'clock evening.
The Moderator briefly addressed the Synod, after which he offered
up prayer. The last three verses of the 122nd Psalm were sung, and
the Moderator thereafter closed the Synod with the Apostolic
Benediction.
WILLIAM B. GARDINER, Stfnod Clerk
SYNODIC AL COMMITTEES— 1890-91.
I. Finance Committee.
The Synod Treasurer, Cimoener, Mr. Charles P. Leiper.
Mr. Hugh Howie. Mr. James Paton.
Mr. Laurence Henderson. Mr. S. W. M'Cracken, L.D.S.
Mr. A. G. Anderson.
II. "Magazine" Committee.
Rev. Thos. Hobart, M.A., Convener, Rev. William W. Spiers.
Rev. Robert Morton. Mr. William Peterkin.
Mr. Robert Robertson, Treasurer,
III. Divinity Hall Committee.
Rev. Thoi. Hobart, M. A., Convener. Rev. William B. Gardiner.
Rev. Professor Aitken, M.A. Rev. John Sturrock.
Rev. Professor Spence. Rev. James Patrick.
Rev. John Robertson. Rev. Alexander Stirling.
Rev. John Ritchie. Rev. Alexander Smellie, M.A.
Mr. Hugh Howie.
IV. Home Mission and Congregational Work Committee.
Rev. Peter M* Vicar, Convener, Rev. Thomas Matthew.
Rev. John Robertson. Rev. George Anderson.
Rev. Professor Aitken, M. A. Mr. Hugh Howie.
Rev. John Ritchie. Mr. Robert SprouU.
Rev. Thomas Hobart, M.A. Mr. William Gibson.
Rev. William B. Gardiner. Mr. John Taylor.
Rev. John Sturrock. Mr. Robert Mathieson.
652 MEETING OF THE
Mr. Anderson a salary at the rate of £50 per annurn^ and, if possible,
provide a sufficient amount for a house rent.
5. Report of Presbyterian Alliance. — The Clerk laid on the table
and read the following Report submitted by the Eastern Section of
the Executive Commission of the Alliance of the Reformed Churches: —
The Executiye CommiBsion, Eastern Section, have great pleasure in
informing the Synod that, during the last year, the work entrusted to them has
been attended to with diligence.
As the result of much personal visitation and correspondence, many of the
Continental Churches have been led to a more correct conception of the nature
and objects of the Alliance than they previously possessed. This has led to
the expression in many quarters of a strong desire to come into aa close
connection with us as in their circumstances is possible.
Many of these Churches are the children of the old Reform ; some are
descended from the Waldensian Exiles, and others from the French Hoguenota
and Refugees ; but between all of these and the British Charches there
existed, in former days, very special intimacy. If the Alliance, as it is seek-
ing to do, shall succeed in bringing about a renewal of that intimacy, it will
have rendered no small service to the cause of Christ on the Continent of
Europe.
The important matters of Co-operation and Union among the agents of the
Presbyterian and Reformed Churches on the Foreign Mission field, have re-
ceived great attention. Movements, with such objects in view, are at present
in progress, both in China and in India, and are regarded by the Alliance with
the deepest sympathy. Through encouraging such movements, the Home
Churches fulfil their high mission, — planting in the lands of heathendom not
Mission Stations merely, but organised Churches, which in turn may engage
in the planting of Churches in the regions still beyond.
The Quarterly Registtr has been issued regularly, and serves as a valuable
medium for diffusing among our members information respecting the circam-
stances and difficulties of the various Churches of the Alliance.
The Commission do not think it needful or desirable to occupy the time of
your Court by calling attention to many other modes of work in which they
have been engaged. They have sought, and they believe not in vain, to
promote the general interests of Christ's cause, so that Churches and brethren
who hold the same Faith and Polity, have been brought into closer relation-
ship with one another.
The General Council of 1888 accepted an invitation from the Presbyterian
Church in Canada, to hold its meeting of 1892 in the city of Toronto. Pre-
parations for this meeting, which promises to be of very special interest, are
now being made, and the Commission trust that your Church will then, aa at
previous Councils, be fully represented.
In name of the Executive Commission, Eastern Section,
W. 0, Blaikis, PrtMeni.
G. D. MATHXW8, General Secretary,
On hearing this report, it was agreed to receive it and express our
UNITED ORIGINAL SECESSION SYNOD. 653
continued sympathy with the work carried on by the Alliance, and
our satisfaction with what has been already accomplished.
6. AppoiniTneni of Next Meeting, — It was moved and agreed to,
that the next meeting of Synod be held in Victoria Terrace Church,
Edinburgh, on the Monday after the third Sabbath of May, 1891, at
seven o'clock evening.
The Moderator briefly addressed the Synod, after which he ofiered
up prayer. The last three verses of the 122nd Psalm were sung, and
the Moderator thereafter closed the Synod with the Apostolic
Benediction.
WILLIAM B. GARDINER, Synod Glerh.
SYNODIC AL COMMITTEES— 1890-91.
I. Finance Committee.
The Synod Treasurer, Convener, Mr. Charles P. Leiper.
Mr. Hugh Howie. Mr. James Paton.
Mr. Laurence Henderson. Mr. S. W. M'Cracken, L.D.S.
Mr. A. G. Anderson.
IL "Magazine" Committee.
Rev. Thos. Hobart, M.A., Convener, Rev. William W. Spiers.
Rev. Robert Morton. Mr. William Feterkin.
Mr. Robert Robertson, Treasurer,
HI. Divinity Hall Committee.
Rev. Thos. Hobart, M.A., Convener, Rev. William B. Gardiner.
Rev. Professor Aitken, M.A. Rev. John Sturrock.
Rev. Professor Spence. Rev. James Patrick.
Rev. John Robertson. Rev. Alexander Stirling.
Rev. John Ritchie. Rev. Alexander Smeliie, M.A.
Mr. Hugh Howie.
IV. Home Mission and Congregational Work Committee.
Rev. Peter M* Vicar, Convener, Rev. Thomas Matthew.
Rev. John Robertson. Rev. George Anderson.
Rev. Professor Aitken, M.A. Mr. Hugh Howie.
Rev. John Ritchie. Mr. Robert SprouU.
Rev. Thomas Hobart, M.A. Mr. William Gibson.
Rev. William B. Gardiner. Mr. John Taylor.
Rev. John Sturrock. Mr, Robert Mathieson.
654 SYNODICAL COMMITTEES.
V. Foreign Mission Committee.
Rev. Wm. B. Gardiner, Converter. Rev. Robert Morton.
Rev. John Robertson. Rev. Thomas Matthew.
Rev. Professor Aitken, M.A. Rev. Alexander Smellie, M. A,
Rev. John Ritchie. Mr. Hugh Howie.
Rev. Thomas Hobart, M.A. Mr. A. G. Anderson.
Rev. John M'Kay. Mr. William. Lyon.
Rev. John Sturrock. Mr. Robert Thomson.
Rev. Alexander Stirling. Mr. James H. Galloway.
VI. Mutual Assistance Fund Committee.
Mr. A. G. Anderson, Convener, Mr. Laurence Henderson.
Mr. William Gibson. Mr. Charles P. Leiper.
Mr. James Lindsay. Mr. James Paton.
Mr. Hugh Howie. Mr. S. W. M*Cracken, L.D.S.
The Synod Treasurer.
vn. Temperance Committee.
Rev. Alex. Smellie, M.A., Converts. Rev. Professor Spence.
Rev. Thomas Hobart, M.A. Rev. Robert Morton.
Rev. John M*Kay. Rev. William W. Spiers.
Rev. James Patrick. Rev. Ebenezer Ritchie, Paisley.
Rev. Alexander J. Yuill. Mr. William Lyon.
Vin. Public Questions Committee.
Rev. Thos. Matthew, Conwner. Rev. Thos. Hobart, M.A.
Rev. Professor Aitken, M.A. Rev. John Sturrock.
Rev. Kbenezer Ritchie, Aberdeen. Rev. Professor Spence.
Rev. George Anderson, Coupar-Angus.
IX. Pulpit Supply Committee.
Rev. Wm. B. Gardiner, Convener. Rev. Peter M 'Vicar.
X. Ministers' Widows' and Orphans' Fund Committee.
The Moderator of Synod, Convener, Rev. Thomas Hobart, M. A.
Rev. John Robertson. Rev. Charles S. Findlay.
Rev. Professor Aitken, M.A. The Synod Clerk.
XI. Psalmody Committee.
Mr. Robert Howie, ) Joint Mr. Robert B. Parlane.
Rev. Ebenezer Ritchie, ( Conveners Mr. James Lindsay.
Rev. Wm. B. Gardiner. Mr. Thomas Robertson.
Rev. Peter M' Vicar. Mr. Robert J. Wood.
Rev. Alex. Smellie, M.A. Mr. Andrew Lawrie.
XII. Selection Committee.
Rev. James Patrick, Convener, Rev. John Sturrock.
Rev. William B. Gardiner. Rev. Alex. Smellie, M.A.
XIII. Business Committee.
The Synod Clerk, Convener, Rev. Thomas Hobart, M.A^
Rev. Thomas Matthew.
ORIGINAL SECESSION SYNOD
TREASURE R'S ACCOUNTS.
I 889-90.
SYl^OD'S BUSINESS AND HALL FUND.
April 30, 1889.
To Collections from Congrega-
tions : —
Aberdeen £1 0 0
Arbroath 1 16 0
Auchinleck ..080
AjT 2 16 Ij
Birsay 2 0 0
Carluke 11 11 0
Carnoustie . . 0 15 6
Coupar- Angus ..140
Darvel 10 0
Dromore 0 16 0
Dundee 2 3 0
Edinburgh .. .. 20 10 6
Glasgow, Mains St. .. 14 12 0
n Laarieston .. 0 13 3
„ Bridgeton ..1 1
Kilwinning ..2 4
Kirkcaldy 10
Kirldntiiloch .. 2 10
Kiniemair .. 0 13
Midlem 1 10
Olrie
Paisley
Perth
Pollokshavirs
Shottsbnrn
Stranraer ..
9i
4
0
0
4
3
0
0
0
. . 0 10
.. 1 10
..2 0
.. 3 18 10
..200
..440
Thurso 19 9
0
0
0
To Donations : —
Friends, Carluke, per
Rev. Thos. Hobart £7 10
Rev. Mr. Paterson, per
Rev. Prof. Aitken . . 8 0
Mrs. Stevenson Smith,
Edinburgh 10
Mrs. Brace, Easter
Langlee, Galashiels,
per Rev. J. Sturrock 10 0
To Contribution of Reformed
Presbyterian Synod for Divinity
Hall
To Collection at Synod
Sermon . . £12 1
To Sale of 42 Copies
TeBtimony .. 1 11 6
To Sale of 14 Copies
RuUt of Proctdnr* ..048
£91 16 1
12 10
16 15
0
0
To Interest on £100,
for behoof of Edin-
burgh Minister £3 18 0
To Interest on Amount
Invested .. .. 8 19 4
2 18 3
To Balance to next Year's Account
7 11
257 10
April 80, 18S9.
By Balance from Previous Year
April 30. 1800.
By Theological Hall :—
Salary of Professor
Spence .. £25 0
Salary of Prof. Aitken 15 0
Supply of Audtmleck
Pulpit
Supply of Mains Street
Pulpit
Travelling Charges —
Prof. .Spence . . 2 13
Hall Officer's Fee .. 110
Fire Insurance, Hall
Library
4
114
£234 12 S^
0
0
6 10 0
14 12 6
6
0
0 7 0
By Official Expenses : —
Synod Clerk's Salary, £10 0 0
Synod Treasurer's
Salary .. 20 0 0
Synod Officer's Fee 1 10 0
Synod Treasu rer's Out-
lay for Postages,
Cheques, and Sta-
tionery ..130
Synod Clerk's Outlay
for Postages and
Incidental Charges 0 17 9
Committee of Supplies
for Postages and
Telegrams .. ..158
By Printing : —
Reports of Committees
for Synod .. £14 11 0
Synodical Notices on
Cover of Maearine 5 0 0
Portion of July Num-
ber of Magazine . . 3 11 2
Statement of Congre-
fational Income and
Expenditure for Sy*
nod 0 18 6
By Travelling Charges : —
Deputies to Irish
Synod . . £1 15 6
Ministers attending
Union Committee 2 14 9
Ministers attending
various Committees 8 7 6
By Supply to Editor's Pulpit
By Fee to Church Officer for at-
tendance at Committee Meetings
By Presbyterian Alliance — Execu-
tive Commission . .
By Copying Press for Synod Qerk
By Edinburgh Minister — Interest
on £100
By Interest on money operated on
belonging to other funds
£388 1 7i
64 18 6
34 10 0
24 0 8
7
6
17
1
9
0
2 2 0 1
2
0
0
14
0
0
7 11 2
8 18
£388 1 7^;
Income .. £130 10 8
Expenditure .. £163 9 4
656
ORIGINAL 8S0ESSI0N 8TN0D.
HOME MISSION FUND.
April 80. 1889.
To Balance of Account . .
April 80, 1890.
To CollectlonB from CoogregaUon^--
Aberdeen ..£10 0
Arbroath .. 1 10
Auchinleck .. ..0 6
Birsay 2 0
Carluke 18 9
Camouatie .. .. 1 15
Coupar-Angtis .. ..10
Darvel 10
Dromore .. 0 15
Dundee 2 2
Edinburgh .. .. 25 11
Cllasgow, Mains Street 16 8
., Laurietton ..18
„ Bridgeton .. 0 19
Kilmarnock ..3 1
Kilwinning ..2 9
Kirkcaldy ..2 2
KirkinUUoch .. ..6 12
Kirriemuir .. .. 0 16
Midlem 1 10
Olrig 0 10
Pauley 8 18
Perth 2 2
PoUokshaws .. 5 10
Shottibum .. ..5 0
Stranraer .. 4 13
Thuno 0 14
..£17117 lOj
0
0
0
2
3
0
0
0
2
11
8
0
8
6
u
0
6
0
0
0
0
8
8
0
0
0
112 19 4}
To Legacy of Mim Munay, Glasgow^
Residue of Estate .. .. 42 8 9
To Contributions —
Arbroath — Sabbath
School £1 4 7
Dundee— Rev. P. M'Vicar's
Bible Class . . . . 0 18 0
Dundee— Sabbath School 1 12 0
Glasgow, Laurieston— Rev.
A. J. Yuill's Bible Class 0 110
Glasgow, Mains street —
Sabbath Morning Fel-
lowship Association 0 7 6
Thurso— Sabbath School 0 10 0
To Donation*—
Friends, Carluke, per
Rev. T. Hobart
A Friend, Queensland,
per Mr. Jack
Jas. H. Galloway, Esq.,
Lochee
Mrs. Stevenson Smith,
Edinburgh ..
A Friend, Dundee
Mr. James T. Garland,
Kilwinning . .
£7 10 0
2 10 0
10 0
4 18 1
1
1
0
0
0
0
0 6 0
To Interest —
On amount Invested
On Bank Account
£1
0
17
19
4
0
13 5 0
2 10 10
April SO, 1890.
By Salaries—
SeT. John M*Kay,
Bridgeton.. .. £60 0 0
Rev. A. J. Yuill,
Lanrieston .. 60 0 0
Rev. James Patrick,
Oamoustie .. 60 0 0
Rev. Geo. Anderson,
Kirkcaldy, tiU Slst
May .. 88 6 8
Mr. John Laird, KU-
mamock . . . . 52 10 0
Rev. David Finlayson,
Klrriem'r, 5 months 12 10 0
£258 6 8
By Grants for Tracts—
Bridgeton Congregation £1
Carnoustie „ .. 1
Kilmarnock „ .. 1
Klrklntillooh „ .. I
Lanrieston .. .. 1
••
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
By Rent of Mission Room,
Kirriemuir
By Grant to Ayr Mission
By Travelling Charges-
Rev. P. MVlcar at-
tending Committees
for two yean ..£2 8 9
By Outlay for post*
ages by Rev. P.
M*Vicar for two
years 0 9 2
By Printing Schedules
for Congregational
Work 0 5 6
By Bslanoe to next year's Ac-
count
5 0 0
S 15 0
20 0 0
8 18 5
58 0 1«
Income . £176 3 0]|
£348 0 11
Expenditure .. £290 0 1
£348 on
TREASURER S ACCOUNTS.
5-1
f
Ji
Iss
ii
°°SSSS2S*° I '3 aeeoseoeoe
i.'.'.'.'..'.'.'.'. |,,,:,,=u
I i s -
I::::.,:::: I '
I i
fSggssS'-ssa
!!■
iiiiJiiiiii
1 lilMi
2-"aas*''"'"'s8"'
Hid
I
0—30= I
|||Eb8e
658
ORIOIKAL SECESSION 8TN0D.
FOREIGN MISSION FUND.
April 80, 1890.
To Collections from Congregations : —
Aberdeen ^
Arbroath
Aachinleck
Ayr
Qirsay ..
Carluke . .
Gamoostie
Coupar-Angus
Darrel ..
Dxomore
Dundee ..
Edinburgh
Glasgow —
Mains Street
Laurieston .
Brldgeton .
Kilwinning
Kirkcaldy
Kirkintilloch .
Kirriemuir
Midlem..
Olritf ..
Paisley ..
Perth ..
PoUokshaws
Shottsburn
Stranraer
Thurso ..
£6 18
2 4
3
0
0 6 6
31 10 10
3 0 0
28 18
1
1
2
0
6
35
16
5
10
15
7
6
40
1
5
2
0 19
2 11
1
3
0
1
0
7
7
5
2
10
2
8
0
17
18 11
10 0
3
6
0
3
0
2
3
4
6
4
8
6
0
8
10
6
10
19
9
0
0
1
8
4
9
0
£208 7 4
To Contributions per
Family Boxes, per
Rev. A. Stirling-
Arbroath .. £1 17 8
Auchinleck ..180
Dundee 15 6
Kilwinning .. 3 18 8^
Kirkcaldy .. 2 15 7
KirkintUloch .. .. 4 16 8
Mains Street, Glasgow, 4 11 7
Midlem .. ..5 3
Perth 8 8
PoUokshaws .. ..7 1
Thurso 0 12 6
Kirkintilloch 1888-89 10 0
n
To Collections from
Congregations of the
Iriah Synod —
I BoardmiUs
Clare
CootehiU
Coronary
Garmany's Grove
TullyraUen
' Tyrone's Ditches
87 19 Oi
£5 6
1 10
1 7
5 1
3 17
0 6 10
7 16 8
0
0
6
0
0
25 8 0
, To Contributions—
Arbroath—
Rev. A. Stirling's
Bible Class .. £1 17 6
Sabbath School ..147
Intermediate Class.. 0 7 0
I Dundee—
' Rev. P. M* Vicar's
Bible Class . . 0 13 0
, Edinburgh-
Young Men's Sabbath
Morning Associa-
tion 0 10 0
Carry forward, £4 12 1 £271 9 4|
To Contributions — Contintud
Broucht forward, £4 12 1 £271 9
Glasgow-
Mains Street-
Mission Sabbath Schooll 6 li
Sabbath Morning
Fellowship As-
sociation .. ..0 7
Miss Coghill's In-
fant Class.. .035
Laurieston—
Rev. A. J. Yuill's
Bible Class .. 0 U 0
KlrklntiUoch—
Sabbath School ..246
Collections at Prayer
Meeting .. .. 2 14 8
Kirriemuir—
Mission Sab. School 0 12 0
Midlem—
Sabbath School .. 0 13 6
Perth
Sabbath School ..163
Young Men's Mom>
ing Meeting .. 0 14 9
PoUokshaws—
Sabbath School .. 2 18 0
Minister's ^Middle
Bible Class .. 0 6 2|
ThomUebank Vil-
lage Sab. School 2 0 0
Shottsburn-
Rev. John Ritchie's
Bible Class
i\
0 17 8
To CoUections at MiS'
aionary Meetings —
Arbroath (at Ordina-
tion) £16 8
KU winning .. ..282
PoUokshaws .. ..110
To Special Donations
for support of Village
Teachei^-
John Scott, Esq. , Carluke,
£. Rev. T. Hobart £5 0 0
n Dick, Esq., Edin-
burgh 5 0 0
To Zenana Work —
Glasgow, Mains Street, per Miss
Smith
To Donations —
Friends, Carluke, per
Rev. Thos. Hobart £10 0 0
John Dick, Esq., Edin-
burgh 10 0 0
A Friend, per Rev. C.
S. Flndlay .. .. 10 0 0
A Friend, Queensland,
per Mr. Jack ..500
Friends, West of Scot-
land 5 0 0
A. G. Anderson, Esq. ,
Ayr .. .500
Robert Reid, Esq.,
Edinburgh .. ..500
" £," Dundee, per Mr.
Jack 8 0 0
A Friend, Glasgow ..200
21 6 3
4 15 5
10 0 0
1 10 0
Carry forward, £55 0 0 £309 1 0^
TKJSAiSUKKK » AUUUUXV'IS.
FOREIGN MISSION FU^D^Confinued,
Brought forward, £55
2 0 0
110
10 0
10 0
1
1
10 0
10 0
Two Friends
A Friend per Bev.
Edward White
John Stevenion, Esq.,
M.A., Broxburn
Mrs. Rettie, Aberdeen,
per Rev. E. Ritchie
A Friend, per Rev. W.
W. Spiers . .
A Friend, Kirriemuir,
I per Rev. T. Hobart
, A Friend. Lannide . .
I Hn. (Guthrie, Paisley,
per Rev. E. Ritchie
Mr. Jas. M. Harrison,
Canada, per Rev. W.
Aold
Mra. Stevenson Smith,
EdinbuiiKh . .
J. T. G. PoUokshawB
A Well-wisher, Car-
luke, per Rev. T.
Hobart
Mr. Duncan Fraser,
Carrbridge . .
Miss Ramage, Glasgow
per Rev. G. Anderson 0 10
James Frame, Esq.,
C^rstairs, per Rev.
T. Hobart ..
John Scott, Esq., Car-
lake, per Rev. T.
Hobart (for behoof
of Village Teacher)
Miss Corbet, Beaulj,
per Mr. R. Robertson
0
0
£309 1 Oi
0
0
0
0
6
0 5 0
Brought forward £70 IS
R..A., Arnrleshire, per
Mr. R. Robertson . .
A Friend. Pollokshaws
A Friend, Perth, per
Rev. R. Morton
Mr. James T. Garland,
Kilwinning ..
Dairy
Springbum
Miss Smith, Lancaster,
per Mr. It. Robertson
The late Robert Wilson,
Glasgow
0 £309 1 0,
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0 2 6
0 2 0
1
1
0
0
0 10 0
0 10 0
0 10 0
0 10 0
0 7 0
Cany forward £70 18 0 £909 1 0^
4
8
To Legacy-
Late Miss Margaret Murray,
Glasgow, Residue of Estate
To Exchange on Remittances to
IndU
To Realised in Indisr—
Government Grant,
Girl's School ..£7
Municipal Grant, Do. 20
Municipal Grant, Do.
for Repairs
Fines Girl's School
Church Collections
Subecriptions
Property sold
Itook Account (Mr.
Anderson's)
Realised on Book
Account . .
72 13 0
42 S 0
180 18
8
0
8
12
16
1«
6 16
0 10
0
0
0
0
111
0
0
4 16
2 0
To Interest on Amount Invested
To Balance to next Year's Account
61 0 2|
1 17 4
408 10 2\
Income .. £617 14 4^
£1116 4 7]
April 80. 1889.
By Balance of previous year
AprU 30, 1890.
By Salaries-
Mr. Robert Blakely,
till 3d May. 1890 £100 0 0
Rev. David Flnlayson
for half year ending
13th June, 1890 75 0 0
JohnMo8eB,Catechist42 0 0
£452 2 8^
By Allowance for year to Rev.
George Anderson
• ■
• •
By Zenana Work-
Zenana Agent
..£2 0
0
Girls' School
.. S7 18 11^
By (;eneral Expenditure-
Repairs on Property £82 2
2
Laying oflT Cemetery 7 0
8
Conveyance ..
.. 16 8
2
New Bullocks
.. 13 14
0
Bandole School
.. 24 18 ni
Munshl
.. 7 14
0
Stationery . .
.. 0 19
7i
Taxes . .
..14
0
Books credited
by
Mr. Anderson
.. 14 19
4
Sundries
.. 8 11
s!
217 0 0
100 0 0
30 18 11}
By Official Expenses-
Proportion of Synod
Clerk's Salary ..£5 0 0
Convener of Com-
mittee's Outlay for
Postages, &C. ..142
Travelling Charges of
Ministers attending
Committee Meetings 3 19 7
Travelling (Hiarges,
Deputies^ others at-
tending Missionary
Meetings .. ..276
177 7 4J
Brought forward £12 11 8 £966 9 0]
Rev. A. Stirling's Out-
lay for Postages, &c. 0 7 6
Travelling charges of
Ministers attending
Ordination Services 110
Outlay at Ordination
Services at Arbroath 0 18 6
2 Dos. Miosion Boxes 0 6 0
Copy Magaxlne for
Keontinl8S9 ..036
Advertising Mission-
ary Meetings ..090
. — 15 10 J»
By Printing Account-
Labels for Mission
Boxes ..£12 0
List of Box-holders 0 11 3
By Life Assurance —
Rev. Geo. Anderson £8 4 3
Rev. David Finlayson 10 4 7
Mr. Robert Blakely 8 12 9
By Extraordinary Expenditure —
Rev. David Finlayson
Passage Money Li-
verpool to Bombay£40 0 0
Rev. David Finlayson
Travelling Charges
in Scotland k India 6 14 7
Ontflt for Rev. David
Finlayson .. .. 20 0 0
1 18 8
27 1 7
66 14 7
By Assignation of Life Policy
to Rev. Geo. Anderson 14 3
By Gift of John Scott, Esq., to
Village Teacher 0 10 0
By Copying Press for Mr. Blakely
and freight to India . . . . 0 14 2
By Interest on Money operated
on belonging to other Funds 16 1 0
Carry forward £12 11 3 £960 9 0(1 Expenditure .. £664 110}
£1116 4 71
66o
ORIGINAL 8ECB8SI0N 8TN0D
MLNISTERS' WIDOWS' AND ORPHANS* FUND.
April 80. 1880.
April 80, 1800.
By Balance to next
To Balance fTom previous year .. £363 14
s»
Year's
AprU 80. 1890.
Account .. .. •
..£422 5 4\
To Tyrone's Ditches Coogreg:a>
tional Collection . .
1
5
0
To Annual Subscriptions-
Rev. Prof. Aitken .. £1
0 0
.. George Anderson,
Coupar-Angus 1
0 0
.. George Anderson,
Kirkcaldy .. 1
. . Chas. S. Findlay 1
ft 0
0 0
.. W. B. Gardiner 1
0 0
. . Thomas Hobart 1
0 0
. . George Laverty 1
.. David Matthew 1
0 0
0 0
.. Thomas Matthew 1
0 0
.. Andrew Miller 1
0 0
.. John Moody .. 1
. . Robert Morton 1
0 0
0 0
.. TohnM'Kay, .. 1
.. Peter M'Virar 1
0 0
0 0
. . James Patrick ^ 1
. . Ebenezer Ritchie.
0 0
Aberdeen 1
0 0
. . Ebenezer Ritchie,
PaiiUey .. 1
0 0
.. John Ritchie .. 1
0 0
. . John Robertson 1
0 0
. . Profes-sor Spence 1
0 0
.. Wra. W. Spiers 1
. . Alexander Stirling 1
0 0
0 0
.. John Sturrock 1
.. Edward White 1
0 0
0 0
.. AlecJ. Yuill .. 1
0 0
9&
0
0
To Interest on Amount
V
w
Invested .. ..£28 10 8
To Interest on Bank
Account .. .. 8 16 6
fi9
6
2
£422
6
4i
£422 5 4i
Income .. £58 11 2
•
No Expenditure.
THE SEONI MISSION SCHOOL FUND.
AprU 80th, 1800.
To Colleciiiig Ckrds,
per Bey. A. Stirling-
Aberdeen .. £2 17 6
Arbnwth .. 8 3 10
Bir«»T 10 0 0
Carluke 7 ft 8
Carnoustie ..100
Coupar- Angui . . ..170
Darvel 15 0
Dromore .. .. 4 2 10
Dundee 0 16 0
Edinburgh .. 13 3 0
aiasBOw— MainiSt. .. 2 17 6
Kilvnnning ..448
Kirkcaldy .. .. 1 IS 6
KirkintlUoch .. ..8 6
Kirriemuir .. .. 2 2 10
Midlem 1 13 0
Perth 2 10
PoUokihaws .. ..682
Carry forward £73 11 6
Brought forward, £73 11 6
Shottabnm .. .. 6 10 6
Stranraer .. 12 S 6
Thurso 6 7 7
To Contributiona :—
Edinbnrgh— Bey. John
StuiTOck's Bible
Claaaea ..£110
PoUokshawfl— Minister's
Junior Bible Claas ..060
£S7 13 0
To Beallzed In India :—
Govemment Grant £120 6 0
School Fees .. .. 16 5 0
Subscriptions .. 27 12 0
Scholarship .. ..600
Sundries .. ..170
17 0
171 10 0
To Balance to next Year's Account 267 2 6]
Income £270 10 0
£537 12 6i
treasubkr's accounts.
66 1
THE SEONI MISSION SCHOOL VlTSD—ConUnued.
April 30, 1880.
Br Balance of Account
April 30, 1800.
By Salaries of Teachers
..£242 5 U
.. 289 12 6
ByScbolanhip ..£6 0 0
.ScriptnieB . . 0 18 0
Stationery .. 2 14 8^
Books for Teachen .. 4 0 lOf
Books for poor boys ..410
Entrance Examination
ITees— two poor boys 2 0 0
Repairs on Building . . 20 15 4}
Repairs on Furniture, 4 7 10}
Sundries 1 10 0|
By General Expenditure—
Brought fonrard, £528 16
Expen'
Printing Collecting
Cards £0 17 6
Printing List of Col-
lectors . . 0 11 8
Printing 700 Collecting
Cards 17 0
OJ
46 18 4]
Carry forward, £628 16 0}
By Interest on moner operated
on belonging to other Funds
Expenditure .. £205 6 71
2 15
6 0
£587 12
9
0
FOREIGN MISSION MtPHANAGE FUND.
April 80. 18S0.
To Balance of Account . .
April 80. 1800.
To Donations for support of
I Oiphans —
Mrs. Rettie, Aberdeen £5 0
Mrs. Downie, Partick, 6 0
Mrs. Jas. Scott, Glas-
• gow 6 0
Miss Morland, Stran-
raer 5 0
Mrs. Stevenson Smith,
Edinburgh .. ..6 0
' Mrs Finlayaon, Arbroath 5 0
, Trustees of the late
• Misses Idiller, Carluke 6 0
Ladies In Ayr Congre-
gation 5 0
Thomas Curr, Esq.,
Kirkintilloch ..5 0
A Friend, Fifeahire. ..5 0
j Robt. Thomson, Esq.,
I Edinburgh, .. ..5 0
' rhr. Wm. T- Blakely,
I KirkintiUoch ..5 0
..£322 11 0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
To Donation—
A Friend, Queensland, per Mr.
Jack
To Contributions—
! Carluke— Young Men's
Christian Association
and Bible Class .. £3 13 1
Perth- Rev. Robert
Morton's Bible Class 1 0 0
Mrs. Morton's Bible
Class 0 18 10
PoUokshaws— Rev. W.
B. Gardiner's Senior
Bible Class .. .. 0 10 0
60 0 0
2 10 0
To Irish Secession Congregations—
Collecting Cards, Mul-
Ubrackand£myTale£8 0 0
Tyrone's Ditches ..884
To Collected by Mrs. Gouinlock,
Edinburgh
' To Edinburgh Congregational
Collection (Miss Young's Con-
tribution)
To Realised in India-
Subscriptions from Patrons of
Orphans
To Interest on Bank Account ..
5 16 11
6 8
4 0
4
0
I
April 80. 1880.
By Orphanage Expenditure-
Food for Inmates £51 12 11 j
Clothing for Orphans 13 2 Oj
Fees and Books, .. 0 1 Si
Bedding .. 2 13 9t
BCatron s and Ser-
vant's Wages .. 45 18 0
Fire and Lt^t .. 5 14 7)
Repairs .. 15 1 7}
Sundries .. 6 2 0
£146 6
1 4
By Woodcuts of Orphans for
Magarine
By Carriage of Parcels to Liver-
pool and Arbroath . . 0 6
By 50 Collecting Cards .. 0 6
By Balance to next yearns Account 265 4
8i
0
2
0
01
Income .. £00 14 6
1 0
0
8 8
7 16
1
2
£418 5
6
Expenditure .. £148 1 5(
£418 5 6
662
ORIGINAL SECESSION SYNOD
AGED AND INFIRM MINISTERS' FUND.
April 30. 1889.
To Balance from preTiotu year . . £302 10
April 30, 1800.
To Collectiona from Congng^
tiODS —
Aberdeen . .
. £10 0
Auchinleck
0 7 0
Birsav
Carlake ..
10 0
2 11 0
Carnoustie
0 14 4
Coupar-Angus .
10 0
Darvel
10 0
Drotnore . •
0 15 0
Dundee . .
10 0
Edinburgh
14 18 7
Glasgow, Mains S
\t. 4 0 4
Do. Lauries
ton 0 11 0
Do. BridgeU
m 0 12 11
Kilwinning
1 13 10^
Kirkcaldv..
Kirkintilloch
0 10 0
2 0 0
MidJem . .
6 15 0
Olrig
0 10 0
Paisley
1 10 0
Perth
10 0
Cany forward £37 0 0^ £302 10 4
BroQffht forward £87 9 0^ £302 10 4
PoUokshawt 8 17 10
Shottsbum .. 16 0
Stranraer .. 3 18 0
Thurao .. 119
To Interest on Amoont In-
yested .. .. £31 1 2
Do. on Bank Account 4 6 4
47 11 7i
85 6 6 I
£385 8 H
Inoom« .. £8£ 18 U
.. £28 12 0
AprU 80, 1890
By Rev. A. Ritchie
By Grant to Mrs. A.
Ritchie, Carnoustie 6 8 0
By Balance to neit year's Account 850 8 H
Expenditure .. £35 0 0
£386 8 6).
STUDENTS' AND BURSARY FUND.
April 30, 1889.
To Balance from previous year .
April 30, 1800.
To Interest — On
Amount Invested £7 1(3 0
Do. on Bank Account 0 10 6
£72 6 5i
8 6 6
AprU 80, 1890.
By Mr. James Patrick, M.A.,
B.Sc, Canioaatie, *'Dlck"
Bursanr £8 0 0
By Mr. James G. Anderson,
Kirkcaldy (2nd Bursary) .. 7 0 0
By Outlay at Bursary Competi-
tion and Travelling Charges 17 0
By Balance to next Year's Ace 64 5 Hi
£80 12 Hi
£80 12 \U
Income ..£8 6 6
Expenditure .. £16 7 0
STATE OF THE FUNDS AT THE CLOSE OF FINANCIAL YEAR,
30th APRIL, 1890.
1. Synod's Business
and Hall Fund —
Invested
2. Home Mission
Fund-
Invested . £50 0 0
Cash on hand 58 0 10
£210 0 0
108 0 10
3. Mutual Assistance
Fund-
Invested . . £206 1 11
Cash on hand 297 18 4
504 0 8
4. Aged and Infirm
Ministers' Fund-
Invested .. £S.'>3 18 1
Cash on hand 360 8 5^
1204 6 6^
6,0,7. Foreign Mission,
Orphanage, and
Seoni School
Funds—
Invested
.•iO 0 0
Carry forward, £2076 7 7 J
Brought forward, £2076
8. Students' and Bur-
sary Fund-
Invested . . £200 0 0
Cash on hand 64 6 U)
7 7i
9. Ministers' Widows'
and Orphans*
Fund-
Invested .. £670 0 0
Cash on hand 422 5 4i
264 5 11}
1092 5 4i;
£3432 18 Hi I
Investments
Balance in Clydesdale Bank..
Cash in advance to Seoni
Mission
Synod's Business and Hall Fund,
Debit Balance —
Foreign Mission, Orphanage,
and Seoni School Funds, Debit
Balance—
£2240 0
846 11
0
1
89
7
s
257
10 lU
.SOO 8 0
£3432 lb 111
treasurer's accounts.
663
INVESTMENTS.
Under Dti4$Uure Bands 0/ Clydt Navigation Trutteet and City Im^rovetntnt Trust,
Intsrest at^orVi psr cent.
1. Sjrnod's Easiness and Hall Fund-
Donation of Miss Dick £S0 0 0
Legacy of Miss Dick 120 0 0
Sale of Colmonell Property 0000
£210 0 0
2.
Home Mission Fand —
Donation of Miss Dick £30 0 0
Legacy of Miss Dick 80 0 0
50 0 0
3. Mutual Assistance Fund —
Legacy of Mr. ^ohn Gourlay £160 111
Donatton of Miss Dick 30 0 0
Legacy of Miss Dick 20 0 0
20« 1 11
4. Aged and Infirm Ministers' Fund-
Surplus
£0S0 18 1
Donation of Miss Dick 3000
Legacy of Miss Dick 20 0 0
Legacy of Miss Eliz. Ross 97 0 0
Legacy of Mr. T. L. Craigie 20 0 0
853 18 1
5. Foreign Mission Fund —
Donation of Miss Dick £30 0 0
I>egacy of Miss Dick 2000
6. Studenu' and Bursaiy Fund —
Donation of Miss Dick . .
Donation of John Dick, Esq.
.. £100 0 0
.. 100 0 U
50 0 0
200 0 0
Ministers Widows' and Orphans' Fund —
Surplus £470 0 0
Donation of Miss Dick 100 0 0
Donation of John Dick, Esq 100 0 0
670 0 0
£2240 0 0
Invested in Miuion House Property^ India
£800.
COMPARATIVE ABSTRACT OF RECEIPTS,
FOR Years 1888-89 and 1889-90.
Srncd'a Buiiness and Hall Fund . .
Home Mission Fund
Mnioal AtaUtaoce Fund
MinifllerB' Widows' & Orphans' Fund
tStndento' and Bursary Fund
Forttign Mission Fund
Foreign Mission OrphAoage Fnnd
Seoul Mission School Fund
""Aged and Infirm Ministers' Fund
1888^.
£128 7 8^
196 12 4
302 5 10^
58 2 0
54 7 11^
510 9 4
99 9 5
238 1 0
39 6 0
1889-90,
£130 10
176 8
286 10
58 11
8 6
617 14
90 14
270 10
82 18
8
2
6
6
Increase.
£2 2 lli
6 9 2
98 5 Oi
£1681 0 7| £1721 19
t No Collection made for this Fund.
* Chtttch-door Collection made for this Fund.
0 32 9
li 43 13
0
2 £181 19
91 0
Si
9
Deorease.
£20 9 84
15 15 1
46 1 5i
8 14 11
£91 0 9
Net Increase, £90 18 6^
AUDITORS' CERTIFICATR—We have examined the various Accounts in the Books of the
Synod Treasurer, for the year ending 30th April, 1890, with their relative vouchers, and find them
correct, the Receipts and Balances being as stated in the forej^oing Abstracts.
(Signed) LAURENCE HENDERSON.
8. W. M'CRACKEN.
SBAWLANOfl, Glahqow, 8th May, 1890. JAME8 PATON.
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REPORT OF FINANCE COMMITTEE.
May, 1890.\
The Committee charged with the management of the financial afikira of the
Synod have pleasure in reporting that the receipts from all sources for the
different Schemes of the Synod have amoonted to £1,721 198. 2d., as against
£1,631 Os. 7id. in the year preceding, showing an increase of £90 18s. 6^.
Such an advance must prove very gratifying to the members of Synod, and is
Htted to call forth renewed expressions of thankfulness to the great Head of
the Church for disposing the people to respond to the numerous calls made
upon their Christian liberality in such a hearty and generons manner. At the
same time it lb only right to point out that the increased revenue has been
derived mainly from donations of a special kind remitted to the Treasurer in
answer to a special appeal made on behalf of some of the Funds, and it cannot
but be regretted that the receipts from Congregational Collections and Contri-
butions have fallen short of those received during the previoas year. This is
not as it ou^ht to be ; for a healthy state of Church finances can onlv be at-
tained when the people generally contribute of their substance with large-
iiearted and full-handed generosity, and when they all remember the strong
<:laims which the Lord o7 the Vineyard has upon them and all that they
S assess. '*The silver is mine, and tlie gold is mine, salth the Lord of
osts."
The only Legacy received during the year is that remitted by the agents on
Miss Murray's estate. The trustees of the deceased lady found, after paying
all the legacies named in her la^t will and testament, that a considerable sum
of money was at their disposal, and they resolved to divide it among all the
legatees in sums proportionate to the amount that had been bequeathed to
them. Accordingly, the sum of £84 7s. 6d. fell to the Synml for Missionary
purposes. Agreeably to the desire of Professor Aitken, who had the right to
apportion this amount as he considered most advisable, the legacy has been
e ]ually divided between the Home and Foreign Mission Funds.
lu the month of November last, it was intimated to the Synod Clerk by
Messrs. Hart & Abercrombie, writers, Paisley, that the late Mr. Robert
Robertson, sometime Inspector of Poor of the Abbey Parish of Paisley, and a
member of our congregation there, had bequeathed ** one-fourth share of the
free residue of his estate to the United Original Secession Church for behoof of
their Foreign Missions." It is believed that this legacy will amount to about
£400, but it has not yet been received. Still, the prospect of soon obtaining
this handsome legacy cannot fail to dispel any fears that may arise regarding
the removal of the heavy balance standing against the Foreign Mission Fund,
and wUl greatly help to eet over the difficulty presently facing us in con-
nection with the work of the Synod in the foreign field.
Your Committee regret much their inability to invest meanwhile any addi-
tional sum standing at the credit of the 5iini8ter8' Widows* and Orphans'
Fund, or the Aged and Infirm Ministers' Fund ; but whenever they are in a
position to withdraw from the working account of the Synod any sums due to
these Funds, they will make such an investment as will yield the highest ob-
tainable interest combined with safety.
The Income for the past year has been derived from the following sources ; —
I. Church-door Collections, Congregational Sub-
scriptions, and Childrcn*s Collecting Cards
and Family Mission Boxes, ... £8.^ 17 5
II. Contributions from Associations and Special
Contributions, . ••. ... ... HI 3 3
III. Donations, ... ... ... 194 0 6
0 T
666 REPORT OF FINANCE COMMITTEE.
IV. Legacies, ... ... ... ... £84 7 6
V. Interest,... .. ... ... 105 6 2
VI. Realised in India, 366 11 1(> |
VII. Secession Synod of Ireland, ... ... 32 16 4 I
VIII. Widows* Fund— Members' Premiums, ... 25 0 0
IX. Proceeds of Sales— Testimonies and Rules of
Procedure, ... ... ... ... 1 16 2"
Making the Total Income, ... £1,721 19 2
The Expenditure for the past year in connection with the different Fands
has been as andemoted : —
I. The Synod's Business and Hall Fund, ...£153 9 4
II. The Home Mission Fund, ... ... .. 290 0 1
III. The Mutual Assistance Fund, .. 15 0 0
IV. The Foreign Mission Fund, ... 664 1 1 Of
V. The Foreign Mission Orphanage Fund, ... 148 1 5^
VI. The Seoni Mission School Fund, ... ... 295 6 7}
VII. The Aged and Infirm Ministers* Fund, ... 35 0 a
VIII. The Students* and Bursary Fund, ... ... 16 7 0
Making the Year's Expenditure, £1,617 6 5
To this amount falls to be added the dividend payable at the meeting of Synod
from the Mutual Assistance Fund, and which, properly speaking, forma part
of the expenditure for the current year. ^
Revertmg to the different Funds, your Committee will, according to custom,
give details regarding the sources from which the revenue has been received,
and the manner in which the amount placed at their disposal has been ex-
pended. And they would notice
L The Stnod*s Business and Hall Fund. — The year's receipts, amounting to
£176 3s. O^d., have been derived chiefly from Church-door Collections, which
have reached £91 16s. Id., against £94 lOs. Od. in the previous year. The
Donations have amounted to £12 lOs. Od. The Collection at the opening of
last Synod and Sales of Testimonies, &c., yielded £2 8s. 3d. ; while the sum of
£7 lis. 3d. has been gained from Interest on money invested. A special
Contribution of Fifteen Guineas was received from the Reformed Presbyterian
Synod, as an acknowledffment of their indebtedness to our Professors for the
Theological Training of their Students.
The expenditure for the year has been about £25 in excess of the income,
and may oe thus classified — Theological Hall, £64 13s. 6d Official Expenses,
£34 16s. Od. Printing Account, £24 Os. 8d. Travelling Charges of Deputies
to Irish Synod and Ministers attending Committees, £7 17s. 9d. Supply to
Editor's Pulpit, £6 Is. Od. Interest repaid to Minister of Edinburgh Congregn-
tion, £3 13s. Od. Incidental Charges, £4 lOs. 3d. Interest payable to other
funds, £7 lis. 2d. The debit balance standing against this fund now amounts
to £257 lOs. ll^d., and your Committee submit that an extra effort should be
made by an additional Church-door Collection, or otherwise, to have this
balance greatly reduced, if not removed, during the currency of the ensuing
year.
II. The Home Mlssion Fund.— The receipts for the year have amounted to
£176 3s. O^d., or £20 9s. S^d. less than durine the year preceding. This
amount has been obtained as follows :— Church-door Collections, £112 19s.
^d. ; Legacy, £42 3s. 9d.; Contributions from Associations and Classes, £4 ISs.
Id.; Donations, £13 5s. Od.; Interest, £2 16s. lOd. These figures show a
diminished revenue on nearly all the ordinary sources of income, and the
attention of our people should be specially called to this when the next Church-
door Collection is being made.
The year's expenditure has reached £290 Os. Id., and has been allocated
thus : — ^Grants to Ministers and Missionaries, £278 6s. 8d. ; Grants for Tracts,
REPORT OF FINANCE COMMITTEE. 667
£5; Rent of Mission Boom, Kirriemuir, £3 I5s. Od.; Travelling Charges of
Convener of Home Mission Committee for two years, and Outlay for Postages
and Printing during that period, £2 18s. 5d. The Balance on lumd now
amounts to only £58 Os. lOd., as against £171 17s. lO^d. at the same date in
the year preceding, and there is now no available capital in the investment
account from which this sum can be supplemented.
III. The Mutual Assistance Fund.— The receipts for the past year have
reached the sum of £286 lOs. 9^d., as against £302 5s. lOJd, for the year pre-
ceding. The amount derived from Collections has fallen off by fully £42, and
partly accounted for by the fact that two Collections were made by some
Congregations in the previous year ; while the donations show an increase of
about £16. The following are the sources from which the revenue has come : —
Congregational Collections, £227 3s. 5id.; Special Contributions, £17; Dpna-
tions, £32 2b.; Interest, £9 5s. 4d.
The amount at the credit of this Fund at the close of the year is £297 18s.
4d. According to the request of the donors — a few friends connected with
Edinburgh Congregation — the sum of £15 was allocated among such of the
aid-receiving Ministciti as attended the last meeting of Synod, and designed to
supplement the amount distributed by the Synod out of this Fund for stipend
and house- rent.
IT. The Foreign Mission Fund. — The year's receipts have amounted to
the sum of £617 14s. ^d, as against the sum of £519 9s. 4d., or an increase
of fully £98. The sources from whence this amount has been obtained are the
following : — Church-door Collections, £208 7s. 4d. ; Contributions per Ftoiily
Mission %oxes, £37 19s. O^d. ; Collections from seven Consregations connected
with the Irish Synod, £25 3s. Od. ; Contributions from Associations, £21 6s.
3d.; Collections at Missionary Meetings, £4 15s. 5d ; Special Donations for
support of Village Teacher, £10.; Contribution for Zenana Work, £1 10s. Od.;
Donations, £72 13s. 6d.; Legacy, £42 Ss. 9d.; Realised in India, £61 Os. 21d.;
fixchaoge on Remittances to India, £130 18s. 6jd.; Interest on amount in-
vested, £1 17s. 4.
It is gratifying to your Committee to observe that all the ordinary sources
from which support comes to this Fund, show an increase — the Collections being
increased by £10, the Donations by upwards of £25 ; while the amount
realised for Exchange on money transmitted to India is more than double what
it was in the previous year.
The expenaiture for the year has been £664 Is. lOJd., as against £769 Us.
5d. for the preceding year, being a decrease of £105 9s. 7d. The ordinary
expenditure amounts to £486 14s. 7fd., and may be thus described : — Salaries
of Agents, £217 ; Zenana Agent and outlay in maintaining the Girls' School.
£39 188. Hid. General expenditure in India, £177 7s. 4id. Official Ex-
penses at home, including Travelling Charges of Ministers and Deputies
attending Committee and Missionary Meetmgs, £15 16s. 9d. ; Printing
Account, £1 13s. 3d.; Life Assurance Premiums of Messrs. Finlayson and
Blakely, £18 17s. 4d.; Interest payable to other Funds, £16 Is. Od.
The extraordinary expenditure for the year has amounted to £177 7s. 3d.,
and is thus made up : — Passage Money and Travelling Charges for Rev. David
Finlayson, £46 14b. 7d. ; Outfit for Mr. Finlayson, £20 ; Allowance to Rev.
Oeoige Anderson, £100; Life Assurance Premium for Mr. Anderson and
expenses incurred in connection with Assignation of Policy, £9 8s. 6d. ;
CopyingPress for Mr. Blakely, 14s. 2d. ; Gift of John Scott, Esq., Carluke, to
Village Teacher, lOs.
The balance standing against this Fund at the close of the year amounts to
the large sum of £498 1(£. 2}d. ; but should no unforeseen emergency arise,
the Committee hope to see this wiped out in the course of another year.
V. The Orphanage Fund. — The receipts for the year amount to £90 14s. 6d.
as against £99 9p. 5d. in the preceding year, and comprise the following sums :
Subscriptions for Support of Orphans, £60; Donation from a Friend in
Queensland, £2 10b. ; Contributions from Associations and others, £10 16s.
lid. ; Ck>llected by young people in connection with two Congregations of the
Irish Synod, £6 8s. 4d. ; Subscriptions in India from Patrons of Orphans, £3
.^9. Id. ; Interest on Bank Account, £7 16s. 2d.
668 REPORT OF FINANCE COMMITTEE.
The expenditure for the year has amounted to £148 Is. S^d., or about £24
In excess of the preceding year, and may be thus classilied : — Food and Cloth
ing for Children, £64 148. lljd. ; Wages of Matron and Servants, £45 ISs. ;
Repairs on Property, £15 Is. 7^d. ; Incidental charges in connection Mrith the
Orphanage, £20 lis. SJd. ; Outlay at home, £1 15s. 2d.
VI. The Seoni Mission School Fund. — ^The year's receipts amount to
£270 10s Od., as against £238 Is. Od. in the year preceding, and have been
thus derived : — Children's Collecting Cards, £97 13s. Od. ; Contributions from
Bible Classes, £1 7s. Od. ; Government Grant, £120 6s. Od. ; Realised in India,
£.>! 4s. Od.
The year's expenditure has been £295 6s. 7}d., or about £65 above the out-
lay during the rormer year, and may be thus stated : — Salaries of Teachers,
£2:W 128. 6d. ; Repairs on Building and Furniture, £25 3s. 3{d. ; Scholarship,
£6 ; Incidental Charges, £15 15e. l^d. ; Interest on money drawn from other
Funds, £6.
The debit balance with which this Fund is burdened amounts to £267 2b.
6fd., and its speedy removal would tend greatly to the successful on-carrying
of the educational work in India.
VIL The Aged and Infirm Ministers' Fund. — The receipts for the year
have been £82 ISs. li<l., and have come from two sources, /Vr«f, Congrega-
tional Collections, £47 lis. T^d. ; and Second, Interest, £35 6s. 6d.
The expenditure for the year has been exactly the same as last year, £35,
l>eing a grant to an afflicted minister and his family.
VIII. The Ministers' Widows' and Orphans' Fund. — The year's receipts
amount to £58 lis. 2d., or £5 9s. 2d. in excess of the income for the previous
year. I'he sources of income are : — Annual Subscription of Members, £25 ;
Interest, £32 6s. 2d. ; Collection from the Congregation at Tjrrone's Ditches
£1 5s. Od.
There has been no outlay in connection with this Fund.
IX. The Students' and Bursary Fund. — The year's revenue has been only
£8 6s. 6d., and comes entirely from Interest.
The expenditure for the year has been £16 7s. Od., and consists of Bursaries,
£15, and Outlay in connection with Bursary Competition, £1 78. Od.
The Comparative Statement of Congrej^ational Contributions for the past
and preceding years, herewith submitted, indicates a net decrease of £28 lis.
6Ad., and in view of a better state of trade throughout the country this is
matter of deep reeret. It is believed, however, that there will be satisfactory
reasons for this falling off, and that by another year the Congregations show-
ing a diminished scale of contributions will appear again among the increasing
contributors to our Funds. It is pleasant to observe that two of the Con-
gregations which were recently favoured with pastors have made a gratifying
increase in the amount of their contributions, and it is hoped that this is but
an earnest of what they will be able to accomplish in time to come. Only one
Congregation has, for some unexplained cause, failed to remit any collections,
but this may be a mere ovcrsignt on the part of the Treasurer or Managers
which may yet be rectified.
Your Committee have to report, in conclusion, that the amount presently
standing at the credit of the Synod is £2,674 19s. 3d. as against £2,917 16a. 6d.
at the close of the financial year ending 30th April, 1889. This amount cum-
prises :
1. Investments in Clyde Trust and City Im-
provement Trust, ... ... ... £2,240 0 0
2. Balance in Clyesdale Bank, ... ... 345 11 7
3. Cash in Advance to Seoni Mission, ... 89 7 8
£2,674 19 3
Respectfully submitted in name of Finance Committee.
WILLIAM B. GARDINER^ Convener.
Glasgow, 7th May, 1890.
187
^188
18
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4
REPORT OF MAGAZINE COMMITTEE.
YouB Committee have much pleasure in reporting, that for the year
ending 3 let December, 1889, the Magazine has very nearly main-
tained its usual circulation ; and from the Treasurer's clear and
comprehensive statement it will be seen that it has done more thim
meet all its own expenses.
Number of Copies printed during the year 1889 6400
Number disposed of 6213
Leaving on hand the small stock of
Income from all sources during the year
Expenditure
Balance in favour of Magazine . £32 3 10
Not only, however, has the balance in favour of the Magazine been
gradually increasing, but the amounts due by subscribers at the end
of each year has been rapidly decreasing.
Amount due by subscribers at 31st Dec. 1887 £85 7 0^
Do. do. 1888 57 5 9"*
Do. do. 1889 36 9 4
For the favourable position financially of our periodical we are in-
debted, under God, alike to the wise and efficient superintendence of our
Eklitor, the able, appropriate and altractive articles of our willing
Contributors, the indefatigable exertions of our general Treasurer,
local distributors, and other friends. It is because all our officials
work so cheerfully and hafmoniously together, that such good
financial results are produced.
By these favourable results your Committee are encouraged, with
your sanction, to aim —
Ist. At being able to give the Contributors a small sum, in recog-
nition of their services. By Christ Himself it was said that the
labourer is worthy of his hire. The fact that the Editor and his statf
of Contributors give their articles free, speaks much for them, but it
does not relieve us of the obligation imder which the Divine Law
brings us, to do our utmost to give them some remuneration for
the work they perform. Though the sum may be small, it would
be something to aim at, and show that the Divine Rule had not alto-
gether been forgotten by us.
2nd. To do the Synod's printing free. For advertisements and the
July Number, the Synod has to pay a considerable sum to the
Magazine Treasurer. Were we able, as we most cheerfully would, if
we could, to do the Synod's printing free, we would free the Synod
Fund of a considerable burden, the Synod Treasurer of a considerable
amount of anxiety, and enable the Court to plan with greater
670 REPORT OK MAGAZINE COMMITTEE.
freedom for the extension of the cause for the maintenance of vlud
we are associated.
For the attainment of these most desirable ends, a considerable in-
crease in our circulation is necessarily required. Were not odIj
ministers and elders, but members to try to secure on an average
four additional subscribers in each Congregation, our object would be
in a good measure gained.
Now, when we remember that our Magazine is doing its utmo^ t«
maintain our good old Covenanted cause, our good old Scriptural mode
of worship, and Scriptural Theology — the Theology the knowledge ol
which lies at the foundation of the righteousness by which a natiou u«
exalted and the people blessed ; we must feel that we have a power-
ful motive to seek to have our circulation increased, in order that in tLi$
way we may, in some measure, counteract the God-dishonouring, soqI-
ruining errors that so much abound at the present day. Hi»v
needful, then, to make an effort, a strong effort, and an effort alto-
gether in the faith, that through the Divine blessing we will succeed
The hand of the diligent maketh rich. Unto him that hath shall \*
given.
By order of Committee,
THOMAS HOBART, dmvener,
Oi:*ASOow, May, 189(X
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6'JO REPORT OF MAGAZINE COMMITTEE.
freedom for the extension of the cause for the maintenance of which
we are associated.
For the attainment of these most desirable ends, a considerable in-
crease in our circulation is necessarily required. Were not only
ministers and elders, but members to try to secure on an average
four additional subscribers in each Congregation, our object would be
in a good measure gained.
Now, when we remember that our Magazine is doing its utmost to
maintain our good old Covenanted cause, our good old Scriptural mode
of worship, and Scriptural Theology — the Theology the knowledge of
which lies at the foundation of the righteousness by which a nation is
exalted and the people blessed ; we must feel that we have a power-
ful motive to seek to have our circulation increased, in order that in this
way we may, in some measure, counteract the God-dishonouring, soul-
ruining errors that so much abound at the present day. How
needful, then, to make an effort, a strong effort, and an effort alto-
gether in the faith, that through the Divine blessing we will succeed.
The hand of the diligent maketh rich. Unto him that hath shall be
given.
By oixJer of Committee,
THOMAS HOBART, C(mvener.
GiiASQOW, May, 1890^
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?« 3
REPORT OF HALL COMMITTEE.
May, 1890.
The Hall was opened on the Tuesday after the first Sabbath of Jmie^
and closed on the 30th July last. According to the instructions of
Synod, the Committee met with the Professors and students, both at
the beginning and at the close of the session. Two students were in
attendance — Mr. James Young of the fourth year, and Mr. James
Patrick of the third year. The Rev. Professor Aitken opened the
session with an able and interesting account of the Life and Work of
Dr. M*Crie-:-the author of the lives of Knox and ]Melville. The Con-
vener closed the Session with a Lecture on '* The Signs of the Times, "*
for which he received the thanks of the Students and Committee.
The following are the Professors* reports : —
Hkbkew Class — Rspobt of Professor Aitken.
As the two students who were in attendance at this session of the Hall could
read Hebrew, they were taught together. Having thus but one class, my
duties were greatly simplified, and I had much pleasure in discharging them,
so far as strength permitted. After some introductory lectures we read aiid
critically examined the prophecy of Micah. The students were exercised
daily on the various grammatical and syntactical forms, while I read a short
exposition of the passage under consideration. After finishing Micah, we read
in the same manner three chapters in Isaiah, from the fortieth to the forty-
second inclusive. I cannot speak too highly of the dilisenoe with which the
students did their work, and it is most gratifyinff to mnk that they have
attained to such proficiency in the language. I did not think it necessary to
have more than one formal examination, and in it each conducted himself with
the highest merit.
Each student gave a discourse which was cordially sustained. It is to he
hoped that the weekly exercise of preparine a skeleton sermon, with the
criticism passed upon it, has been of advantage m the way of practical trainiDiz.
Wm. F. AITKEN.
Report of Professor Sfence.
In the class of Systematic Theology the subjects of study during the past
session were those comprised under the two heads of Natural Theology and
Apoloffetics, or the Evidences of Christianity.
Under the former of these heads — that of Natural Theology — were discussed r
(1) The Arguments from Nature for the Existence and Attributes of God.
(2) The Arguments from Nature for the Immortality of the Soul and a Future
Life for "Smn. Lectures were also delivered on tne principal Anti-Theiatic
Systems, such as. Atheism, Agnosticism, Materialism, Pantheism, and Posi-
tivism. Under the second head, that of Apologetics or the Evidences of
Christianity, were treated such subjects as : The Possibility, Probability, and
Necessity of a Supernatural Revelation, the Proper Province of Reason and
Faith, the Argument from Analogy, the Genuineness, Authenticity, and In-
tegrity of the Scripture Books, the Possibility, Credibility, and Evidentiar
Value of Miracles, the Argument from Prophecy. Our discussion of this sub-
ject was closed with a brief account of the leading Internal and Experimental
Evidences for the True and Divine Origin of Christianity. The students were
orally examined on the Chapters in Hodge^s Outlines on Inspiration and The
Rule of Faith.
In the class of Biblical Criticism and New Testament Exegesis, we read ancT
examined critically, grammatically, and exegetically, the first three chapters
of Ist. Peter. We also took up and treated, as fully as the time at our command
would permit, the important subject of New Testament Introduction. In tho
REPORT OF HALL COMMITTEK. 6/3.
course of the session we went over the greater part of Dr. Marcns Dods* excel-
lent little manual on this subject, the students oeing orally examined at regular-
intervals on the different sections of that work.
I have to speak in the highest terms of the diligence in study and the intel-
ligent interest in the work of the Hall, manifested by both the students in
attendance. Both delivered discourses, which were cordially sustained ; both
also acquitted themselves with great credit alike in the oral and written
examinations. JAMKS SPENCE.
The following are the reports of Presbyteries which have had
students under their inspection during the year : —
Report op the Perth and Aberdeen Presbytery, akkxt the
Training of Students, 1889-90.
During the past year there have been two students under the inspection of tlic-
Presbytery, viz. : —
L Mr. James Young, Perth, Student of Theology of the 4th year. He
bavins given in all his trials for license, and all these trials having been sus-
tained in August last, was licensed as a Probationer for the office of the Holy
Ministry, in connection with the United Original Secession Church.
II. Mr, James Patrick, M.A. B.Sc, Student of Theology of the 3rd year.
He has given in as portion of his subjects of Inter-sessional study examination
papers on Hebrew ; Isaiah, Chaps. I.-V. inclusive ; and M*Crie's Life of
Andrew Melville, which were cordially sustained. He has also been examined
in Hebrew, Isaiah, Chap. LIII, and sriveu in an *' Exercise and Additions "
on John XXI. 15-17 inclusive, which were sustained with approbation, as.
parts of trials for license.
By Order of the Presl lytery.
ALEXANDER STIRLING, Presbytery Clerk.
Report or Glasgow Presbytery anent Supervision op Students
during 1889-90.
Upon the 25th June, Air. James Gibson Anderson, Student in Arts, laid on
the table very satisfactory certificates from the Professors of the Latin, Greek,,
and Mathematical Classes, which he had attended in Glasgow University last
winter. He was cordially received, and it was agreed to prescribe to him for
examination Euclid, first six books, and Algebra ; Luke's Gospel, («reek New
Testament, 1st to 10th chaps. ; Spalding's History of English Literature ; and
Li^'y, 22nd book, first fifteen sections. At a later date, and before anv of
these subjects were overtaken, Mr. Anderson was, by request, transferred to<
the Edinburgh Presbytery, within whose bounds he had gone to reside.
Submitted by
JOHN RITCHIE, Presbytery Clerk.
Report op Edinburgh Presbytery anext Supervision of Students
DURING 1889-90.
ScccE the month of October, Mr. James (yil)son Anderson, Student in Arts of
the second year, has been under the care of this Presbytery, having been trans-
ferred about that date by the Presbytery of Glasgow. Mr. Anderson at-
tended the Edinburgh University during the past session. He has been twice
before the Presbytery, and passed satisuhctory examinations on all the subjects
of inter^sessional work for students of his standing, with the exception of
English Literature, and he has been cordially encouraged to prosecute his
studies.
By Order of Presbytery.
JOHN STURROCK, Presbytery Clerk.
Bursaries. — Two Bursaries, the Dick, £8, and one Synod Bursary,
j£7, were competed for last year. The History of the Kingdom of
God, as given in the Bible from the death of Saul until the captivity
to Babylon, was the subject on which the students were examined.
674 REPORT OF HALL COMMITTEE.
On the 15th October last two Btudents took their ^eats in Mains Street
Church Session-House, and had the following questions dictated
to them : —
QrEOTIONS ON TH£ KiNODOM OF QOD.
I. (1) Give a short account of the state of the Kingdom of God at the begin-
ning of Da>nd'6 reign, of the position it occupied at its close, and of tb» wars,
domestic and foreign, as well as the other measures by which this position was
attained. (2) Sketch briefly the character of David : indicate the Messianic
position which he occupied ; and mention any illustration which the history of
his reign affords of the principles of the continued obligation of National
Covenants.
II. Describe the extent of Solomon^s Empire, and indicate the relations of
this monarch with (1) Egypt, (2) Tyre, (3) Arabia, (4) Syria, (5) Edom. What
would you infer from the various statements of the sacred narrative as to the
internal condition of the nation of Israel in his reign ? Describe briefly tiie
temple which he built, indicating in what respects it resembled, and in what
respects it differeil, from the tabernacle. Mention the prophets who flourished
and the high priests who held office in the reigns of David and Solomon*
III. Give some account of the circumstances which led to the disruption of
tlie kingdom at the death of Solomon. In what did the sin of Jeroboam, tbe
eon of Nebat, really consist, and in what respects did it difier from that of
Ahab and his house ?
IV. (1) Enumerate in chronological order and briefly characterise the kings
of Judah from the death of Solomon to the Babylonish captivity. Which of
them would you specially characterise as rt/orming kings ? (2) Enumerate
chronologically and according to dynasties the kings of Isiael from the death
of Solomon to the capture of Samaria bv Sargon, and state briefly the reasons
which are given for the destruction of the kingdom of the ten tribes. (3) Give,
so far as tney are mentioned in Scripture, the kings of Syria (Damascus}.
Egypt, Ethopia, Assyria, and Babylon, contemporary with those of Israel and
Judalu (4) Mention in the order of time the prophets who appeared both in
Israel and Judah during the period of the divided monarchy (or, from Solomon
to the captivity). How many of them are recorded to have suffered a violent
death ?
y. Give the leading incidents in the lives of Elijah and Elisha. What would
you say constituted the special mission and life-work of these two prophets,
and in what respects did their ministry differ from that of the prophets who
succeeded them ? Mention the principal allusions to them in the Jsew Testa-
ment.
VI. Give a sketch of the principal events in the history both of Israel and
Judah during what may be called the Assyrian period (that is, the period be-
ginning with the reign of Ahaz), and itxplain the special significance of this
period in the history of the Kingdom of God.
VII. Construct from the Books of Kings and Chronicles, together with Jere-
miah, a short history of the last days of the Jewish monarchy, that is, from
Josiah to the captivity. Mention the several instances of National Covenant-
ing which occur in the history of the kingdom of Jndah.
The papers given in, in answer to these questions, are creditable to
their authors, and show that they had thoroughly mastered the sub-
ject. The first (Dick) bursary, £8, was gained by Mr. James Patrick,
Carnoustie, the second, £7, by Mr. James Anderson, Kirkcaldy. Dr.
Bannerman on Inspiration is the book on which the students are to
be examined at the competition in October next.
By order of Committee,
THOMAS HOBART, Convener,
EEPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON TEMPERANCE.
May, 1890.
Historical criticism, with its exact and painstaking research, is
destroying manj of the traditions of the past to which we are disposed
to ding with fondness and which we are grieved to lose. Here and
there it is taking away the glamour and the romance from this old
-world of ours and from the days that are dead, just as, if we are to
believe the poets, science is dispelling much of the charm which used
to hang about nature. They tell us, for example — those remorseless
investigators — ^that Galileo in his imprisonment, after the recantation
had been wrung from him, did not utter that splendid confession of
his faith with which succeeding generations have credited him, ''Yet
it moves." We are sorry to part with so fine a stoiy ; we cannot but
wish that it had been left to us ; it was a pleasant and inspiring
picture to hang up on the walls of our imagination and to look at
«very now and then.
Must we cancel the inspiriting words elsewhere and in other connec-
tions ? We have been accustomed to say of the world socially and
morally and religiously, whatever the pessimists might declare to the
contrary, '* Yet it moves." We have believed that, though the ground
we tread is dark and cold, and though the clouds are gloomy behind
and above, we are " stepping westward '' still, like Wordsworth and his
companion that evening on the shores of Loch Katrine, towards a
region bright, " with such a sky to lead us on." We have refused to
abandon our treasure of good hope. But there is much that goes to
falsify our beliefs and expectations. I'here seems no forward progress;
rather there seems to be a falling back. In the matter of Abstinence
from strong drink, the country is certainly worse to-day than it was
at this time last year. That is a terrible story which Mr. Goschen's
Budget tells of a revenue advancing by leaps and bounds through the
sin and misery of the people. The Exchequer is wealthier by
XI, 800, 000 ; who will venture to compute by how much the nation
is poorer and weaker and worse ? There are riches which are cor-
Tiipted — ^gold and silver which are cankered. There is money on
which the stains of blood are lying, and which is the price of the souls
ijf men ; it would be better that we never handled it at all. But,
though there is so much to sadden, we will not accept the verdict of
despair; we will hold fast our hopes. Perhaps — who knows? — we
lire at that darkest moment of the night which heralds in the dawn.
Perhaps it is a time for appropriating the brave words of Oliver
<.*romwell at Dunbar, when he and his eleven thousand stood with
their backs to the German Ocean and their faces to twenty-three
thousand Scots ranged on the hill against them : *' We are sensible of
one disadvantage ; but not a few ot us stand in this trust that, be-
676 REPORT OF TEMPERANCE COMMITTEE.
cause of their numbers, because of their confidence, because of our
weakness, because of our strait^ we are in the Mount, and in the
Mount the Lord will be seen/'
Only we must ourselves be in thorough earnest. We must not
only confess and deplore the evil that abounds : we must devote our-
selves to the task of counteracting and uprooting it. Jesus wept over
the city ; and then He set His face stedfastly to die. First there were
the hot and pitiful tears, and, immediately after, there was the mighty
work of redemption. By all means let us weep ; without compassion
and love no real good will ever be done. But after the tears, let
there be labour ; let there be self-denial ; let there be sacrifice. It is
high time that we awake out of sleep.
It is along these lines that the Committee would travel in their
Report. They would insist very strongly on the duty which liea
upon all Christian men and women, and yet more imperatively upon all
office-bearers in Christ's Church, to give themselves with tenfold more
devotion than they are doing to the work of healing the open sore of
our country and of delivering those who are sick unto death.
I.
There are duties incumbent on us as individuals.
At the very outset this may be laid down : We ought to be per-
sonal Abstainers. If we are ministers or elders or Sabbath school
teachers, if the great burden and the great* honour of caring for other
souls have been committed to us, there should not be a shadow of
doubt in our minds as to the attitude we are to take up towards the
drink traffic and the drinking customs of society. It ought to be the
attitude of consistent and unyielding opposition. We should never
tamper ourselves with that which may perhaps do us little hurt, but
which is likely to mean ruin and death for some at least of those
whom we are seeking to guide into the family of God and to keep in
close and daily fellowship with God. The Committee cannot refrain
from expressing their pn^ound regret that all the office-bearers of our
Church have not yet seen their way to accept what appears an
elementary truth and a first principle of Christian conduct in our
time. It is matter for thankfulness that, with very few exceptions,
our ministers are Abstainers. But why should there be any excep-
tions, save on the ground of health and of medical prescription?
Ministers know better than most men what skeletons there are in
many homes, and what sad and shameful secrets there are concealed
in the history of many lives. They see instance after instance of the
subtle and certain degradation wrought on our young people by this
one enemy of Jesus Christ. They have only too frequent oppor-
tunities of learning its craftiness and its cruelty. They ought to
make it clear and evident, " plain for all folk to see," that they have
ranked themselves against it. What fellowship should light have
with darkness, or righteousness with unrighteousness, or Christ with
Belial 1
But there is more required of the individual. He ought to be
REPORT OF TEMPERANCE COMMIITEE. 677
-w^orking actively and earnestly for the lifting up of the fallen, and
for the gacoour of the tempted, and for the instruction and confirma-
tion of those who abstain. Ajnong Total Abstainers, just as among
Christians, there are two classes. There are some whose great aim
seems to be to cultiTate a subjectiye purity and virtue, and there are
others who seek to ratify and supplement the renewed and saintly
character with a productive life. But we may be quite sure that,
with such a dark world around us, our Master does not mean us to
sit still in ease and restfulness. He wishes us to go forth as apostles
of mercy and angels of blessing, striving to the uttermost of our
power to be benefactors both to the bodies and the souls of men.
Sometimes ministers excuse themselves for their refusal to take
an energetic part in Temperance work by the plea that it is their task
to preach the Gospel — not to be missionaries of social reform. But
often we meet with hearts and lives so abject and suaken that the
Gc«pel cannot have free course. Drink is in the way. This stone
must be rolled first from the door of the sepulchre ; the man or the
woman must be got to abstain ; and then God may raise the dead
who are sleeping behind the stone. And in other cases, when we
hav^e good reason to believe that the Gospel has been received iu the
love of it, and that a poor and perishing soul has tasted the exceed-
ing grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, it is our next work to press home
the duty of abstinence. Drunkenness has been the besetting sin in
the past. If the redeemed man is to be true to his Redeemer ; if
he is not to forfeit the sweet and transcendent gladness of that
happy day which fixed his choice on Christ, his Saviour and his
God ; if he is to go from strength to strength, be will be all the
better of the defence and safety and help which are furnished by a
solemn promise and pledge to refrain from strong drink. And, after
all, the objection springs from a narrow and contracted view of the
Gospel. The Gospel of Christ is very wide iu its range and scope.
It takes in east and west, heaven and earth, things secular as well
as things sacred, our bodies no less than our souls, the life that now
is and that which is to come. It teaches us to deny ungodliness and
worldly lusts, and to live soberly and righteously and godly. They
who expound it have to tell^ not only of One who bore the curse of
God's law in our stead and opened the gates of heaven to all believers,
but of One who is mighty to save from the power of present sin,
worldliness or selfishness or uncleanness or drunkenness or whatever
it be. Let us be sure that it has its applications, this many-sided
Gospel, to the special evils of our day and our land ; and let us not
hesitate to search these out and to enforce them with all the diligence
and zeal of which we are capable.
One other . thing is required of us as individuals : that we pray
more in secret, as well as in public, for the rescue of men and women
from the power of drink and for the downfall of the trafl&c itself. It
is in many instances a physical disease with which we are confronted ;
it is a social reformation which we are anxious to see brought about.
But prayer can deal with bodily maladies and with the festering
miseries of the State, just as it is powerful to bring the rain and the
678 REPORT OF TEMPERANCE COMMITTEE.
sunshine^ the seedtime and the harvest, in the -world of nature.
Whilst we give due attention to other agencies and efforts, we ought
to put prayer in the forefront ; it is impossible to calculate what we
might accomplish on our knees for the liberating of our country ^m
the chains that hold it bound. If all who feel keenly what shame
and sorrow drink causes, and who sigh and cry for the ab<MninatioQs
that are done in the land, were to unbosom their hearts to God about
it often and importunately^ who can predict what changes we might
see erelong ? The wilderness would become a fruitful field ; the
desert would rejoice and blossom as the rose. Christ's miracles are
not ended yet ; greater works than He did Himself are to be done in
the days of His followers and by their instrumentality ; the book of
the Holy Ghost is still being written. Mr. M'AU of the Paris mission
tells how a French free-thinker got from him the Old Testament to
read and then the New. When he returned the New Testament^ he
said that he liked the book exceedingly, and he asked if he might
have the loan of the third volume. Let us bless God that there is a
third volume, a Newer Testament. It records what Jesus has been
doing during the eighteen centuries since the canon of Scriptuie was
closed ; it is far yet from being finished and complete. The arm of
the Lord is not shortened ; the ear of the Lord is not heavy. But —
here is the law of the Kingdom — but ** for all this will I be enquired
of by the house of Israel, to do it for them."
There, then, is our work as individuals.
II.
There are duties incumbent on us as citizens of the State.
We must keep clearly before us the havoc which drink is working
in the country. The tragic tale has been often told ; but we need
to listen to it again and again, and to ponder its fearful import, until
the fire bums within us, and we are weary with forbearing and we
cannot stay. The direct annual expenditure on intoxicating drinks
amounts in round numbers to £125,000,000. To this tremendous
sum there must be added the cost of the evils which result from the
drinking habits of the people — evils of many kinds. There is the loss
of workmen's time and labour, and the check which is given in this
way to industry. There is loss through the deterioration of the
workmen themselves in capacity and skill, the best craftsmen often
losing their situations or unfitting themselves physically for continu-
ing at their posts. There is the loss through the deaths which are
caused prematurely by drink, at least 50,000 deaths every year.
There is the loss which arises from the destruction of life and pro-
perty both by sea and land. There is the increased load of taxation
traceable to the fruits of the traffic. There is the expenditure re-
quired for political and educational and religious agencies rendered
necessary by the sin and misery springing from strong drink. To
calculate the exact amount of these huge financial burdens is obvi>
ously quite impossible ; any estimate can be little more than guess-
work. But statisticians who have devoted much attention to the
REPORT OF TEMPERANCE COMMITTEE. 679
question are agreed that the indirect expenses resulting from the use
of intoxicating liquors are fully equal to the actual money which ia
spent in their purchase. If their account of the matter he correct, it
is evident that year after year the nation is giving .£250,000,000 for
what oontrihutes more than anything else to its own weakness and
abasement. And the loss in material wealth is the least serious item
in the account. We must add the loss of brain power. Who will
say how much the intellectual treasures of the country have been
lessened because men of genius have given way to drunkenness 1
And we must add the loss of home happiness. That is a significant
incident which is related of one of the most remarkable minor poeta
of this generation, James Thomson, the author of the ''City of Dread-^
fill Night." We are told that he was naturally very loving with
children, and children invariably returned his afifection. But he
yielded to intemperance. And ''once, when he came back to his rooma
in Huntley Street, in the fulness of the change wrought by his ex-
cesses, the children went to the door to admit him, but closed it again
and ran to their father, telling him that Mr. Thomson's wicked brother
was at the door; and for some time they could not recognise 'their Mr^
Thomson' in the fig^ure of the dipsomaniac claiming his name." There
are thousands and thousands for whom drink has done the same
fatal service. It has made them wicked and brutal at home towards
those whom, if they bad not fallen before it, they would have cher-
ished with watchful tenderness. And we must add the loss of
Christian influence and Christian effort. How many of the bondslaves
of alcohol might have been the bondslaves of Jesus Christ, lifting
high the banner of His Cross, spending and being spent in His service,,
counting it their chiefest joy to win new subjects for His sceptre^
He might have done so much with them, and instead they are taking
up arms against Him. These are the things which must bum them**
selves in upon our minds and hearts.
But, as citizens, we ought to rejoice too in whatever is being done
for the advancement of abstinence around us. Despite the saddeniog
disclosures of the Budget, there have been hopeful indications and
movements throughout the past year. Statesmen, like Lord Kandolph
Churchill, have been coming forward with remedial measures ; and
other statesmen have been compelled to acknowledge the undoubted
growth of Temperance sentiment in the country — ^reference to the
subject of licensing reform has occupied a more prominent place in
their speeches than it used to have. Quite lately the Irish Sabbath
Closing Act received the sanction of the House of Commons; and the-
Commission appointed to enquire into the working of Sabbath Clos-
ing in Wales has reported altogether in favour of the continuance of
that good measure. In Scotland there have not been wanting tokens
of encouragement, promises of the better day that is coming soon.
The magistrates of Edinburgh did a right thing when they recom-
mended the publicans and licensed grocers in the city to close their
shops on last New Year's day. The recommendation was generally
acted on, and the result was a great diminution of drunkenness and
disorder. And the magistrates of Glasgow have, more recently still.
♦68o REPORT OF TEMPERANCE COMMITTEE.
been displayiug a commendable vigour in putting doMm places where
drink is sold illegally and without a license. In ways like these the
•country has been learning the benefit of even a small amount of pro-
hibition, and so it is beiug made ready to ask the full measure and
the larger boon. Such signs of the times should always awaken
thankfulness in us.
Yet very much remains to be done. And, as citizens, it is our
duty to see that it is done. We must educate, as far as we can and
by every method that is open to us, not only those round about us in
society, but our legislators also — the men who make our laws and
guide the helm of affaiis. They need to be told plainly and earnestly
that as yet Temperance workers are far from satisfied either with
their performances or with their promises. It is lamentable to discover
that some of them, of whom better things were expected, are partners
in brewery companies, and are not ashamed to add to their gains bj
participating in an unholy traffic. It is equally lamentable to discover
that Government persists, in spite of the lesson taught it two years
ago, in clinging to the belief that publicans who lose their licensee
are entitled to compensation. The present proposal is not so large,
indeed, or so obnoxious as that on which the country placed its veto
with such emphasis and decision. But it is based, just as the delet-ed
clauses of the Local Government Bill were, on the assumption that
•drinksellers have a legal and equitable claim to remuneration if
their places of business are closed. The claim in law has been
discussed by the Courts, and has been decided against the
publican. The claim in equity cannot be admitted by those
who hold that the trade is vicious. " We put dowu immoral
houses, and we never dream of continuing to their owners their
ill-gotten gains. If they understood all, they would think that
their very exclusion from such business was in itself compensation.
We do not mind what they think, however ; we close the places and
leave the owners to shift for themselves. " In the j udgment of many Ab-
stainers the liquor traffic, too, is essentially sinful ; and, if their views
are right, compensation is not to be thought of for a single moment.
It may be that politicians do not sympathise as yet with these views.
There is not one of our first-rate statesmen who has heartily em-
braced the convictions which Total Abstainers bold regarding the
trade in intoxicating drinks. But we cannot help that ; we are not
going to yield our position because our greatest and wisest legislators
are laggards in this race. If we allow an equitable claim to compen-
sation, it has been truly said, the whole ground of the prohibition
movement is abandoned. The traffic becomes something not to be
extinguished and done away with as soon as possible^ but to be
mended and provided for and perpetuated. Such an admission would
be absolutely fatal to principles which we count very precious and
dear; and we cannot make it. On the contrary, we must take
every opportunity of telling those in authority that they axe
wrong.
And that is our work as citizens.
REPORT OF TEMPERANCE COMMITTEE. 68 1
III.
Finallj, there are duties incumbent on us as members and office*
bearers of the Church of Christ.
The honour of religion demands that we should do everything we
can for the removal of what is the greatest hindrance to religion in
our country. The Committee are pleased to know that the ^iiniuisters
of our Church, as has been hinted already, are themselves, in almost
every instance, Abstainers. As the result of enquiry, they are able to
report that in nine cases out of ten that is true. To the first
question contained in a circular letter issued by the Convener,
*'What are your personal convctions with reference to Total
Abstinence 1 " most satisfactory answers have been returned. One
or two of these may be quoted. " It is the safest course for oneself —
indeed the only safe course. It is the only safe example for others to
follow. It is necessary to our influencing for good those who are in
danger of intemperance, or addicted to it. It is a duty of Christian
expediency in the present circumstances of society." Again : ''I have
been a strict Abstainer for a number of years, and intend to be so till
the end of my life. And it is my conviction that the sale of
intoxicating liquors should be prohibited by the law of the land, just
as arsenic is" And once more : " I am a pledged Total Abstainer, and
am decidedly of opinion that this is a duty presently incumbent on
every professing Christian."
Besides this potent and indispensable agency of personal example,
other methods of enforcing abstinence ought to be employed by the
Church, and are employed within our Church. Attention is directed
to the subject from the pulpit ; and members are urged both to watch
themselves against the sin^* and to go to the succour of those who have
fallen, or are in danger of falling under its power. Here and there
an annual sermon is preached ; in the majority of cases the topic is
referred to whenever a suitable opportunity presents itself. And
counsel and sympathy and help, it is good to learn, are given
privately to those who need them. The Committee are sure that in
this, as in the far higher matter of salvation from death and sin,
there is nothing like personal contact with individual men and
women ; a word spoken in season, how good it is, how fruitful many
a time ! A few congregations have other means in operation too ; a
Temperance library is mentioned, for example, in one instance. AH
these endeavours ought not only to be maintained by us, but to be
niultiplied and increased.
One of the Committee's questions was as follows: ^*Is there any
Abstinence or Temperance Society in connection with your congrega-
tion ) " It is matter for regret that a few ministers have not
returned answers to the queries, so that exact statistics cannot be
given on this point. But, so far as has been ascertained, there are in
our Church ten such Societies, some for the old, some for the young,
and some embracing both old and young in their membership. The
Committee cannot but think it desirable that a Society of this kind
should be formed in every congregation ; even although it do
2 Y
682 REPORT or TEMPERANCE COMMITTEE.
not meet very often, its existence will do good. There are sometimes
features in the constitution and the conduct of associations outside the
Church of which we cannot approve ; it is well to have an organisa-
tion where this danger will tte avoided. Moreover, nearly every
minister must know some of his people who require the support and
strength afforded by an Abstinence pledge, biit who cannot be
prevailed upon to connect themselves with an external Society.
There will not be the same difficulty, however, in inducing them to
unite themselves with their own fellow church-members ; often they
will be glad to do so. Thus these Societies will help the spiritual
life and purity of congregations.
The Committee made enquiry further as to the feelings of ministers
with reference to an Original Secession Church Abstinence Society.
They are exceedingly pleased to report that a large majority are
entirely in favour of such a Society. Out of nineteen answers re-
turned, fifteen advocate its formation. Of the remaining four, two
may be said to be decidedly opposed, while the other two occupy a
position of benevolent neutrality. But the Committee lay stress
on the fact that the most of our ministers are prepared to welcome
the formation of a Church Society. *' It strikes me," one of them
writes, who may be taken as representative of the rest, " that there
is nothing like practical work. As a Synod we have been watching
very closely the Temperance movement for years ; but surely we
ought not to remain spectators ; we must fight. An Original Seces-
sion Church Abstinence Society would fit admirably with our Coven-
anting principles." The Committee request the Synod at its present
meeting, therefore, to sanction the organisation of this Society;
because it will encourage and strengthen the movement for congrega-
tional associations ; because it will give the advantages of union and
visibility and common counsel to these associations, which at present
are isolated from each other ; and because it will be able to devise
more effective action than has yet been taken by our Church for the
promotion of Abstinence. They do not propose to go further just
now. If their request is granted, they will try during the current
year to frame a constitution and rules for the Society, which they
will submit to the meeting of Synod to be held next May. They feel
sure that, if we take this forward step Ckristo dttce et auspice Christoy
He will not fail to lead us in a plain path.
The world is sick unto death ; it is the Church's work, in the
Master's name, to heal the world's sickness. Christ is daily saddened
and dishonoured ; it is the Church's work to remove that which
causes Him grief and shame. The cause of God is to be tiinmphant
yet ; it is the Church's work to see that she be not put to the blush
in that crowning day.
Respectfully submitted in name of the Committee by
ALEXANDER SMELLIE, Convena-.
MORAL EARNESTNESS AND BELIEF. 683
MORAL EARNESTNESS AND BELIEF.
A FRIVOLOUS age is ever an age of acepticiBm ; an earnest age is ever
an age of faith. All history, I believe, supports this. Take one
example from English history — ^the Puritan period and the Restora-
tion period. The Restoration period was destitute of moral earnest-
ness ; like its unkingly king, Charles XL, it lived in vanity and died
jesting. No serious effort was made in that age in the legislature for
the benefit of the country. Low sports and a wretched drama marked
it. Its frivolity issued in the decay of faith. It gave birth to philo-
sophers like Hobbs, and to poets like Butler. On the other hand, the
age of the Puritans was characterised by moral earnestness, a terrible
earnestness against superstition in religion, wrongs in government,
and vices in life ; an earnestness which, in its intensity, degenerated
in some into gloominess. Connected, however, with that moral
earnestness was spiritual faith. Men then believed with all their
heart. That age of faith because of earnestness produced poets like
Milton, divines like Howe, and patriots like Hampden, Pym, and
Cromwell. As with the age, so with the individual. The flippant
and frivolous do not need faith. At most, a little shallow scepticism
suffices with them. They attempt nothing that taxes their higher
nature. . They can speculate, but they cannot believe. Some tell us
that the lack of faith springs frequently or always from strength of
intellect. No. It springs from the lack of moral earnestness. The
morally earnest must believe, or his earnestness perishes. He must
believe in the right, in its authority, in its ultimate triumph, or he
could not be earnest to secure the right for himself and for others.
The strong desire for the good must constrain him to pray for its
attainment, which envoi ves faith in the personality of the Father, in
His accessibility and responsibility. His sense of failure and sin will
move the earnest man to ask, " Is there forgiveness with God ? If so,
how ? " He will therefore be open to receive Grod's message of for-
giveness of sin through Jesus Christ. His yearning for the perfect
will suggest to him there must be a worid beyond this mound of
failures where the good will be satisfied by God, and where the Divine
aspiration which ' God hath breathed into the soul shall meet its
complete fulfilment. The morally earnest may reject this theological
theoiy or even that theology, but it must believe. It cannot exist
without faith. Faith, therefore, ever is where the morally earnest is.
But the flippant, irreverent spirit can do without faith ; nay, it could
not be, save on a basis of unbelief. — Dr. A. Goodrich.
REPORT OF HOME MISSION AND CONGREGATIONAL
WORK COMMITTEE, 1890.
A SURVEY of Home Mission work, past and present, shows the field is
one of hopefulness. True, congregations do not spring up rapidly in
connection with such work, save in isolated cases, like John Patou's
missionary labour in the east end of Glasgow. Nor do members
rapidly come into the Church through this instrumentality. Still,
evidence exists of the fact, that the Spirit of God from time to time is
moving not a few among the masses of careless cues outside the visible
Church to think about divine things, and to come to the Saviour.
In a book recently published by the Rev. James Wells, of Glasgow,
entitled, '^ Rescuers and Rescued," illustrations of this fact occur.
Individuals are awakened to serious thought about their souls, at one
time through coming into contact with the means of grace ; at an-
other time through affliction ; while there are occasions when it is
impossible to trace the beginning of soul anidety to any particular
thing. Mr. Wells remarks : " I am sure I am not exaggerating or
conjecturing regarding thousands of our non-church-going. Some-
times appeals come to them as from the air they breathe. Apart
from agencies, influences w^e caunot trace, bring them to God. The
purer and stronger the life of the Church grows, the more will those
subtle and potent influences play upon those outside, and the greater
will be the number of those who, so far as we can explain the fact,
have been brought to Christ atmospherically^ as by the wind blowing
where it listeth, through some secret virtue of the Holy Spirit''
The case described in his book, under the heading of "A Perfect
Heathen," is an illustration of this latter statement. This man knocked
one day at the vestry door of Mr. Wells at the close of a service —
" a poorly-dressed, wasted man, with rheumy blood-shot eyes, and a
thin, wedge-like face. . • He had completely ruined his constitu-
tion with drink." When asked, " What made you first think of giv-
ing up your old life ? " he answered, " It was naething but my sins."
Auother impressive thing about this work iB, the simplicity of the
means used by God to bring a sinner to the Saviour. Dr. Elder
Cumming, in a booklet called '^ Old Margaret, Or A Saint at Last,''
tells the story of this woman's conversion at the age of 60 years, and
points oat that the first link in the chain of events leading to this
result was a simple invitation at her own door to attend a Gospel
meeting. The lady who gave that invitation, he adds, was Abs.
M*Co8h, wife of a well-known professor of philosophy. Similar testi-
mony, confirmatory of this wonder-working power of God, might be
advanced from work among ourselves. Your Committee have again
to report on seven stations aided by the Synod. The first is :
Ayr — During the past year the congregation in Ayr received £20
REPORT OF HOME MISSION COMMITTEE. 685
to supplement their missionary's salary, so as to enable him to demote
nil his time^to missionary work. ]Mr. Andrew Taylor, in forwarding
the report, mentions : " This is the Thirty-sixth Annual Rep>ort of
Mission Work in connection with this congregation. From the Ist
April till 31st July, Mr. Cowieson, the missionary, spent 189 hours
in the work. From the Ist August, when Mr. Cowieson began to
devote his whole time to the interests of the mission^ till 3 Ist March,
868 hours were devoted to this Christian service, making in all 1,057
hours during the year. The Sabbath evening meeting has had an
average of fully 60 throughout the year, which is the highest average
jet reached. The Friday evening meeting has had an average of 14.
A fortnightly meeting was held in Mr. Matthew Ritchie's, and a
Sabbath afternoon meeting in Reid's Square. In addition to these,
Mr. Cowiesou, along with other two missionaries of Wallaoetowu,
conducted a series of open-air services on Tuesday evenings, during
the summer months, in various parts of Wallacetown, with encourag-
ing attendances. Tract distribution has also been prosecuted regularly
by 8 distributors." The remainder and larger part of the report is
devoted to the narration of some interesting cases of hopeful conver-
sion met with. Mr. Cowieson is manifestly labouring with spirit,
tact and success.
Cabnoustib. — Mr. Patrick reports that the various departments of
congregational work have been continuously carried on. The work
done of a specially missionary character has been fourfold — the
teaching of a Sabbath school, which has a roll of over 50 scholars,
taught by 8 teachers ; the monthly kitchen prayer-meeting at West-
haven, with an average attendance of 13 ; the distribution of Gospel
Trumpets and other tracts ; and the visitation of the careless, infirm,
and aged. In these ways opportunities have been improved in order
tx> win sinners to the Saviour, and to be helpful to the people of God.
Really useful work is evidently going on through these instrumentali-
ties, in which Mr. Patrick has been spending a large portion of his
time. His visits appear to be greatly valued by many. Three names
were added to the roll during the year. Mention is made of the loss
through death of Mr. Andrew Anderson^ senior elder in the congre-
gation.
Briooeton, Glasgow. — Mr. M*Kay reports that the attendance on
public worship on Sabbath morning has been 60 ; on Sabbath after-
noon, 120. The membership is 111, with 34 adherents above 14
years of age. Several losses have been sustained through removals to
other parts. Four persons profess to have undergone a saving change.
The Sabbath school has been attended by 220 scholars, taught by 21
teachers. So far as appearance goes, the success of the school is
everything that could bo wished. The minister's Bible class has been
attended by 8 persons. The Home Circle is described as having been
a great success, the attendance being as high as 50, and the average
80. Prominence has been given throughout the year to the prin-
ciples and contend in gs of the Covenanters. A mission meeting con-
ducted by the Sabbath school teachers has been held on the Sabbath
686 REPORT OF HOME MISSION COMMITTEE.
evening. Half-an-hour is spent in the open air, and the meeting is
afterwards h^ld in the chnrch hall. The audience has numbered at
times over 50. A combined mission and prayer-meeting is also held
on Thursday evening, with an average attendance of 20. The Band
of Hope has been highly successful. The membership at present is
140. A senior branch of the Band of Hope was instituted during the
year for those over 14 years of age, and promises to be proapeions.
Mr. M^Kay adds that much time has been spent in collecting money
to purchase the feu on which the church is built. The sum gather^
now amounts to £218. The report concludes with an outlook of
promise for the congregation.
Laurikston, Glasgow. — Mr. Yuill reports that from 12 to 15 hours
a week have been spent in visiting the mission district. Special
attention has been given to the young in seeking to elicit their know-
ledge and in pressing upon them the importance of youthful piety.
Three classes have been taught during the year — ^two weekly and one
monthly. The first has had a roll of 17, and an attendance of 14 ;
the second has been attended by seven young lads regularly through-
out the year ; the third has been held at Hangingshaw, with an at-
tendance of 14. In the Sabbath school there are 60 scholars and 7
teacbera The want of a superintendent has been much felt, those
willing to take part residing at too great a distance. We reciprocate
the hope that some one with heart and tact may soon be raised up to
do this work for the Master's sake. Three meetings have been held
during the year — two weekly and one monthly. One is the congre-
gational prayer-meeting ; another is a mission meeting in South Co-
burg Street^ attended sometimes by as many as 19 persons ; and a
third is the monthly meeting at Hangingshaw. Some in connection
with these meetings have expressed concern about their spiritual and
eternal interests, and these have always been guided and helped with
the light and teaching of God's Woixl. The attendance on Sabbath
services has been about 50 in the forenoon, and 100 in the afternoon.
The number added to the roll during the year has been 15. The
membership now stands at 100. Seven persons distribute tracts
from week to week.
Kilmarnock. — Mr. Laird reports continued progress in the various
branches of his work. The attendance on Sabbath forenoon has been
64, last year it was 58 ; in the evening it has been 79, last year it
was 71. The Monday evening prayer-meeting has had an average
attendance of 20, last year it was 16. The Tuesday evening meeting
in Park Street, carried on by Mr. Laird and Mr. Hunter, was con-
ducted for a time during the winter, but, owing to Mr. Hunters
continued illness and Mr. Laird's numerous other duties, it was given
up. The kitchen meeting at Morton Place, has been held as formerly,
with the exception of a few weeks, owing to the illoess of Mr. Laird.
This meeting continues interesting and encouraging, and has been
the means of additions to the membership of the congregation. The
Sabbath school has had another year of prosperity. The attendance
has been 70 scholars, and these were taught by 8 teachers, seven of
REPORT OF HOME MISSION COMMITTEE. 687
whom are members of the Church. At the request of several
members, a Sabbath morning fellowship meeting has been started.
Twelve persons have been meeting together in this way, specially to
supplicate God's blessing on all the agencies. Much time has been
spent by your missionary in visitation. Some 4000 tracts and booklets
have been distributed. During the year 21 names were added to the
roll, making in all 59 additions since Mr. Laird began his labours in
Kilmarnock. The membership is now 65. The congregational
collections have risen three shillings Srweek above the previous year.
Three persons have given evidence of real conversion to God. Grate-
ful acknowledgment is made of the continued kindness of Mrs.
Dunlop of Anuauhill, and Colonel Tait, in placing sums of money at
your missionary's disposal to help distressed persons. Mr. Laird is
manifestly labouring with diligence and success.
Kirkcaldy. — Mr. Anderson, who began work on the Ist October, in
connection with this congregation, has sent In an interesting repoit,
covering a period of six months. Apart from the usual church services
on Sabbath, Mr. Anderson has preached 5 times in the eveuiug. The
average attendance at the various services has been, forenoon, 35,
afternoon, 37, eveuing, 55. The highest attendance in the forenoon
was 44, in the afternoon 45, and in the evening 70. A number of
persons have been attending the church as the result of mission work.
For those who could not attend the church, 9 meetings were held on
Sabbath evenings, with an average attendance of 24 ; and 12 meetings
on Friday evenings, with an average attendance of 19. Among those
who have been attending these meetings are some who had not
entered a place of worship for years. One difficulty experienced in
connection with the mission work is, there is no part of the town which
they can regard as peculiarly their own district. Two classes have
been taught on Monday evenings — a junior, with an average attendance
of 20 — and a senior, with an average attendance of 10. The number
ill these classes has had to be restricted as the young people have
been very troublesome, and the needed help has not been available.
<.)n four occasions your missionary has addressed, by request, the
Pathhead Mother's meeting. On an average, about 60 hours have
been spent each month in meetings, classes and visitations. Nine
additions have been made to the roll of the congregation during the
time Mr. Anderson has been labouring in the field, and the conviction
IS expressed that this is an important sphere of usefulness. It is
certainly most desirable if the Synod can see its way, to aid sustained
missionary labour in connection with this congregation.
Kirriemuir. — ^Mr. Finlayson's report covers a period of a few
months — from the 10th of May till the 25th of August. He con-
ducted the regular services in the congregation, when between 60 and
70 persons attended. Two youug persons joined the fellowship of
the congregation. A weekly prayer-meeting was maintained with
an attendance of about 20 persons. The mission meeting at the
Feus was held regularly every Sabbath evening, and the attendance is
reported to have been good. The Sabbath school was also regularly
» was 61.
688 REPORT OF HOME MISSION COMMITTEE.
held, aud was very successful. Several evangelistic services were also
conducted in other places.
OTHER CONGREGATIONS.
Dundee. — Two meetings have been held weekly, of an evangelistic
character, one on Sabbath evenings and the other on Thursday even-
ings, in a very necessitous district close to the Church — a Sabbath
school has been conducted exclusively for young people from the dis-
trict— and a young women^s Bible class taught by a young lady of
the congregation. About 200 tracts have been distributed weekly by
seven distributors. Apart from the good this agency has done to
those who have engaged in the work, there is reason to believe it has
been spiritually helpful to some in the district, brightening their
otherwise dark and cheerless lives. A number have been got to at-
tend the House of God occasionally ; and though few as yet have
been received into church fellowship from the district, there is the
hope of gaining some from time to time.
Kilwinning. — Mr. Matthew reports he has commenced a kitchen
meeting in a lane not far from the church. It is held every Tues-
day evening, and has an average attendance of over twelve. Tract
distribution is also engaged in as opportunity offers.
PoLLOKSHAWs. — Mr. Gardiner reports that two district meetings of
an evangelistic character are conducted by himself and members of
his session in rotation, on alternate weeks in winter. These are de-
signed for non-church-goers, a number of whom attend.
Stranraer. — ^Mr. Smellie has forwarded an interesting report of
evangelistic work which he organised and started during the past
winter. The meetings, which were commenced on the 1st Sabbath of
December, have been held in the Old Town Hall. Each Sabbath
evening the Hall has been filled, and sometimes crowded. It is
stated ; " A considerable number of those who attend are church-
going people, but each evening there has been a large number of
those who do not attend any church." Mr. Smellie speaks in warm
terms of the interest and devotion of his workers — some 20 in
number, and chiefly ladies — who give themselves to visitation and
tract distribution once a week. The work has proved profitable and
enjoyable to those who have engaged in it, while a happy reflex in-
fluence has been felt in congregational life.
In addition, several of the ministers report that they visit the
non-church-going. Tract distribution has been carried on in 21
congregations : the previous year the number reported was 14. Two
of these — Edinburgh and Perth congregations- — distributed periodicals
in connection with their Sabbath schools, which are main mission
schools ; the other congregations referred to have bands of distri-
bntors. The number for the year has been 67 : the previous year it
REPORT OF HOME MISSION COMMITTEE. 689
STATE OF THE FUND.
The balance from previoiiB year ia ... ... £171 17 lOJ
The income for the year juBt closed is ... ... 176 3 0^
This makes the total amount available for the year ... £.348 Oil
The expenditure for the year has been £290 Os. Id. : leaving a
balance to be carried forward to next year of £58 Os. lOd. If the
present expenditure is to be continued, a special effort will require to
be made without delay to obtain increased contributions. It is most
desirable that the mission work in all our stations should be upheld :
and the Committee commend the state of the fund to the earnest
attention of the Synod and the Church.
CONGBEGATIONAL WORK.
Reports have been received from all our congregations except
Toberdony.
The number of Bible Classes taught during the year has been 38,
an increase of two over the previous year : while the number of
scholars enrolled has been 705, as compared with 802 for the previous
year. The decrease is mainly due to the absence of statistics from
two congregations, and the occurrence of vacancies during the year.
The number of Sabbath Schools conducted has been 26 : of teachers,
282; of scholars enrolled, 2,100. The previous year the numbers
were : schools 23, teachers 261, scholars 2,053. Thus coutinued
prosperity marks this department of Christian labour. It is our
earnest prayer the fruit may be unto holiness, and the end ever-
lasting life.
Respectfully submitted in name of Committee by
PETER M'VICAR, Convener,
FOREIGN MISSION REPORT.
* May, 1890.
Your Committee have pleasure iu presenting a report of the Foreign
Mission work carried on under their superintendence during the |>aBt
year. In so doing they would be wanting in their duty did they not at
the outset express their deep sense of gratitude to the Lord for en-
abling them to continue occupying that part of the great mission field
which, in the good providence of God, has been committed to our care.
Seoni, with its mixed population, and surrounded by so many popu-
lous villages, presents an inviting field of labour to our Church, and
it will always be an honourable mark of distinction in her history
that, when her strength was but small and her home demands numer-
ous, she was able to take possession of that district in the very centre
of India, and station her Agents there to spread the light of the
glorious Gospel and win souls to Christ. Although the progress
made year after year may seem comparatively small, yet the good
accomplished cannot be told by the mere number of professed con-
verts, or the hours spent iu teaching, and preaching, and visiting.
The good seed sown in faith by earnest workers will not be lost ; but
will yield fruit after many days. We may confidently anticipate a
blessed reaping time, and should never cease to pray that, throiigh
the combined efforts of our Missionaries, many of the heathen in that
dark region may be led to renounce their connection with idolatry,
and become the worshippers of the true God and the followers of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
The year just closed has been marked by the accession to our
Mission staff of an ordained Missionary. In a previous report, refer-
ence was made to Mr. David Finlayson, Arbroath, having been
accepted as an agent for the foreign field. The Committee awaited
the instructions of the Synod regarding the date of his ordination
and subsequent departure for India. The Synod having confirmed
the acceptance of Mr. Finlayson as a Missionary, empowered the
Foreign Mission Committee to make the necessary arrangements with
a view to Mr. Finlayson being sent out as an ordained Missionary.
Accordingly, the Committee, at a meeting held in Glasgow on the
30th July last, " agreed to instruct the Perth and Aberdeen Presby-
tery to ordain Mr. Finlayson as a Missionary for India on whatever
day may be considered most suitable, and in view of him leaving for
India about the beginning of November." The Presbytery fixed the
ordination of the young Missionary to take place in the Rev. Mr.
Stirling's church at Arbroath, on the evening of Tuesday, 29th
October last. There a large congregation assembled to witness the
solemn and interesting proceedings. The Moderator of Synod opened
the proceedings ; one of our recent Missionaries preached the sermon ;
FOREIGN MISSION REPORT. 69 T
the Pastor of the congregation, under whose ministry Mr. Finlajson
had been brought up, offered up the ordination prayer ; the Couyener
of our Ck>mmittee addressed the young Missionary ; one of the senior
members of Committee addressed the people, and one of the younger
members of Presbytery closed the impressive services. All who en-
Joyed the privilege of being present will long remember the occasion,
and will be ready to say that it was good to be there. Two farewell
meetings with Mr. Finlayson were subsequently held in Arbroath,
and it must have been specially gratifying to him to have received
from those among whom he spent his early days several tokens of
their respect and esteem, and pledges of the interest they felt in the
^reat work to which he has consecrated himself. In the middle of
November the new Missionary left his native land for the scene of
his future labours in the East, and under the favour of a kind Provi-
dence he reached the shores of India in safety. No time was lost in
proceeding from Bombay to Nagpur, in both of which places he was
hospitably entertained by Missionaries connected with the Free
Church of Scotland, who have always proved very friendly to our
Missionaries ; and then he proceeded on his way to the town of Seoni,
where, it need scarcely be said, he met with a hearty welcome. An
account of his reception and his introduction to those connected with
our Mission has already appeared in the pages of the Magazine. Five
months have already passed since Mr. Finlay son's arrival at Seoni,
a.nd during that period he has been engaged acquiring the language
of the people and taking part in conducting the English service in
the Church, besides teaching the higher branches in the Boys' School.
Once he has mastered the vemactilar and can speak with some
measure of fluency to the natives in their own tongue, he will be free
to go wherever he finds an open door to carry on the all-important
work of preaching the Gospel, and we hope that many days of use-
fulness await him in the district to which he has been sent. While
he and his fellow-labourers prosecute their honourable though labori-
ous work, may the Church at home never cease to remember them,
and by continual prayer to God on their behalf enlist Divine help on
their side ; and so shall their labours among the ignorant multitude,
as well as among the learned opponents of the Gospel, prove successful.
*'' Ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence, and give Him
no rest, till He establish, and till He make Jerusalem a praise in the
«arth."
Your Committee gladly insert the first report received from Mr.
Blakely. It is brief but pointed, and gives a condensed account of
the year's labours. Mr. Blakely has been labouring throughout the
past year under many disadvantages and amid many difficulties ; but
notwithstanding this he has been enabled to keep all the agencies
^oing, and to finish the year with credit to himself and great benefit
to the people. Much of Mr. Blakely's time has been spent in super-
intending the repairing and reconstruction of the property of the
Mission which had fallen into a state of considerable dilapidation. The
Committee instructed him to have the property thoroughly over-
hauled and put in good condition, and these instructions have been
692 FOREIGN MISSION REPORT.
carried out at considerable expense. This, however, was felt to be-
unavoidable, and now that the buildings belonging to the Sjnod,
both in the compound and in the town, have been carefallj repaired
and rendered habitable and safe, it is believed that the outlay for
necessarj repairs will be much reduced in the coming year. Th&
followiug is the report submitted by Mr. Blakely for the year 1889-90 1
EVAliGBLISTIC WoKK.
Every Monday evening we visit a large bazaar in a village which may be
really called a part of Seoni. The elder Orphanage boys come with ns and are
a great help, their singing nsoally attracting a crowd of between three and
four hundred. On the outskirts of the crowd there are always a few women,
though, poor things, their ignorance possibly keeps them from understanding
much. Our audience is a shifting one, the same faces beine only occasionally
seen in the crowd. When Mr. finlayson and myself are able to speak freely
to the people, we hope to make this meeting more interesting. The Catecfaist
does not seem to understand the importance of variety in such meetings. He
has carried on his work during the year in Seoni itself, and in the villages
near it, regularly and faithfully. The fairs at the source of the Warigunya
and at Chhapara were also visited. He has been a good deid hindered in his
work by the frailties of his tonga which has been constantly breaking down.
Zexana Wokk.
Having no Bible woman, it has not l^en possible to do very much. My wife
has gone as often as possible with the Matron of the Orphanage to the houses
in the town, and has always been warmly welcomed by the women. As many
as thirty have gathered sometimes to listen. The Matron seems to be thor-
oughly qualified for this work, and if I could only find a substitute for her in
her Orphanage work, I would make her the Bible woman. In addition to this,
my wife has gone, once a week, to the house of a Mohammedan gentleman, to
teach his two little girls sewing and knitting. This has been done on condition
that she would be allowed to sing hynms and read the Bible to them. Tho
invitation came from the father, and the mother's reception of my wife and
Miss Martin, who often accompanies her, was at first rather cold ; but now both
mother and children look on the two ladies as dear friends, and tell them all
their little troubles. We hope that other houses may soon be opened to them.
The meeting for women on Sabbath afternoon, in tho bungalow, is still carried
on.
Educational Work.
The number of teachers in the Boys' School is ten, the same as last year, bnt
the school has considerably diminished. There are 212 on the roll at present.
There are, I think, three causes in bringing this about, (I) The bad results of
last year's Middle and Entrance Examinations; (2), Attempts on the part of
the Govorniuent School to draw away scbolara, and (3), Our headmaster, who is
not altogether satisfactory. The school has not been inspected yet, but will be
this week. Five boys went up for the Entrance Exammation. Another who
should have gone took ill. Eight boys entered for the Middle School Exami-
nation. We hope to improve the school very much in the coming year.
(2.) The Girls School has had anything but a prosperous year. There was
no head mistress, and the attendance grew less and less. At last we decided
that if we wished to keep the school on at all we must appoint a heathen head
mistress until we could get a Christian mistress. We did so, and as far as
attendance, discipline and work goes, the result has been good ; but it must
be remembered that no Christian influence whatever, unless that of my wife,
is beiuff brought to bear on these children.
(3.) The School at Bandole has done very well during the past year. The
villagers refused to carry out their promise to assist in building a school ; bnt
on my telling them that the school would be closed unless they did so, they
FOREIGN MISSION REPORT. 693
agreed to help. The accommodation they offer is too little, and it is uncertain
M'hether any arrangement will be come to.
Orphanaob.
The year has been marked by the reception of three new children, two girls
and a boy. While there are many difficulties here, it is yet the brightest part
of our work. We have had no serioas illness of any kind during the year.
All visitors to the Otphanage remark on the happy appearance of our children.
One of our greatest difficulties is what to do with our elder boys. We have
almost made up our minds to send one of them, Andrew Thomson, to Cawn-
pore to work in the cotton mills. He would be takeu care of by one of the
Missions there, and we would only have to pay a small sum for a few months
ontil he could earn enough to keep himself. — Submitted by
ROBERT BLAKELY.
Seoni, 18th March, 1890.
From the cor rcspoii deuce of our Missiouaries, your Committee have
gathered a few iuterestiug facts bearing on the work in ludia which
they consider it only right to mention in this Report It should be
remembered that in carrying on such work as our Agents are engaged
in, many things occur from day to day which cannot be stated in a
formal report submitted once a year, and hence we may be permitted
to supplement what Mr. Blakely has said with a few gleanings from
his letters, and also from those sent by Mrs. Blakely and Mr. Finlayson.
I. The Mission Church at Seoni.
The neat little church which was erected near the public highway
in the year 1878 has been occupied as usual during the past year.
Religious services, both in English and in the vernacular, have been
regularly conducted — John Moses^ the Catechist, rendering important
aid in the meetings specially designed for the natives. Now that
we have another ordained Missionary in the field, all the ordinances
of the Church can be dispensed as occasion requires. The present
arrangements for conducting the English service are, that Mr. Fin-
layson and Mr. Blakely take this diet of worship alternately on Sab-
bath morning; while John Moses continues in the meantime to
fbddress the people at the vernacular service. The ordinance of
Baptism has been dispensed both on the first Sabbath of January
und February, while the sacrament of the Lord's Supper was observed
on the second Sabbath of February, when sixteen persons sat down
at the Lord's Table. It is pleasing to know that the first child
oaptised by Mr. Finlayson was the daughter of Henry Firth, who
was for some years an inmate of our Orphanage, and was married
recently to one of the Orphanage girls. And it is very cheering to
learn that among those who commemorated the Lord's death there
wer« three who had been trained for a longer or shorter period in
our schools, and had their residence in the Orphanage. We trust
that this is but an earnest of what shall yet be witnessed, and that
the young people, whom God in His providence has placed under our
care, will ore long make a public profession of their faith in Christ,
and openly acknowledge Him as their Lord and Master.
694 FOREIGN MISSION REPORT.
II. Village and Bazaar Work.
Mr. Blakely's statement regarding his weekly visits to a Bazaar in
the vicinity of the town, which crowds of country people are in the
habit of frequenting, is very interesting. Although the open^ir
services at such great gatherings have been carried on under many
disadvantages, yet under the blessing of Grod some words simply
and earnestly spoken may take root in the hearts of those who fre>
quent such a place to buy or sell or get gain, and lead them to reflect
on what is far more essential to be known and understood than the
passing events of the day, or the business affairs of this life. When
once our two Missionaries have fairly mastered the language, and can
go out to the fairs and public gatherings of the people, to preach the
glad tidings of salvation, we may anticipate results of a most j^rati-
fying kind. Meanwhile, John Moses is doing good and faithful ser
vice in visiting some of the villages, as well as in his weekly visits to
the people of the town, and we would encourage him to go on in this
laudable work in the faith of being able to impart real benefit to not a
few. By another year we hope to be able to report on numerous
places having been visited and the Word of Life having been pro-
claimed to many who as yet know not the Lord. For this, after all,
is the grand employment of a Missionary, and every other sort of
useful work must be viewed as subordinate to publishing the Gospel
of peace. May the day not be far distant when the statement mside
regarding the labours of Paul and Barnabas in and around Antioch in
Pisidia will be verified concerning Seoni and its neighbourhood : " And
the wcrd of the Lord was published throughout all the region . . .
and the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost."
III. Zenana Work.
For satisfactory reasons that were fully explained to your Com-
mittee, the person formerly employed as a visitor to the homes of
the women in Seoni was dismissed, and up till this time no one has
been obtained to take her place. It is believed that arrangements
will soon be made for securing a thoroughly competent woman to go
out and speak to the mothers and daughters in the Zenanas, and
make them familiar with the great doctrines of grace. Such work is
most necessitous, and when carried on in a right spirit and from
proper motives will be crowned with an enriching blessing. Mean-
time, Mrs. Blakely has rendered signal service to the Mission in
undertaking this duty, and has gone to the houses in town, accom-
panied either by another lady who is deeply interested in this work,
or by the Matron of the Orphanage. Then the Sabbath afternoon
meeting for females alone, and which continues to be held in the
bungalow, has been regularly conducted under the superintendence
of Mrs. Blakely. We certainly owe her the most grateful thanks for
the deep interest she has taken in this branch of our work, and we
trust that she will be rewarded by Him who notices with approbation
every service of this kind rendered for the honour of His Name and
the good of perishing souls.
FOREIGN MISSION REPORT. 695
The little that has been required to carry on Zenana work during
the past year, has only taken about a fourth of the amount that waa
previously collected for this specific work, and hence, without any
special effort having been made since our last report, there will be
sufEicient on hand to meet the salary of another paid worker. Not
knowing, however, that this would be the case, arrangements were
made for having the usual amount requisite for this purpose raised
among the ladies of Mains Street Congregation, Glasgow, when in the in-
scrutable providence of God, the kind-hearted friend who so willingly
undertook the work was laid on a bed of affliction, and then sum-
moned away into the eternal world. Year after year we have had
most sorrowfully to lament the loss our Mission has sustained by the
removal of those whose services were always placed at our disposal
when any special duty had to be discharged, and we feel assured that
all the members of Synod will concur with us in saying that in the
death of Mrs. Aitken our church has sustained a heavv loss. She
was a true "mother in Israel," whose heart was full of tender
sympathy and whose hands were always full of useful work — work
done so readily and so pleasantly and so ungrudgingly for the glory
of God and the good of others. " Blessed are the dead which die hi
the Lord from henceforth : yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest
from their labours, and their works do follow them."
IV. Educational Work.
The work of a purely educational kind, and which forms such an
important adjunct of a Mission Station^ has been prosecuted with
more or less success during another year. At the date when Mr^
Blakely drew up his annual statement^ it is evident that our schools
were not in the prosperous condition that is desiderated ; but it is
hoped that by effecting necessary changes in the teaching-staff and
obtaining Christian teachers of superior ability to impart iustruction,
our schools will enter again into a period of prosperity and decided
U8efulness» We will briefly notice —
1. T?ie Boys' School. — During the past year the teaching-staff in
tbis school numbered ten — that being the number for the former
year. The pupils are not so numerous as formerly, and various
reasons are assigned by Mr. Blakely for the falling off. It is re-
grettable that there should be any supposed inefficiency on the part
of the headmaster, for it is easy to understand what a hurtful effect
a rumour of this kind in the district would have on the attendance.
The new arrangements proposed in conducting the school will, we
trusty have the effect of seciuring a better attendance and piake the
educational training of the boys more thorough and every way satis-
factory. Mr. Finlayson devotes two hours daily to the teaching of
the higher subjects, including Euclid, Algebra, and Physical Science^
The negotiations that were carried on more than a year ago for the
transfer of the public school to our care were fallen through, and
have not been re-opened. Indeed, it would be unwise in the present
state of our school fund to attempt anything more than is being done.
696 FOREIGN MISSION REPORT.
Our great aim and desire is not merely to see that the boys obtain a
^ood secular education, but a religious training ; and it is eyident
that the present number enrolled is quite enough to tax the energies
•of our Missionaries wlio have personally to superintend this impor-
tant branch of instruction from day to day. It will be seen from the
financial statement that the Government Grant received for the pa^t
year is a little in advance of the previous year's granf, and that the
amount paid for teachers' salaries is £41 higher than formerly.
While the fees received are rather less during the past year, the sub-
scriptions obtained in Seoni on behalf of this school show a hundred
per cent more than in the year preceding.
2. 7%« GirU* School, — The report sent home regarding this school
is somewhat disappointing. It was anticipated a year ago that good
results would spring from the secular and religious education of the
girls enrolled in the school ; but untoward circumstances have arisen
to prevent our sanguine expcct-ations being realised. The person then
•in charge of it had to be dismissed for inefficiency. There is no doubt
•that Mr. Blakely has done his best to secure proper teachers to carry
•on the training of the girls, yet the difficulty of obtaining teachers of
the right stamp has been very great The present arrangements made
are only tentative, and our hope is that a Christian woman will speedilj
be secured to take the management of this sohooL It would be very
•disastrous if the object we had in view in starting such a school was to
be defeated, and more especially after having the Government school
for girls made over to us. The day, however, may soon come
when our educational work among the girls will be prosecuted with
efficiency and prosperity, and when not only the Bible lessons will be
iregularly given, but a fine, healthy, moral tone will pervade the daily
education of the girls. This school is still carried on without encroach-
ing on the Foreit^n Mission Fund, as the grants and subscriptioDS
received in India meet all that has been expended in its maintenance
^throughout the year.
3. The Bandoie School. — It is very satisfactory to know that the
•educational work at the village of Bandoie, under the care of Nathu
D4s, has proved so successful dmnng the past year. It is hoped that
ythe villagers will appreciate the boon conferred upon them by the
appointment of this excellent teacher, in the way of implementing
their promise to assist, as far as they could reasonably be expected to
do, in providing an adequate school-house and otherwise co-operating
with us in securing a good education for their children. The efforts
being made to arouse them to discbarge their duty in this respect, may
«oon be i rowned with success. £arly in the year it became necessary
to appoint an assistant to Nathu Das, and this has led to an increased
expenditure. Still this money has been laid out to advantage aad
will yet yield considerable gain to our Mission. In the absence of
definite information regarding evangelistic work performed by the
teacher after school hours or on the Lord's day, we are unable to re-
port on this point ; but it is believed that he has been often engaged
visiting the villagers and conversing with them on subjects of supreme
'importance. The two generous friends in Scotland who previously
.FOREIGN MISSION REPORT. 697
'Contributed for this special agency, have repeated their contributions,
and to them we are iudebtdd for enabling us to commence and con-
tinue educational work in the village. In many other places could
similar work be entered on had we the means at our disposal.
V. The Seoni Orphanage.
Mr Blakely speaks in cheenng terms about the Orphanage, and
tells of the happy condition of the children and young people. It is
pleasant to know that they have all been in fairly good health through-
out the year, and that those of them who are able to attend school
were making satisfactory progress with their education. Three addi-
tional children have been added to their number — two girls and a Gond
boy about 11 years of age, named " Dudu." The two girls, and one
who was in the house before, have been adopted by kind friends at
home, and on being baptized received the names of Alargaret Wallace
Downie, Helen Blakely, and Margaret Campbell Finlayson. We
heartily thank Mrs. Downie of Partick, Mrs. Finlayson of Arbroath,
And Dr. William T. Blakely of Kirkintilloch, for the interest they
have taken in these orphan children, and for consenting to become
their patrons. Our Fifeshire friend, who still remains unknown, has
most generously renewed the donation of five pounds for the benefit
i»f the Orphanage, and as we have no other means of thanking this
benefactor, we gladly do so in this way. Mr. Blakely raises a very
important subject in his report, bearing on the future employment of •
the elder boys. It is evident that when they have acquired a suffi-
cient education, we must see that some provision is made for them
heing engaged in some suitable calling. This important matter has
already engaged the attention both of the Committee and our
Missionaries. Care will be taken to have these lads so employed as to
be still under Christian influence, and \then found qualified they will
be asked to assist in the junior department of the Seoni School.
Among other changes in connection with our Orphanage during the
past year, it may be noted that James Smellie was married in the
month of May last, to the daughter of a retired native officer in Nag-
pur. Philip Grordon's application for the medical service proved im-
successful, but he may be able to pass the examination at another
time. Meanwhile, he has been accepted as a head -constable in the
police force at Seoni. Henry Firth ceased acting as a teacher some
time ago, and has also joined the police force in the town.
Mr. Blakely was for some months subjected to great trouble and
anxiety owing to an attempt made by one of the patrons in India to
remove a girl who had been received into the Orphanage in June,
1888, on the ground fhat she had been admitted as a " boarder,'' and
was continued there at the pleasure of her patron. The case came
before the Civil Courts and after repeated delays was finally disposed
of on the 11th February last by Mr. Nedham, the Deputy Commis-
sioner in the Court at Seoni. The plea of the applicant was re-
pelled on the ground of a written statement drawn up by Mr. Ander-
son in presence of the Committee, that the girl was received into the
2z
698 FOREIGN MISSION REPORT.
Orphanage in the ordinary way, and that no stipulation was made
either verbally or in writing reserving any claim which the patron
might have to the girl. As this case is of some importance we quot«
the concluding portion of the formal decision : —
'' It must be remembered that the Inatitution is, as the name implies, an
" Orphanage," not a " Boarding School." It is undoubtedly the ordinary-
practice for children received therein to be considered permanently under the
care and guardianship of the Superintendent. I consiaer that anyone placing
a child there with any other intention ought to reserve his rights by express
stipulation with the Superintendent, not necessarily in any legal and formal
manner, but at least by some verbal agreement, which, ^Jr. Anderson writes^
was not done in the present instance. Whatever, therefore, may have been
the applicant's intention in the matter I think he waived his right to guardian-
ship by making over the child unconditionally to such an Institution, and as
the Society wish to retain charge of her, I do not feel justified, in the face of
Mr. Anderson's written declaration, in ordering her removal. The applica-
tion is therefore dismissed with costs. Mr. Blakcly has not incurred any ap.
preciable expense in defending the suit, so it is not necessary to jnake any
order about his costs."
During the continuance of this troublesome case, Mr. Blakely ha&
had to suffer no little opposition and obloquy on the part of several
persons about Seoni from whom better things might have been ex-
pected ; but the Committee have all along assured him of their
cordial sympathy and moral support, and now they offer their con-
gratulations on its settlement in his favour. We trust that it will
be long before a similar ordeal has to be passed through.
A number of kind friends took occasion when Mr. Finlayson went
out to send various articles of clothing, books and toys for the in-
mates of the Orphanage. Mrs. Blakely has indicated in a letter that
appeared in the Magazine how greatly delighted the children were-
with the gifts from Scotland. To the friends who remembered the
orphans in this way, the Committee would tender their warmest
thanks. Another gift recently sent out to India consists of a number
of New Testaments and books of a religious kind, which have been
purchased with a small sum of money left by a little boy connected
with Ayr congregation, who died a few months ago. When forward-
ing the savings of his sou, the father thus writes : "This is money which
belonged to my late son, and I thought this was the best thing I
could do with it I ask you to send out the books, in the hope, and
with the prayer, that some of the lads there may learn to know and
love the Saviour whom he knew and loved." We trust that when
each one in the Orphanage receives a copy of the New Testament,
and understands from what source it has come, a greater value will
be put on the gift and a desire felt to obtain a saving knowledge of
Jesus Christ, whom to know is life eternal. *
YI. HoMB Efforts.
«
According to custom, your Committee appointed two of their
number to visit certain congregations during the past winter, and
bring under their notice the claims of our Mission on their sympathy
FOREIGN MISSION REPORT. 699
and cordial assistance. The deputies have visited Carluke, Kilwin-
ning and Pollokshaws, and they were ably assisted by a number of
their brethren who accompanied them to these places. The Convener
also spoke at Aberdeen on the subject of Missions, and was followed
by the pastor of the congregation there in a forcible address.
These meetings cannot fail to quicken the interest of our people in the
work of evangelising the world, and will dd^btless lead to more fre-
quent prayer being offered unto God on behalf of the Mission at
Seoni. May the Lord accompany the words spoken with His enrich*
ing blessing!
We have availed ourselves of the privilege extended to us by the
£ditor of the Magazine of communicating to the members of the
Church all the information we could give from time to time concerning
the progress of our Mission. We doubt not that the brief notices we
have been able to give of our work in the foreign field, together with
the interesting letters from the workers, have tended to keep before
the Church the different branches of missionary service carried on in
a part of Central India. Fuller reports concerning the operations of
our Missionaries may be expected during the coming year.
VII. Finances.
It is with deep feelings of gratitude to God that we have to report
an increased income to the three funds from which our workers in the
foreign field derive support. The amount received last year, from
all sources, for Missionary operations abroad was £978 18s. 10^d.,beiug
about £122 in excess of the contributions during the year preceding.
Certainly this furnishes us with a fresh call to thank God and take
courage. We tender our heartiest thanks to all who have assisted,
by giving or collecting, to bring about this result. While we always
rejoice to see the church-door collections increasing for such a laudable
object, we specially rejoice when Members of Associations, Sabbath
Schools, and Bible-classes remember us with an offering; and we are
equally pleased to find that the humble Mission Box in the family is
not neglected. To the voluntary Donors who send a contributiou,
great or small ; and to our brethren of the Secession Synod in Ireland,
we give cordial thanks for their valuable assistance. The young
people throughout the Church who have collected for our Boys' School
deserve a word of hearty commendation for their personal and
successful services ; and all the friends who have remembered our
orphans are warmly thanked for their generous gifts. May all who
have assisted us know of a truth that '* there is that scattereth, and
yet increaseth : and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but
it tendeth to poverty. The liberal soul shall be made fat ; and he
that watereth shall be watered also himself.''
The Income for the year and the ordinaiy Expenditure may be
thus presented : —
7O0 FOREIGN MISSION REPORT.
Income. Expenditure.
Foreign Mission Fund, £617 14 4^
Seoni School Fund, 270 10 0
Orphanage Fund, 90 14 6
£978 18 lOi
SalariesftGeneralOutlay, £486 14 7]
Teachers' Salaries, &c., 295 6 7)
Cost of Maintenance, 148 1 5^
£990 2 9
To the amount thus expended in connection with the three funds,
we have to add the sum of Xi77 78. 3d. as extraordlDary and
exceptional expenditure. A glance at the Treasurer's financial state-
ment will show for what object this money has been required. But
for this extra outlay the income for the year would have been
sufficient to meet all the demands made on the funds.
Such is the report we have to submit to the Supreme Court of our
Church of another year's labours in a far-off country, and among a
people of a widely different class from those by whom we are surrounded
at home. If we cannot point to any great things accomplished, or to
many converts being brought within the fold of the Good Shepherd,
we can, at least, tell of earnest and persevering efforts being put forth
to reach the lost and ruined; and of devoted men looking up for the Holy
Spirit to come and guide the weary wanderers into the w^ay of peace.
Through help obtained from the Lord our Missionaries have kept at the
post of duty, and have done what thej oould in scattering the precious
seed. That seed will not be lost, but will spring up, we know not
how, and yield fruit to the praise of God's marvellous grace. May
the Church at home never forget the few workers and their great work
in a corner of Central India !
From the pen of an eloquent writer there was recently issued from
the press a small, but stimulating book, entitled, '' The Crisis of
Missions/' and who can peruse the volume without receiving a fresh
impulse in missionary zesd ? That same writer has recently been going
through our country pleading with the living voice, as few else have
ever pled with men, to throw themselves heart and soul into this
work of Missions, and by prayer and eflFort seek to bring back a
rebellious world to the feet of Christ. We close with a quotation
from the writings of Dr. Arthur Pierson on ** The elements in the crisia."
*^ What is a crisis ? " he asks. ''It is a combination of grand oppor-
tunity and great responsibility ; the hour when the hope of glorious
success and the risk of awful failure confront each other : the turning-
point of history and destiny. We do not say the crisis of missions
is coming J — it has come^ and is even now upon us. Never since Christ
committed a world's evangelisation to His servants, have such open
doors of opportunity, such providential removal of barriers, an«i
subsidence of obstacles, such general preparation for the universal and
immedate dissemination of the Gospel, and such triumphs of
grace in the work of Missions, supplied such inspiration to angelic zeal
and seraphic devotion : but it may well be doubted whether there has
ever been greater risk of losing the opportunity. We are in peril
of practical apathy, if not apostacy, with respect to this stewardship
of the Gospel, this obligation to a lost world. . . We seem to see the
REPORT ON PUBLIC QUESTIONS. 70I
angel standing with one foot upon the sea and the other upon the
land, with the open book in his hand, and to hear him swear that
"there shall be dday no longer',^* while to (rod's Church comes His
majestic message, *' Thou must prophecy again before many peoples
and nations, and tongues, and kings. . ." Every conceivable motive,
therefore, urges us to undertake the last great crusade against the
powers of darkness. The command of our ascended Lord, the voice
of an enlightened conscience, the impulse of the new nature, the lead-
ing of the providential piUar, the working of transforming grace, the
grandeur of the opportunity and the peril of delay — all these converge
like rays in one burning focus, urging us onward and forward to the
outposts of civilisation and the limits of human habitatiou with the
Word of Life. Let the trumpet signal be heard all along the lines !
(rod has already sounded His signal, and, like that peal at Sinai, it is
long and loud. The last precept and promise of our Lord, which have
inspired all true service and sacrifice, echo with new force and
emphasis, louder and clearer, in the face of new openings and new
victories. Blessed is he who, like Paul, is immediately obedient unto
the heavenly vision."
Respectfully submitted in name of Committee by
WILLIAM B. GARDINER, ConveMT.
REPORT ON PUBLIC QUESTIONS
1889-90.
One of the most striking figures found in the Apocalypse is that of
the soa as representing human society. Not the solid and stable land,
but the restless, troubled and changeful sea fitly describes men in
their social, political, and ecclesiastical state. There are times, no
doubt, when the sea seems calm and peaceful, and like a vast mirror
reflects from its shining surface the glory of the over*arching heavens.
But even then there is unrest — ^the tides continue to ebb and flow and
Btrong under-currents pursue unceasingly their trackless course. And
, easons of calm are soon followed by times of storm, when the wind
blows tempestuously, the waves tower aloft, and the whole body of
waters is in terrible commotion from shore to shore. Such seems to
us to be a true picture of modem society. In every department of
life there prevails a spirit of restlessness and un»ettlement, and the
issues of present-day movements are shrouded in mystery.
Socially we have a number of difficult problems, which continually
press themselves upon public attention, and demand speedy and wise
solutions. They are such as the prosier housing of the poor, the
leavening of all classes with Temperance principles, eflbrts for the
safe-guarding of personal Purity, and for awakening the public con-
702 REPORT ON PUBLIC QUESTIONS.
science to the alarming evils of Betting and Gambling. The last of
these is said to have grown to portentous proportions within the last
few years, to be affecting injuriouslj the lower classes of society as
well as the higher, and to be sweeping onward to their ruin many of
the young of both sexes, while from the encouragement of lotteries at
Bazaars, the hands of the Church herself are not clean in this matter.
The year over which our Report extends, however, has been speciallT
signalised by the number and magnitude of the trade disputes that have
arisen, and the efforts that have been made by Conference, or other-
wise, to lessen the strain on the relations between capital and labour.
Politically the question of Home Kule for Ireland continues to
divide politicians into opposing camps, while the agitation on both
sides is conducted with unusual energy, and characterised by no little
bitterness. In many cases party-spirit has grown so keen as to
colour men's conceptions of truth and duty, and to determine the
attitude they assume towards every question that emerges. Such
matters as the Disestablishmeut of the Church of Scotland, the Bill
for legalising marriage with a Deceasted Wife's Sister, and the proposal
to compensate publicans for the loss of their licenses, have all been
productive of stormy discussions in the political arena.
Ecclesiastically the subject of revising the Westminster Confession
of Faith has been agitating the Presbyterian Churches both in this
country and in America, and judging from present indications those
favourable to revision are likely to carry their point all round. But
the matter that has given greatest concern to those most deeply
interested in the spiritual well-being of our fellow-countrymen in all
the Scottish Churches, is the publication of certain views by two Pro-
fessors of Theology connected with the Free Church, and the amount of
sympathy with these views shown by a large number of the ministers
and members of that Church. Alongside of this it is very evident
that the spirit of w^orldliness has invaded all sections of the Church
— that spiritual religion is not so common nor so marked either in
the pulpit or the pew as we would greatly desire to see it — and that
church authorities, instead of depending on the attractive power of the
Cross of Christ and the gracious operations of the Holy Spirit, are
fain to draw men to the house of God by music and architecture
and eloquence, and the discussion of themes but remotely connected
with divine and eternal things.
The state of matters thus briefly sketched cannot be ragarded as satis-
factory either to the Christian or the patriot. But though the outlook
is somewhat gloomy, we have no cause to be discouraged. The true
believer cannot be a pessimist. Christ is King, and Christianity
must win the day. Never were the opportunities for spreading the
knowledge of Christ so abundant as they now are. And the door of
access to the Mohammedan and heathen world has within this last
year been providentially widening through the fresh and wonderful
discoveries made in the African continent by Henry M. Stanley and
his coadjutors. And wherever a new door has opened in India or
China, or the Dark Continent, brave men and noble-hearted women,
fired with love to Christ and fearless of danger, have come forwani
REPORT ON PUBLIC QUESTIONS. 703
3nd volunteered to enter it. Philanthropy, too, finds expression in
manifold forms that were never dreamt of by our forefathers, and
glories in tracing its origin to the Cross, of Calvary. And at no former
period of the world's history, perhaps, lave there been so many faith-
ful witnesses for Christ among the Various tribes and nationalities
that people the globe. When, therefore, we are tempted like the aged
Eli to tremble for the ark of God at the sight of the gathering hosts of
Rationalism and Scepticism, and " Science falsely so called " — the black
legions of Ritualism and Romanism — and the serried ranks of Mammon
and stolid Indifference — ^all bearing down upon the Church and threaten-
ing to annihilate her, let us remember that it is written : " No weapon
that is formed ^against Zion shall prosper" and ''the gates of hell shall
not prevail against her." Come what will, our Great Captain is ready
to meet it. He has provided against every emergency. Let us be
more anxious to be on His side than to have Him on our side ; and we
caay rest assured that we are on the winning side. " If God be for
%is, who can be against us ? "
Among the various public questions that claim consideration at this
time none exceeds in interest, and few in importance, that which is
connected with the name of Dr. Marcus Dods, the recently appointed
Professor of Exegetical Theology in the New College, Edinburgh.
The agitation with reference to his views had originated in connection
with his appointment to the chair that had been so worthily filled by
Professor Smeaton ; but it was greatly increased by a sermon preached
by him in the autumn of last year in St. Giles' Church, Edinburgh,
and which was afterwards published under the title of
"What is a ChristiaxI"
^rhe text placed at the head of the sermon is John i. 12 : '* As many
as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God,
■even to tfiem that believe on His nanie^^* and the object of the preacher
is to show what is meant by t\i\& faith in the name of Christ through
which sinners become the "sons of God,'' or true Christians. To in-
duce inquirers, and such as are in doubt as to certain Bible truths,
to assume the responsibility of Christian profession, he brushes aside
everything he considers extraneous, and boldly declares that " All the
belief that is required to make a man a Christian is belief that Christ
can unite him to God," or, as he expresses it in another part of the
discourse, '^ He is a Christian if he believes that Christ lias the will
and the power to make him truly a child of God, and if he acts upon
this belief."
Proceeding with this definition of saving faith, he finds it possible
to dispense with the acceptance of such cardinal doctrines as the
Divinity of Christ and His vicarious Atonement, the Mystery of the
Trinity, the Resurrection of our Lord, and the Infallibility of Holy
Scripture, and assures his hearers that they may be true Christians
though they believe that Jesus was a mere man, and now lies in His
grave in the " lone Syrian town."
Obviously, we have nothing to do here with Dr. Dods' private
I it."
704 REPORT ON PUBLIC QUESTIONS.
opinions on these fundamental points. What ooncems us is hia
public teaching. And looking at the matter without prejudice, and
with every desire to be candid and charitable, and admitting that he
has stated some important truths clearly and forcibly in the sermon,
we cannot come to any other conclusion than that the position taken
by the preacher is utterly uuscriptural, and the tendency of his
teaching extremely dangerous.
For, tirst of all, what authority has any preacher for asking of his
hearers less faith than God demands of all those to whom He has sent
His Word 1 If He, in His infinite wisdom, has seen meet to reveal a
truth, our one duty with regard to that truth is to receive it, try to-
understand it as best we can, and use it for those spiritual or practi-
cal purposes for which it is designed. We are bound to submit the-
intellect as well as the will to God. With regard to our fellow-men^
we have the right of private judgment, but, with regard to God, we
have no such right. To disbelieve any doctrine of Divine revelation,
or to speak of the acceptance of it as unnece&sary, is to cast a slight
on God, and to call in question both His wisdom and His goodness..
Besides, it lays oneself open to the threatening implied iu the sacred
words more than once repeated : " What thing soever I command
you, observe to do it ; thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from-
We may freely admit that many persons are true Christians whu,
from the unfavourable circumstances in which they are situated,
know but little, or have dim and vague and even erroneous concep-
tions of important Scripture truths. And we raiay admit with equaf
readiness that the grace of God in a human heart may consist with
many faults of character, and even with a defective moral code. Bat
what would be thought of the wisdom of the man who gravely set
himself the task of showing with how little morality a man might
be saved t And is the course more wise or safe which is pursued in
this sermon when the preacher attempts to show with how few beliefs
or false beliefs a man may be a true Christian ? In the one case it i$
the preacher's business to set before men the perfect standard of duty
found in the Ten Commandments, and to enjoin upon all his hearers
obedience to these commandments in their most minute details. And
in the other case it is equally his business to " declare the vhole
counsel of God " — to set before men the faith once for all delivered to-
the saints, and to demand of them a hearty acceptance of all revealed
truth, doing his best to make every doctrine clear and intelligible, and
leaving the Holy Spirit to deal with further difficulties of belief.
After the preacher has done his utmost, there will still be serious defects-
in faith and duty, much remaining tiiat needs to be covered with the
mantle of charity. Bnt it is altogether beside his office to lower the
Divine standard in either respect.
Among the doctrines Dr. Dods specifies as unnecessary to be be-
lieved in order to saving faith is that of vicarious Atonement by the
death of Christ He describes what he calls " the orthodox theory of
the Atonement," and mentions some objections that may be offered to-
it. He then describes another theory which has long been identified
REPORT ON PUBLIC QUESTIONS. 705:
with the Broad Church school of theologians, and which represents.
the death of Jesus as nothing more than a manifestation or expression
of the measureless love of God to man. Against this theory he has.
not a word to say^ and he immediately affirms, *^ In point of fact, both
theories of the Atonement produce good Christians," thus leaving hia
hearers to infer that truth and the denial of truth are equally accept-
able to God and profitable to men, or at least that a partial and one-
sided view of truth is quite as good as a full and Scriptural statement
of it. in vindication of this position, he maintains that " The Gospel,
properly speaking, is a proclamation of forgiveness and restoration to
God, not qf the means by which this has been accomplished" To thia
definition of the Gospel, it is sufficient to reply that Reconciliation by
the blood of Christ forms an integral part of the Divine message ad-
dressed to sinful men ; and not to proclaim it, and to insist on its
being believed, is to tamper seriously with that message, and to go
far towards rendering it ineffective. If Christ has not procured a real
redemption for His people, the sacrificial system of the Old Testament
Church, which formed the central element of Israelitish worship, is to a
large extent meaningless, and the sanguinary rites connected with it are
justified on no grounds of reason; much of the language of prophets and
apostles isunintelligible and positively misleading; and that Book which
claims to shed a pure and clear light upon the thoughts and ways of
God merely '^ darkens counsel by words without knowledge." More
than that, the evidence is abundant that it was customary with the
apostles of our Lord after His death and resurrection not only to pro-
claim the fact of forgiveness, but ^ the means by which it had been
accomplished." Writing to the Corinthians, Paul recounts to them
the Gospel which he had preached unto them, which they had re-
ceived, and by which they had been saved, and this is how he speaks,
of it : " For 1 delivered unto you first of all that which I also received,
how that Christ died /or our sins ax^cording to the Scriptures" And
if this was the chief theme of his preaching at Corinth, we may rest
assured that it occupied a primary place in every other locality.
Another and equally fundamentsd doctrine of the Christian system
which Dr. Dods holds to be unnecessary to the faith of a true —
though not of a mature — Christian, is the Divine Pei'sonality of our
liord Jesus. A person enjoying the clear light of God's completed
revelation and with the testimony of the past eighteen centuries to
authenticate the divine origin of the Christian religion, may believe
that Christ was nothing more than a mere man, although He Himself
repeatedly claims to be equal with God. That person may deny that
He ever rose from the dead, in spite of the abundant and overwhelm-
ing evidence of the fact. He may thus refuse to accept the great
mystery of the Trinity, and so be offisring whatever worship he
presents, to another God than the Father of our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ. He may do all this and yet possess saving faith, and
so be fully entitled to the name of Christian. This view needs only
to be stated to show how contrary it is to the teaching of Christ and
His Apostles. In the chapter in which Dr. Dods' text occurs, the
Deity of Jesus is stated in clear and unmistakable terms. And
7o6 REPORT ON PUBLIC QUESTIONS.
^' believiug on His name " which is declared to be necessary to becomin^^
« " son of God/' certainly includes believing all about Him that had
been made known. His " name " is just Himself revealed. And if it
is revealed regarding Him, as it imdoubtedly is in this very passage,
that " The Word was God," and that " All things were made by Him,
and without H!m was not anything made that was made ; " wtt to
believe Him Divine is not to believe on His name, and so to write
yourself down as not a Christian.
Against such teaching, which proclaims saving faith to be con-
Kistent with belief in a minimum of truth, and with the retention of a
large amount of error, and which emasculates the gospel message of
everything really distinctive and Divine, we feel called on to raise a
decided protest. \Ve regard it as an attempt to do away with '* the
offence of the Cross " — ^to remove from Christianity all that is difficult
to the human intellect, or disagreeable to the carnal taste, and to
conciliate men who are too proud to submit their reason to the
revelation of God, and too self-righteous to accept of the righteousness
of Christ. Its tendency is to persuade men that they are Christians
when they are still in their sins. And thus it approaches perilously
near, if it does not fall within the scope of the Apostle's solemn
denunciation : " Though we or an angel from heaven preach any
other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you,
let him be accurseid."
Again, this method of dealing with men is unwarranted by
the example of our Lord Who is the great Pattern to every gospel
preacher. We have the records of His dealings with enquirers and
others who doubted or denied the great truths He had come to
announce. And few will question that the difficulties of belief iu
• such doctrines as our Lord's Divinity and Atonement, were greater in
His days than in ours. But did He conceal these doctrines or tone
them down to the extent of explaining them away so as to make them
palatable to his ignorant or prejudiced hearers 1 Nothing of the
sort. These were the doctrines He placed in the forefront of His
message. In the record of His conversation with Nicodemus, after
affirming with peculiar emphasis, the mysterious and humbling
doctrine of Regeneration, He declares His own Deity in the words :
*' No man hath ascended up to heaven but He that came down from
heaven, even the Son of Man which is in heaven" And immediately
thereafter He uses language that points straight to the Atonement
'* As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the
Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him should not
perish but have eternal life." Again in His conversation with the
unbelieving Jews, of which we have the record in the tenth chapter
of John's Gospel, He announces very clearly the doctrine of the
Atonement, '* I am the good Shepherd, the good Shepherd giveth His
life for the sheep ; " and in terms, if possible, more clear and un-
mistakable. He affirms the fact of His own Divinity, " I and my
Father are One." They were unprepared to receive these truths.
They did not relish them when announced. They charged Him with
blasphemy for claiming equality with God, as they rightly under-
REPORT ON PUBLIC QUESTIONS. 707
stood His words to mean ; aud so bitter was their opposition to the
•doctrine that they took up stones to cast at Him. But He did not
resile. He did not hint that they had misunderstood His meaning,
He justified the words, and vindicated His claim to be received as the
Son of God and the Saviour of men. No doubt He could have won
many more to His side if He had adopted a different course, but of
what value would their accession to His cause have been) Nay, He
•might have escaped the cruel and shameful death of the cross
altogether; for the Sanhedrim condemned Him for claiming to
ibe Divine. But what then would have become of us and of our
salvation? Surely then those doctrines that our Lord so clearly
taught) and in which He demanded implicit faith on the pai-t of
His hearers, must not be minimised and treated as non-essential by the
Christian preacher, if he is to make full proof of his ministry.
And further, this mode of dealing with truth, while it must fail in
winning doubters to the side of true religion, is fitted to encourage
those that hold false or defective views of truth, to continue in their
-errors. Concessions made to the enemies of Scriptural doctrine
pander to their pride and do not lessen their enmity, while it leads
them to renew and increase their demands. And if they are per-
'suaded that they may be true Christians and reach Heaven at last,
it is not likely they will trouble themselves about correcting their
errors and coming to think on these matters according to the thoughts
of God. What is easiest and most agreeable is naturally preferred
to a course that causes trouble in investigation, and leads to the
abandonment of long-cherished beliefs. The natural tendency of
•such teaching as this sermon contains has dearly revealed itself in
such ways as these: (1) The great satisfaction its publication has
given to sceptics and Rationalists and the impression it has produced
among them of having confirmed their attitude towards the Bible,
the Church, and the doctrines of grace, (2) The chorus of approbation
it has evoked from the editors 6f secular and rationalistic newspapers
all over the land, and (3) The zeal shown by Unitarians, who tear
the crown of Deity from the head of our exalted Lord, in circulating
copies of the sermon gratuitously, and the eager satisfaction with
which they have accepted the preacher's recognition of them as true
* Christians, and the approach they think he has made to their doc-
trinal position. A species of teaching that gratifies the enemies of
•evangelical religion and grieves its friends is surely calculated to
excite grave suspicion.
"Thb Kingdom of God."
Another work published in the course of the past year which has
attracted a large amount of attention and elicited much criticism in
the Church courts, as well as iu the press and on the platform, is
*« The Kingdom of God," by Prof. Bruce of the Free Church College,
Glasgow. By the expressiou, '' The Kingdom of God,^' Prof. Bruce
means " The Teaching of Christ," and his aim is to give a succinct
accouut of that teaching as it is recorded iu the first three Crospels,
7o8 REPORT ON PUBLIC QUESTIONS.
or the Sjnoptists. He casts a doubt upon the Johannine authorship
of the fourth Gospel and depreciates its report of our Lord's sayings
as differing very greatly from the original And even in regard to
the other three he says, ^' But the question may be raised in refer-
euce to the Synoptists whether they can be regarded as giving a
perfectly trustwoithy report of the sayings of Jesusf
In apportioning the value of the respective records of the evan-
gelists, Proi. Bruce holds that a more realistic view of Jesus is given
in Matthew, and his reports of the Saviour*s words are to be aooepted
fus comparatively original ; wiiile Luke, writing with the design of
exhibiting Christ in the fulness of His grace as the Friend of Binners,.
publicans, Samaritans and Gentiles, takes considerable liberties with
his authorities. For the purpose of edification this evangelist inserts
or suppresses certain facts and speeches of our Lord, deliberately
misplaces some of the incidents in His history, and puts into His
mouth language He never employed. For example. Dr. Bruce, says,
p. 50 : '^ Luke has taken the scene in the Synagogue of Nazareth
out of its true historical place aud set it in the forefront of his.
Gospel to signify that the mission of Jesus concerned men's souls
and that it concerned all men." He further conceives it possible
that Luke may have " invented " narratives as settings for
some of the sayings of Jesus. And as an instance of an '* in-
vented" narrative he gives the recorded mission of the seventy.
With regard to certain of our Lord's sayings Luke occasionally
adds his own interpretation of His Master's words and represents
that as spoken by Him. Jesus said, " I came not to call the righte-
ous but sinners," and Luke added *' unto repentance." And here is.
the reason Dr. Bruce gives for the addition, '^ This may have been
an explanatory gloss that had crept into the text used by the evan-
gelist, but it may quite as well have been a change made by hira to
render the meaning clear and possibly to guard against the miscon-
struction that Christ invited siimers to the kingdom of Heaven
without repentance." The "woes" appended to the "blessings"
found in Luke's report of the substance of the Sermon on the Mount
are accounted for in this way. They are the evangelist's " inferences "
from the words spoken by Jesus and not sayings actually uttered by
Him. In like manner this evangelist occasionally tones down the
language of Jesus when it seems to him too severe or appears to
have a tendency to detract from the honour due to the apostles.
And all through his gospel he displays a " bias," for which, however,.
Dr. Bruce tells us, " he is not to be blamed, as the picture he drew
of Christ may have been wisely drawn for the immediate needs of
the section of the Church for which he wrote."
These extracts, which might be multiplied, are sufficient to show
the attitude assumed by Dr. Bruce towards the evangelic records and
his conception of the historical accuracy of this fundamental portion
of the Word of God. And surely they betray a recklessness, irrever-
ence and utter want of faith in the plenary inspiration of Scripture
that one could hardly have expected from a Theological Professor in
an orthodox Presbyterian Church. It is readily admitted there is a
REPORT ON PUBLIC QUESTIONS. 709
uiuttber of minor differences between Luke's report of our Lord's
sayings and that of Matthew. That is evident to the reader of the
English version, and is still more apparent to the scholar and exegete.
But did it not occur to Dr. Bruce to suggest this simple and all-
sufficing explanation which has satisfied many students of Scripture
quite as able and erudite as he 1 Our Jjord was an itinerant preacher
and addressed different audiences from day to day ; while, therefore,
He would naturally repeat the same great truths which all were
^ually requiring to know, He would vary the form in \vhich He pre-
sented them, setting them in one way at one time and in another at
another. And so the report of Luke, though differing from that of
Matthew, might be equally accurate with his. Surely that is a more
satisfactory way of accounting for the differences than ascribintr to
Luke an editorial discretion which amounts to nothing less than
deliberate falsification for a purpose, and which would not be tolerated
in the writer of an ordinary biography.
Nor is it Luke alone that differs from Matthew. There are
diversities in matter and style in all the four Gospels. Each
evangelist has his own characteristics and pursues his special design.
But all wrote as they were moved by the Holy Ghost and all are
equally reliable. Facts that prove the human authorslnp of the sacred
books do not disprove their Divine authorship. Rather do they re-
veal the wisdom and goodness of God in securing convincing evidence
that they were written at the time, and place, and in the circumstances,
claimed for them, and that their writers were possessed of accurate
and independent knowledge of everything they record. Above all,
this diversity of representation furnishes us with a clearer revelation
of the character and teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. Just as
several pictures of the same person or landscape taken from different
points of view bring out their various features more fully and give a
better idea of the object represented — the one supplementing the
other — so the fourfold history of Jesus furnished by the evangelists
helps us better to understand His many-sidedness, and gives us a
fuller and truer conception of His wonderful Personality. And many
a time the task has been undertaken and successfully accomplished
of showing how beautifully consistent the one evangelist is with the
other, and proving that it is harmony and not discord that distinguishes
the separate records.
This work of Prof. Bruce, whatever may be its author's intention,
is fitted to shake all faith in the trustworthiness of Holy Scripture.
If its conclusions are accepted, the Bible is not an '' Impregnable
Rock " but a shifting sandbank. We cannot be perfectly sure about
anything we find in it. And where there is a want of certainty faith
becomes impossible. It degrades the Word of God to the level of
common history, and even assigns to the latter the palm of superior-
ity, for the faithful historian may be depended on for his facts, but
the writers of the Bible are often unreliable. It is an attempt to
apply to the New Testament those canons of destructive criticism
with which we are already familiar as applied to the Old Testament,
and which has resulted in Germany, the country of their birth, in the
7IO REPORT ON PUBLIC QUESTIONS.
prevalence of speculative Kationalism, among the educated, and
wide-spread indifference to all religion among the masses.
It has long been known that the Nonconformist bodies in England
are deeply tainted with the Rationalistic spirit — ^that deadlj fungus,
that appears to grow out of the decay of vital piety everywhere.
Since the Kobcrtson Smith case it has become increasingly evident
that many in Scotland are in sympathy with the destructive critical
views which, if allowed free course, would rob us of an Infiedlible
Bible. And within the last few months a sort of manifesto has been
issued by the younger members of the High Church party in th&
Church of England in the form of a book called " Lux Mundi."
This work is in sti'ong sympathy with raUonalistic higher criticism^
and accepts its destructive assaults on the Pentateuch and other
portions of Scripture with high appro vaL
Now, all this reveals a marked trend of thought among certaia
sections of religious society, and cannot fail to have a disquieting
and unsettling effect on many earnest minds. We unfeignedly de-
plore the serious injury that is being done to the souls of men through
the encouragement that is given to doubt and scepticism as well a»
to the callous iudifiference which is ever so ready to excuse its inat-
tention to spiritual things by the divided opinions in regard to Scrip-
ture found among its professed friends.
At the same time we have every reason to possess our souls in
patience, assured that the Word of God will pass unscathed through
this fiery ordeal as it has done through others in days gone past. It
is a tried Word, and will come forth as gold. While it has its bold
and reckless assailants it has also its able and reverent defenders.
And (unong these it is cheering to notice not only some of the first
scholars of America, but also one of the most gifted statesmen of our
country, and the most eloquent preacher of the Church of England,
Canon Liddon, who recently preached and published a powerful ser-
mon in defence of the historical accuracy and true inspiration of the-
Old Testament. As for those that are incapable of following th&
course of attack or of defence, it is well if they refuse to be troubled
on the subject They may rest safely on such statements as these i
' The words of the Lord are pure words ; as silver tried in a furnace
of earthy purified seven times ; " '^ All flesh is as grass, and all the
glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth and the
flower thereof falleth away, but the word of the Lord endureth for ever.*^
As the eminent statesman referred to, Mr. Gladstone^ has recently
said : " Though assailed by camp, by battery, and by mine, the
Scriptures are, nevertheless, a house builded on a rock,<^and that rock
is impregnable ; the weapon of offence which shall impair their efiici-
ency for practical purposes has not yet been forged; the Sacred
Canon, which it took perhaps two thousand years from the aooumu-
lations of Moses down to the acceptance of the Apocalypse, to con-
struct, is like to wear out the storms and the simshine, and all the
wayward aberrations of humanity, not merely for a term as long bat
imtil time shall be no more."
REPORT ON PUBLIC QUESTIONS. 7H
Another question that has come prominentl}' to the front in tho
course of the by-gone year is,
Thb Relations op Capital and Labour.
Througli the blessing of God this country has enjoyed of late a.
large measure of outward prosperity. The seasons have been favour-
able, and the labours of the agricultiural class have been rewarded with
liberal harvests. Trade in almost every department has greatly revived,,
and employment may now be had by all that are willing to work.
During the long-continued depression that preceded the present trade-
revival, wages had been considerably reduced in most of our national
industries, and it was felt by the workmen that they were not shar-
ing in the benefits of the improvement to the extent they had a right
to expect. This feeling found its first and loudest expression in the
strike of the labourers employed at the London docks, which extended
over several weeks, and was taken part in by thousands of men, to
some extent paralysing the shipping trade of the country and attract-
ing the interested attention of the entire community. From that
time till the present all parts of the land, and almost every depart-
ment of industry, have been agitated by strikes and rumours of
strikes, in which workmen demand larger wages, or shorter hours^ or
lx}tb, from unwilling employers. Now it seems to us that this is an
uimatural, because forceful, way of settling trade disputes among.
Christian men, and that when it is had recourse to, one or both.
]mrtie8 must be to blame from failing to act on Christian principles.
And if there are occasions when strikes are justified through the
selfishness and greed of unprincipled masters they must, like w*ar, be
regarded as necessary evils, and to be avoided whenever possible.
When extending over a lengthened period they cause much suffering
to many who are innocently involved in them ; they rarely confer
much material benefit on those taking part in them. They produce
antagonism between two classes that ought to be on the most friendly
terms. And they are said to injure the trade of the country, and.
frequently to drive it away to other lands.
It is, however, matter of gratification to your Committee that the.
frequency and extent of these strikes have called the serious attention,
of all classes of the community to the evils that generate them,
and that views have been expressed at Congress and Conference, in
Parliament and in the Press, in this and in other lands, which lead
us to indulge the hope that the day is not far distant when labour-
disputes will be settled in less violent ways and the principle of
arbitration will be generally adopted.
At the same time we feel pursuaded that it is the Christian religion^
which holds the key of the situation ; and if the law of love embodied
in the ten commandments, expounded and applied in the Sermon on the
Mount, and illustrated in the Cross of Calvary, were allowed to
dominate industrial and commercial life all these labour problems,
would solve themselves, or rather would never present themselves as.
problems at all.
712 REPORT ON PUBLIC QUESTIONS.
What all of us have ueed to guard against in these days is the
spirit of worldliness which has laid fast hold of all classes, and like
the withering breath of the simoon, is blighting the spiritual life of
every section of the Church. Many are in feverish haste to be rich
and seem reckless of the methods by which they may gain their end ;
while most appear to set an extravagant value on merely material
comforts and enjoyments and the means of procuring them. The
rich are straggling to increase their wealth that they may rise a little
higher in the social scale, and the poor are doing their best to get a
larger share of the world's good things ; while both appear to forget
the divine injunctions — " Set your affections on things above; not on
things that are on the earth ; " " Love not the world, neither the
things that are in the world ; if any man love the world, the love of
the Father is not in him." Surely it is utterly beneath the dignity
of spiritual and immortal beings, who call themselves by the name of
•Christians, to be continually "cleaving to the dust," and to be
making it the chief business of their life to answer such questions as
" What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall we
be clothed f " To do this is to live the life of an animal, or, at the
best, of a heathen, whose views are completely bounded by the
horizon of earth. Those who have the Bible in their hands should
be possessed of another spirit and be animated by nobler aims.
Let servants endeavour to cultivate the spirit of conterUment with
their position, striving to bring their mind to their lot if they cannot
bring their lot to their mind. One who was a servant and a worker
with his hands said, ** I have learned in whatsoever state I am there-
with to be content," and he stated a principle, whose truth has been
illustrated in numberless instances, " Godliness with contentment is
great gain." Let them also show their masters all due respect in
obedience to the precept that enjoins on inferiors the duty of rendering
honour to those that God has placed over them in their varied earthly
relationships — " Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear.*'
And then let them be honest and faithful — ^never grudging a fair daVs
work for a fair day's wage — ^never putting scamped work out of their
hands nor wasting either their master's time or his goods. They
should identify their master's interests as far as possible with their
own, and try to act at all times in accordance with the precept, " Not
slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." In giving
directions to Titus, Paul says, " Exhort servants to be obedient unto
their own masters and to please them well in all things, not answering
aj^in. Not purloining, but showing all good fidelity, that they may
adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things."
Further, your Committee would earnestly urge upon masters the
duty of realising their responsibility towards their servants. They
should interest themselves in the welfare of their work-people both
material and spiritual. They should never forget that those under
them are their own brothers and sisters — that they are men and
women, not mere machines — and that they have hearts as well as
hands. They should act on the Golden Rule in all their dealings
with them. And whatever disputes or difficulties arise, they should
REPORT ON PUBLIC QUESTIONS. 713
, try to put themselves in the position of their servants, and think what
they wonld wish and expect if their respective places were to be
changed. They should deal justly, and, when possible, generously,
with them ; *' Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and
equal." This precept requires not only that they should pay the full
wages at the promised time, but also that they should allow their
servants to enjoy a reasonable share of the profits accruing from their
labours. No person of the least intelligence or though tfulness would
maintain that masters should not enjoy a considerable proportion of
such profit, as the reward of invested capital, of mental effort and
anxiety, of greater or less risk incurred, and of the gradual deprecia-
tion of property employed in the trade. But it also seems reasonable
that those on whose industry all their profits depend should receive a
fair share of what is gained — this proportion risiog or falling according
as times are prosperous or otherwise. Your Committee are glad to
be assured that there are many masters who act on this Scriptural
plan. But they have also reason to fear that there are not a few in
our own land who bear a striking resemblance to certain masters
pictured by James in his most practical epistle. *' Your gold and
silver is cankered, and the rust of them shall be a witness against you,
and shall eat your fiesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure to-
gether for the last days. Behold, the hire of the labourers who have
reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth ;
and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of
the Lord of Sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth and
been wanton."
This language suggests to us the crying evils of the *' sweating ''
system, which seems to be as common in our day as when Hood wrote
his "Song of the Shirt," and Kingsley his "Alton Locke." Through
that system poor men and women are compelled to work long hours
in unhealthy rooms and for very inadequate remuneration, while
*' middle-men " and merchants fatten on the proceeds of their toil.
Government has once and again appointed a Commission to
investigate and report on this system. But all other means of
cure are likely to be inefiective until the public conscieuce awakens
to a sense of the " sin of cheapness,'' and private individuals arc
willing to give a fair price for manufactured and purchased articles.
Let the buyer carry his Christianity to the market as well as the
seller, and let masters be moral and religious as well as servants, and
many an "open sore'' in the body politic will soon be healed.
Sabjbath Obsbkvaxce.
This is a subject of imperishable interest to the individual Chris-
tian and to every section of the Church of God. It owes its para-
mount importance to two considerations. In itself it forms an
essential part of practical religion; and it is an indication of the state
of religion in the general community. Where piety flourishes the
Sabbath is conscientiously observed ; where it decays, loose views
regarding it always prevail. And no single oausie can be mentioned
3A
>r4 REPORT ON PUBLIC Qi;ESttON*S.
that 80 rapidly and surely hastens spiritual declension in families or
states as the open profanation of the Lord's Day. The Bible and
the Sabbath are the two great bulwarks of religion in the world, and
if these are thrown down, the forces of sin and error may be expected
to subjugate the people.
In the course of the past year those forms of Sabbath desecration
with which we have long been familiar, haye continued to prevail as
extensively as ever. The Post Office authorities exact from their
officials in many places a considerable amount of needless work from
Sabbath to Sabbath. Kail way trains for passengers and goods rush
along the iron pathways in almost all parts of the land. Steamboats
ply upon our rivers or along our coast bearing their freight of
unruly passengers to disturb the quiet of Sabbath-keeping com-
munities. Tramway-cars augment the bustle in our city streets and
rob their over- worked conductors of needful time for rest and wor-
ship. Hundreds of shops are open in our large towns, and in many
of them more business is transacted on the Sabbath than on any
other day of the week. Crowds of young men, and others no longer
young, walk or drive a few miles in oitier to be able to purchase drink
under the false pretext of being bona-JUh travellers according to the
Forbes Mackenzie Act. In some localities blast furnaces continue to
blaze all through the sacred day, and impose almost incessant toil on
hundreds of men and boys. While many, more favourably situated,
instead of spending the whole day in the public and private exer-
cises of God*s worship, devote it to idle lounging or the active
pursuit of worldly pleasure.
A form of Sabbath desecration to which wo have hitherto been
unaccustomed recently occurred in the West of Scotland in the launch-
ing by the Fairfield Shipbuilding Company of a large vessel on the
Sabbath, and in the presence of a great crowd of people attracted to
the sjwt by the novelty of the occurrence. Also, up till recently,
the Glasgow and South- Western Railway system has been regarded
OS singularly free from the scandal of passenger traffic on the Lord's
Day. Hut apparently, at the instigation of an English chairman who
has brought his lax, southern ideas to the north with him, the
directors of this company have put on a Sabbath train between
Kilmarnock and Largs, calling at ten different places on its course,
and entailing a certain amoimt of labour on a large number of men
all along the route. The train was started almost unannounced, and
when it became known public meetings were held to protest against it,
and memorials and deputations were sent to the directors to iuduce them
to discontinue the train, but all without effect. And so, entirely un-
solicited and in the face of the earnest expostulations of those most
deeply interested, this company proceeds to trample on the law of God,
sets at defiance the convictions of the religious ])ublic, disturbs the
Sabbath quiet of the various communities affected, robs their own work-
men of part of their God-given rest, offers facilities for Sabbath
desecration to those whose moral fibre is not strong enough to resist
the temptation, and floods the towns along the coast with Sabbath
visitors wlio prove anything but a blessing. And so it has come to pass
REPORT ON PUBLIC QUESTIONS. 71 S
tliat in this Christian land on every Sabbath of the year the public
worship of Mammon goes on side by side with the worship of Jehovah,
and that in the open face of day. It is intolerable that money-loving
corporations should be allowed to break the law of the land, and
prove a curse to the localities they undertook to benefit.
The outlook on this subject, however, is not wholly dark. Your
Committee are gratified that the year over which this report extends
has seen repeated indications of a growing interest on the Sabbath
question among those who have at heart the welfare of the working-
class. On the Continent of Europe, as is weL-known, the Sabbath
has long been secularised and devoted almost entirely to work or
worldly pleasure. Men have begun to find out, however, that the
Lord of the Sabbath is wiser and kinder than they imagined, and are
awakening to the fact that it pays best to rest every seventh day —
that it is best for their temporal interests as well as for their spiritual
to keep the Fourth Commandment. Accordingly, an influential
Congress was held in Paris in connection with Sabbath labour, and
at the recent International Labour Conference at Berlin, the enforce-
ment of Sabbath rest was one of the subjects about which the dele-
gates were almost if not quite unanimous. And as the outcome of
these deliberations Bills have been introduced into both the French
and the German Legislatures, designed to protect working-men from
the evils of Sabbuth labour. And it is cheering t^ notice that a
similar spirit has been showing intself in our Canadian and
Australian colonies. It is intei'esting also to record th^t Mr. Glad-
ston sent a letter to the Sabbath Observance Congress held in Paris,
in which he said : — '* It seems to me unquestionable that the
observance of Sunday rest has taken deep root both in the convic-
tions and the habits of the immense majority of my counti*ymen. If it
appears to many of them a necessity of spiritual and Christian life,
othera not less numergus defend it with ei^ual energy as a social
necessity. The working-class is extremely jealous of it, and is
opposed not merely to its avowed abolition, but to whatever might
indirectly tend to that result. Personally, I have always endea-
voured, as far as circumstances have allowed, to exercise this
privilege ; and now, towards the end of a laborious public career of
nearly fifty-seven years, I attribute in great part to that cause the
prolongation of my life and the preservation of the faculties I may
still possess. As regards the masses the question is still more im-
portant ; it is the popular question /}ar excellence.'^ Such a testimony
from such a quarter is truly valuable.
Since, then, there are many in other lands exerting themselves to re-
gain their lost Sabbath, surely we who still retain it in some measure
of integrity will do our utmost to resist all encroachments upon its
sanctity, and so to hand it down unimpaired to those who shall come
after us. Patriotism unites with piety in making this demand upon
us ; and the most effectual way to accomplish it will be to maintain
scriptural views on the subject of Sabbath observance, to teach them
fearlessly to others, and to set a consistent example ourselves of un-
failing respect for the Sabbath law. Whether at home or away from
7l6 REPORT ON PUBLIC QUESTIONS.
home, let that be true of us which was recorded of the first disciples
of our Lord, " They rested on the Sabbath day according to the Com-
mandment." In that commandment we read, ^* Remember the
Sabbath day to keep it holy ... in it thou shalt not do any work,
thou, nor thy son nor thy daughter, thy man-servant nor thy maid-
servant, thy cattle^ nor thy stranger that is within thy gates." Let
us analyse this sentence briefly '* Thou " ; that word emphasises the
duty of personal abstinence from work ; '* Nor thy son nor thy
daughter ; " this is addressed to parents, and forbids them either to
require or to allow their children to work. '* Thy man-servant nor
thy maid-servant ; '' this is addressed to masters and mistresaes, and
requires them to see that their servants observe the Sabbath as well
as themselves." *' Nor thy cattle ; " the owners of beasts of burden
must permit them to rest on the Sabbath ; '^ Nor thy stranger that
is within thy gates ; " magistrates are permitted and enjoined to use
the authority with which they are entrusted in the way of protecting
the day of God from open desecration by strangers or foreigners.
From this it is very evident that we do not fulfil our whole duty to
the Sabbath by keeping it holy ourselves, but we are bound to use
all the power and influence we possess to secure that others keep it
also. This will no doubt secure for us a " Puritan Sabbath," so much
decried by the flippant litteratenrB of the time. But we can hardly
conceive of a greater blessing for our country and the world than just
this Puritan Sabbath. This is what one says of it who knew it well
by experience, and reaped a life-long harvest of blessing from it.
Mrs. H. B. Stowe, after describing in her inimitable way the strictness
with which the children of the Puritans were required to keep the
Sabbath, in reply to the question whether this did not excite a dis-
taste for it and for religion answers by an unqualified '^ No, it did
not ; " she adds, '^ The efftct of the system was to ingrain into our
character a veneration for the Sabbath which no friction of after-hfe
would ever efface. I have lived to wander in many climates and
foreign lands where the Sabbath is an unknown name^ or where it is
only recognised by noisy mirth, but never has the day returned with-
out bringing with it a breathing of religious awe, and even a yearn-
ing for the unbroken stillness and tlie simple devotion of the Puritan
Sabbath." *' Verily in keeping God's commandments there is great
reward."
O day of rest and gladness,
O day of joy and light,
O balm 01 care and sadness
Most beautiful, most bright.
Your Committee are so impressed with the importance of the sub-
ject, and so anxious that our people should have strong and intel-
ligent convictions on the obligation of the Sabbath law, that they
would take the liberty of recommending that all the ministers of the
Church should preach a special sermon on the duty and privileges of
Sabbath keeping sometime in the early summer ; and, further, that
they should avail themselves of every opportunity of awakening the
public conscience to the greatness of the sin of Sabbath desecration.
report on public questions. 717
Progress of Romanism.
This is a subject which persistently presses itself upon the notice
of the British public, and which oui;ht to receive special attention
from every branch of the Evangelical Church, more particularly from
those that profess adherence to the National Covenants of our godly
forefathers. Whatever may be said as to the increase in numbers of
Rome's avowed adherents in the three kingdoms, there can be no
doubt that it is growing in social influence and in political power,
while the Romanising tendencies of a large party in the Church of
England are every year becoming more marked At the close of last
session of Parliament a responsible statesman in his place there gave
something like a promise to the Popish members of the House, that
he would propose a scheme for the endowment of Roman Catholic
University education in Ireland, and the proposal was only withdrawn
in consequence of the storm of opposition excited against it through-
out the country, and which originated in various and conflicting
motives. Again a special envoy in the person of Sir J. L. Simmons
has been sent to Rome to represent our Government in negotiations
with the Pope regarding the afiairs of the Island of Malta — a de-
pendency of the British Crown. And it is announced that one rcRult
of this mission will be to invalidate many marriages that have not
been celebrated according to the rites of the Romish Church which is
established in Malta, and so to make the fruit of such marriages
illegitimate^ — the design of this legislation being to bind the Maltese
subjects of Her Majesty with stronger chains than ever to the so-
called chair of St. Peter. And more recently still, a measure has
been introduced into the House of Commons by two Scottish represent-
atives whose object is to make it legal for Roman Catholics to hold
the positions of Lord Chancellor of England and Lord Lieutenant of
Ireland, and thus to remove almost the last safe-guards erected by
our sagacious ancestors at the Revolution, against the political as-
cendency of the declared enemies of the Protestant religion and
liberties.
In the Church of England there are various indications that the
Ritualistic party is growing in influence and in numbers. And need
we be surprised at this whan we are informed on good authority that
nearly all the colleges in that Church for the training of young men
for the ministry are in the hands of teachers who use them as nurser-
ies for Rome ) The Church Congress held at Cardiff in the autumn
of last year revealed the almost phenomenally rapid advance that
this insidious system of sacerdotalism had made when some of its
most advanced advocates for the first time had the courage to embody
their superstitious views in a Communion service that in almost every
detail resembled the Popish sacrifice of the Mass. When ministers
of a Protestant Church openly advocate the Confessional, and others
propose the revival of Monasticism, as a cure for the evils of the time,
and when the ordinary service in many chiirches is so like that in
Roman Catholic chapels, that only experts can discern the difference,
surely it is time to raise the cry of alarm in the ears of our apathetic
7l8 REPORT ON PUBLIC QUESTIONS.
countrymen and to besiege the Throne of Grace with earnest entreaties
for a new and better Reforaiation than England has ever enjoyed.
It is matter of deep regret that so much indifference prevails
among Protestants generally as to the existence and progress in our
own land of a system so unscriptural as Popery, and so inimical to
all the best interests of men. Were it merely a false religion we
should be grieved that so many millions of our fellow-subjects are still
entangled in its snares, and that others are falling under the spell of
its fatal fascinations. But in that case we should be content to meet
,it with the single weapon of an open Bible and would feel oonfident
in the long run of a successful issue. But Popery is a policy as well
as a religion. It is an imperium in imperio, a political organisation
in every civil community where it has obtained firm foothold. And
if we are wise we shall continue to deal with it as our Reforming
ancestors did, who were better acquainted with its real nature than
most of us are. This testimonv is true : ** No one can become her
(Rome's) convert without renouncing his moral and mental freedom
and placing his civil loyalty at the mercy of another. . . . He is a
Catholic first and an Englishman afterwards, and intends in case of
any conflict between the Queen and the Pope to follow the Pope and let
the Queen shift for herself."
The Romish system is unchanged and glories in being unchange-
able. Her spirit has ever been the same from century to century.
All her worst features are perpetuated, and if there is any difference
she is growing worse. For evil institutions, ** like evil men and
seducers,'' have an inevitable tendency to *' wax worse and worse."
What she was and did in the days of the Reformation she undoubt-
edly would be, and would do, in our day if she had the power and
opportunity. A leading literary journal published in London recently
contained the following paragraph in regard to the Papal authorities
in Rome to-day ; — " They might have disowned the cruel persecutions
of a former day as all other governments do, and say it was the bar-
barous spirit of the age that prompted them. But the Papal court
alone refuses to make any progress. Wben they still defend the
rack and the stake as suitable instruments of conversion to Christian-
ity, the public have a natural fear that if they again found themselve^i
in a position to do so^ they would resort to the same methods ; and it
strengthens the natural determination that the Pope shall never again
possesi any sort of civil power (in Italy)." In the meantime, let us
lalx)ur and pray for the enlightenment of her dupes, and earnestly
plead with Z ion's King to speed the time when He shall destroy
the system with the breath of His mouth, and with the brightness of
His coming. " Even so, come Lord Jesus."
Such are some of the questions that appear to your Committee to
bo of so much importance as to justify their bringing them under your
notice, and the notice of our people generally. And they are fain to
cherish the conviction that the opinions they have expressed in regard
to these questions are in full accord with the teaching of Scripture, and
the principles of the Covenanted Church of Scotland which we claim to
represent. May the Spirit of the Lord descend richly upon ua and
bIBLE QUESTIONS. '7l9
enable all of us to do our duty with regard to these and other matters
ill our respective spheres !
Submitted in name of Committee by
THOMAS MATTHEW, Convtntr.
(EalestaBtiiCdl Xnttlligetue.
On Thursday, 5th June, the Rev. D. Matthew, B.D., late of Toberdoney,
was inducted to the pastoral charge of Kirkintilloch Congregation, and was
introduced to his charge on the Sabbatli following, by the Rev. A. Stirling,
Arbroath. A full report is held over until our next number.
BIBLK QUESTIONS.
TiiK scholars from America were not able to be forward in time in April, but
they made their appearance a little late. Their names must be added to the
list of those given in May : — *' Mispah " in the junior, and ** Try Again " in the
middle division. My little friends in the junior division have been exercising
their minds over the separation between Lot and Abraham with its consequences,
and their answers to the questions put are very creditable. As an example, we
give those of "Tried," Midlem.
1. Because their shepherds quarrelled about who should get the best fields
for their slieep and cattle.
2. Because he thought the country about Sodom was the best place he saw,
and lie never thought whether God wanted him to go there or not.
3. He lost Abraham's company and (lod's blessing.
4. Because the people were very bad and wicked, and God said He would
ilestroy them.
«'>. Because God said when they came out of Sodom they must all go straight
forward, and Lot's wife turned and looked back.
Equally good answers have been received {roin—Abf.rdetUy ** A.D.,"
•* Purity ;" Ayr, •' Gowan," " Blythe," *' Soar," " Onward ;" Carluke, " Frim-
roae ; " Conpar-AwjiM, '*Den," *• Rosebud;" Duiule"-, "Lily;" Etlinfmrgh,
"Love," "Youth;" Kilwumimj, " Apple -blossom ; " KirkccUdy, "Try;"
MidUm, "Beginner;" Olrig, "Isabella." "Clover," "Star;" Painley,
" Ada ; " Perth, " Rose ; " Slranratr, " William," ** Truth," " Blessedness ; '»
Thtn'MO, '* Freddie," " Daisy," " Dolly," " Lily."
The refusal of the three Hebrew children to ^^orship the great image
erected by the King of Babylon, as narrated in Daniel iii., was the
lesson in the middle class, and the answers to the questions arc very full
and interesting. To the first question, "Where is the worship of images
forbidden ? " the most common answer is, the Second Commandment. In
some answers additional passages bearing on the matter are mentioned.
Everyone is able to tell what is meant by a cubit, a Jewish measure of
from a foot- and -a-half to about two feet. Many buildings in all different
parts of the land are named as about the same height as this famous image
on the plain at Dura. The spire of Dr. Taylor's church, Thurso, ami of
Ruth rieston iron church, Aberdeen, and of St. Paul's, Perth, the Girdlcncss
ur Bell Rock Lightliousc, the Paumurc Monument, Carnoustie, Mr. M*Far-
720 BIBLE QUESTIONS.
lane's factory stalk, Coupar- Angus, the steeple of Hamilton Town Hall and
the tower of Kilwiuuing are all mentioned as answering to the description.
In answer to the next question : Name another case besides the men who caat
the Hebrew children into the furnace and were caught by the ilames, in which
those who harmed God a people were punished ; the cases of Daniel's aocnsers,
of Cain, of the children who mocked the prophet, of Haman, and of the
Herods are all given in different answers. The fourth question was. Where
does Jesus promise to be with His people ? and in answer a variety of pro-
mises is given, but prominent among them Matthew xxvlii. 20, and John xiv.
18. The answer given to the last question. What good was done by the
refusal of God's servants to worship the golden image? by "Kcoli^re," Thurso,
may be put down as a sample of the others, ** Nebuchadnezzar, when he saw
that Shadrach, Meshach and Abeduego escaped unhurt, praised God and made
a decree that no one should say anything against Jehovah, and he made
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego great men in Babylon."
Carefully prepared answers have been received from — Aff^rdten, ** Hononr,"
" Mabel ;" Ayr, *' Snowdrop," " Sincerity," " Bluebell ; " Balforh, •* Berta ;"
Gammistit, "Standfast;" Coupar'Arujm, ** Gowan ; " DiuttUe, ** Lahore et
Honore ; '■ Ifamiltoiiy ** Hope ; " Kirkcaldtfy ** Sidus ; " KilioinniHfj, *' Eleve ; *
KirkintUloch, ** G.L. ; " Midltm, " Endeavour ; " Perth, " Mispah ; "
Stranraer, " Fear Not," "Obedience," "Truth." One without any motto
or name ; Thurt*o, " Nellie," " Soyons Laborieux," " Ecolicrc," " Snowdrop,
" Persevere."
The senior class has had Christ as our Light aa their lesson this moBth, ami
has been very ready, correct and full in the answers. Those of " V^erite, '
Dundee, may be given as a sample.
1. John, 8th chap. r2th verse. Then spake Jesus again unto them saying,
"I am the Light of the world, he that followeth Me shall not walk in dark-
ness, but shall have the Light of Life. "
*2. John, 12th chap. 46th verse. Because He is .the source of knowledge,
purity, comfort, and joy.
3. Matthew, 5th chap. 16th verse. Let your light so shine before men, that
they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in Heaven.
4. Ist John, 1st chap. 7th verse. But if we walk in the light aa He is in the
light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His
Son cleanseth us from all sin.
o. Rev., 21st chap. 23rd verse. The city hath no need of the sun nor of the
moon to shine in it, for the Glory of God did lighten it, and the lamb is the
light thereof.
Capital answers have been received from: — Ahenltcn, " Sapcrc Aude;''
Ayr, "Spero," "Speedwell," "Mount Zion," "Homines, vencntor Deum,"
"Cyrus;" BirMay, "Ever True," "The Morning Cometh," "Hinder
me not;" Carluke, "Pansy," "Peace," "Ivy;" EdMitrrfh, "L'clcve,'^
"Simplicity;" Dunde*, "No Cross, no Crown;" Glojvjotr^ Afaifut Strtrf^
"Knowledge," "Hope," "Try Again;" HamUton, "Old Light;" /^♦>^
ro/Jy, "Flos," "Signifier;" Midfem, "Hold on," "Faithfulness;" Oirvu
"Pansy," "Buttercup," "Musk," "Gladiola;" Shoft^f/um, "Try," •*Diii.
gence ; " Stranraer, ".lohovah Nissi," "(Juillot," "James;" Tohenhn^,
"Abrasa Tabula."
( Uiblt Quuiiioiv*Jor Mujunt will lit J omul ou opitoaiu fHVjt o/Covtr^J
THE
ORIGINAL SECESSION MAGAZINE.
SEPTEMBER, 1890.
CHRISTIAN GROWTH.
A Sermon preached at the opening of the Synod in Mains Street
Church, Glasgow, May, 1890.
By the Rev. P. M'Vicar, Dundee.
U. Fbteb, iii. 18,
*'Bat grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ." — Reviskd Version.
There is no phenomenon with which we are more familiar in life
than growth. We see it in nature, in the physical organism of
creatures, in the moral and spiritual sphere. Yet, how mysterious
is the process ! We know it is going on night and day, but how
little we can do to explain it ! Certain conditions are known to us
as essential, but that is about the extent of our knowledge. The
process none can unravel, not even in the simplest of the many
beautiful developments of God's handiwork. Still growth is real.
We can trace progress in objects. The difference is easily observed
in the size and appearance of things this week, or month, or year,
from another ; yet the development is imperceptible at any one moment
of time. Intervals more or less are needful to discern the increase.
Clearly, however, there is an invisible force behind this development,
whether we look at it in the human body, in the bursting leaves of
trees and plants, in the new harvests God is making to spring out of
the earth, or in the moral change in the lives of men. To some all
this just means the energy of nature ; to us it means the energy of
God.
But, amid the mysteriousness and invisibility of growth, there is
NO. XI. VOL. XIX. 3 B NEW SERIES.
722 CHRISTIAN GROWTH.
an aspect of beauty about it in all the works of God. We see this in
the world of nature at this season when God is blessing the
springing thereof. We see it in the human form which so much
impressed the Psalmist, that he said : " I am fearfully and wonder-
fully made; marvellous are Thy works, and that my soul knoweth
right well." And we see it in the human spirits which are develop-
ing likeness to God. The beauty of the Lord our God is upon them.
As the sculptor makes the block to take on the form and features of
some living human personality, so does the invisible hand of God
make the soul to take on the form and features of one made in the
likeness of Christ, with these differences, that while the marble is
operated on from without, the soul is operated on from within, and
while the marble remains cold and lifeless, the soul is an organism
instinct with life and quickened by the vital forces God has put
within it, making it thereby to expand in beauty, fragrance, and
usefulness. " But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the
glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from gloxy to
glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." To possess ourselves more
fully and perfectly of this Divine comeliuess is the theme of our text^
''But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ." Let us first note
SOME THOUGHTS UNDERLYINO THIS EXHORTATION.
One is, our evident imperfection. Entrance into the Kingdom of
God is usually a far way from maturity. It resembles fruit which
has just formed on the tree, and about which there is a perceptible
absence of fulness, ripeness, and sweetness. This imperfection marks
Christians in various degrees. They appear in different stages of
growth. Some with years seem to lose little of their imperfectness ;
others develope likeness to Christ rapidly and distinctly. Bat how-
ever near to the Lord Jesus the best of Christians come, they have
always about them here the evidence of their immaturity. Nearness
to Christ in spirit, temper, and character is the ambition of believers,
but there is daily present the consciousness of a force within, whose
influence operates to hinder their spiritual progress and dwarf their
attainments in Divine things. When they would do good evil is
present with them; and instead of rising to sit with Christ in
• heavenly places, their souls often cleave to the dust
Still, we are capable of growth. We may make progress in
heavenly attainments. Growth is as truly a law of our spiritual
being as it is of our physical constitution ; and our capability to
take on and reflect the image of the heavenly is as real as to take
CHRISTIAN GROWTH. 723
on and reflect the image of the earthy. But Christians some-
times lose sight of their capability to rise in likeness to Grod. Some
seem content with securing their salvation ; others seem discouraged
by their failures and imperfections. Walking with God appears to
them the special privilege of a few, and that they at least must be
content to follow afar off. But this is to come dangerously near to
limiting the power of the Holy One of Israel. If we are not growing
in likeness to Christ, it is not the want of capacity, nor of Divine
energy to transform us ; it is owing rather to some hindrance in our-
selves and which we might have removed. All the exhortations in
God's Word pressing upon us a higher standard of Christian living
recognise this capacity for growth in Divine attainments.
Then, Is not growth the normal condition of the lualthy Christian ?
There is something abuormal about the physical organism of the
young which is not developing gradually and evenly. Arrested de-
velopment is the sign of some derangement, some unhealthiness in
the body. So in spiritual things. Stagnation is no more the normal
condition of Christians in health than backsliding. It is progress.
* ' Nearer, ray God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee."
Following Christ as the sunflower follows the great orb of day, our
souls prosper and are in health. For " the path of the just is as the
shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day."
Forgetting the things which are behind, and reaching forth unto
those things which are before, pressing toward the mark for the prize
of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, is the Christian's normal
condition in health. This reveals progress ; it indicates growth ; it
tells of a soul rising to God in nearness of holy fellowship and in
assimilation of character.
Moreover, this is an experience which calls for individual attention,
care, and interest. True, we cannot make ourselves to grow by any
effort of will. "Which of you," said our Lord, "by taking thought
can add one cubit unto his stature 1 " Still, we may not be thought-
less and indifferent. The gardener does not make the plants in his
garden to grow, yet how much they depend upon his thoughtful
attention and careful culture. Though he cannot make them grow,
he may promote their development by putting them under conditions
essential to growth. Is it not similar in spiritual things ? Life in
the soul is as truly susceptible of development through cultivation
and care as life in the plant. Neglect the plant and its growth will
be hindered : cultivate it aud it will come to maturity. So is it with
724 CHRISTIAN GROWTH*
the life of grace within us. As one has said, there is no piety in the
world which may not be measured by the degree of care and atten-
tion bestowed upon it, and people have usually as much religion as
they are anxious to possess. If we are straitened, then, it is certainly
not in God ; it is in ourselves. May our souls thirst for God, be
satisfied in God, and follow hard after God. Next, let us consider
THE THINGS IN WHICH GROWTH IS TO DB SOUGHT.
One is, the grace of Christ, That is, the grace of which Christ is
the source and bestoWer : that gracious favour and vitalising energy
which has its beginning in the Son of God, our Savioiur and Hope,
and which leads to the development of every aspect of the Christian
character, every fruit of the Spirit, every part of true religion. Is it
our desire to be Christ-like, fragrant with the smell of a field which
the Lord hath blessed, to radiate the benign, hallowing, joyous influ-
ence of Christ 1 Then let us seek to possess more fully and perfectly
that gracious vitalising power which dwells in Emmanuel, God with
us, and flows out to every member of His mystical body. This grace
of Christ is the grace which leads us to be satisfied with Christ,
enables us to breathe His spirit and reproduce His character, and be
loyal in our allegiance and devotion to Him, doing the will of God to
the end amid difficulties, trials, and discouragements. It is the grace
of which He is the source. We cannot obtain it elsewhere. Though
Christians everywhere receive of it, it is ever from Christ Himself.
We cannot undertake to supply one another. At no period have we
more than our own needs demand. The promise of God is, ^' as thy
days, so shall thy strength be." Necessity, therefore, compels us
ever to say to others in need : *' But go ye rather to them that sell
and buy for yourselves." Christ is equally the bestower of this grace.
What we get we do not steal or force from Him, but obtain from His
own gracious hand, and as the expression of His own gracious will and
ever-loving heart. He gives it, too, as a gift, not as a prize for meri>
torious service, nor as a loan to be given back again, but as a free
and abiding possession for our encouragement, invigoration, and
enjoyment. It is His own underived possession, to be bestowed by
Him as He please th. No one may demand it : no creature can merit
it : no power can take it by force. It is His own, to be given away
deliberately, consciously, freely, and abundantly, as He sees meet in
His infinite wisdom.
Moreover, it is a blessedness ancient in character, yet ever new.
We cannot date its origin. It is as eternal as the nature of Christ
itself. Profound thought ! it reaches back to eternity. Our finite
CHRISTIAN GROWTH. 725
r
minds cannot grasp this. They get lost amid the ages that are paat.
We can only rest in the revelation of God. Still, it is a hlessedness
always new. There are some things which never get old. The world
has never tired of the sunshine, though it has long enjoyed the pre-
sence of the great orb of day. The light and warmth of the sunshine
are as fresh and welcome each morning of our life as in any day of
our past existence. So is it with the grace of Christ. To the souls
that are looking heavenward it comes as fresh, as welcome, and as
vitalising as ever. Nor shall this blessedness in Christ ever lessen.
The goodness of men may diminish ; their strength may decay and
die ; but this wonderful blessedness in Christ shall always endure.
It is a fulness which is immeasurable. The day may come which
shall see the sunshine spent, and the ocean dried up; but the time
shall never come which shall see the grace of Christ lessened. " It
hath pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell " — that
is abide, not for an age, but for eternity ; and it is to be there not
as an object of bare contemplation, but as a source of blessedness,
out of which the Church of God shall receive throughout the ages to
come grace upon grace.
But, how shall we grow in this grace ? Is it not by studying to
have ourselves under those conditions essential to growth 1 One is
abiding in Christ by a firm, unfaltering trust as the Great God and
our Saviour, the source of all our blessedness. The more perfect the
graft which the gardener makes, the more the branch gets into con-
tact with the vitalising forces of the tree, drawing therefrom for its
own nourishment : so the stronger our trust in Christ, the firmer a
grip our faith takes of Him, the greater will be our increase in the
grace of Christ. " Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch can-
not bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine ; no more can ye,
except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches : he that
abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit : for
without me ye can do nothing."
Is it not as needful that we dwell much in the sunshine of God^s
love ? As truly as plants need the light and warmth of the natural
sunshine to make them grow and pour forth their fragance, do our
souls need the brightness and warmth of God's love to make them
strong in the grace which is in Christ Jesus, fruitful in good works,
and fragrant with the fragrance of Christ. To walk in the cold and
the shade of doubt and fear regarding the love of God toward us is
not the way to grow in the grace of Christ. We must, like John,
learn to be much in the sunshine of Divine favour, saying : " We
have known and believed the love that God hath to us."
Moreover, it is as requisite in order to progress in heavenly attain-
726 CHRISTIAN GROWTH.
ments that we throw ounelves open to all the influences of the Holy
Spirit, We ask this gift from God by prayer. We seek the com-
munication of His quickening and life-giving power. But we may
shut out the gift after all by forgetfulness, earthliness, and careless
mingling with the means of grace. We need to look up with ex-
pectation for the blessing we seek from heaven, and throw ourselves
open, by prayer, meditation on the Divine word, and eschewing tbe
things which grieve the Spirit, to all Divine influences. As the
ploughed land drinks in the rain, may we welcome the Spirit of God
in His gracious power, thus shall drooping graces be revived, and
individual souls, as well as the Church as an'oz^anised society, shall
become beautiful, fruitful, and fragrant.
The second thing in which we are to seek growth is, the knowUdge
of our Lord and Saviour Jetus Christ. That is the knowledge of
which Christ is the object, which leads us to apprehend Him iu His
Divine majesty, graciousness, and glory, in His mediatorial fulness of
merit and blessing. It is the knowledge which assures us He is our
redeemer who bought us with His blood ; our friend and brother who
aids us with His sympathy and help ; our gracious prince whose ser-
vice is perfect freedom. It is the knowledge which reveals Christ as
a living personality, very real, very near, very gracious, very helpful,
and which heightens our admiration of Him, calls forth our affection
to Him, and intensifies our loyalty to His person, throne and govern-
ment. It is the knowledge of Christ, not simply knowledge about
Christ. One may know a great deal about another and yet not know
himself. The world knows much about the historic Christ ; but it is
only the child of God who knows Him as his Lord and Saviour,
his unchanging friend, his all and in all. Such knowledge is saving,
for "this is life eternal that they might know thee, the only true
God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." It is sanctifying.
Bringing us near to Christ, and exciting our admiration and regard
for Him, it kills sin in our hearts. His presence sanctifies every heart
in which it dwells. The more we know Him, the lowlier we get in
spirit and the purer in character. It is ennobling knowledge. It
widens our horizon, for Christ has no nan*ow mind, and broadens our
sympathies with the world of mankind, for Christ has no contracted
heart. It takes us out of the narrow grooves we get into through
ignorance, selfishness, and sin, and makes us Christ-like in magnan-
imity of mind and largeness of heart. We add to our " fiiith, virtue ;
and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to
temperance, patience ; and to patience, godliness ; and to godliness,
brotherly kindness ; and to brotherly kindness, charity,** or a Catholic
large heartedness.
CHRISTIAN GkOWTH. 727
Then think what room for growth there ii in the hwwledge of
Christ! We may get very soon to the end of all that is worth
knowing in an earthly friend, but we fail to reach any end to the
riches and worth of Christ. In Him there are treasures of wisdom
and knowledge which will take us all eternity to study. Though we
have been learning Christ all our days, how meagre at best is our
knowledge. Paul, after twenty years^ intimate fellowship with Christ,
panted still to know Him. What greatness we have yet to appre-
hend ! What grace to taste ! What faithfulness to experience !
What helpfulness to receive ! What bliss to share I Babes indeed
in the Kingdom of God we may be, though we have gripped the facts
of Christ's divinity, incarnation, atonement, resurrection, and ascen-
sion. There is a knowledge of Christ far beyond that we must reach
ere we can warrantably hope to be mature in the Christian life. " 0
the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God."
These are treasured in Christ. Never, till we can measure the infinite,
^vill we be able to exhaust that fulness of worth in our blessed Lord
and Saviour.
But hmo shall we grow in this knowledge 1 — Must we not, for one
thing, stvdy the teachings of the Holy Spirit ? He is the great Re-
vealer of Christ. What wonderful pictures He gives* of our Lord in
the Divine Word. Many of these are in emblems such as the rose
of Sharon, the plant of renown, the pearl of great price, the bright
and the morning star ; some are in descriptions like what we have in
the first chapter of the book of " The Revelation ; " and others are
in scenes drawn from His earthly life, such as His walking on the sea,
His stilling the tempest. His feeding the multitudes. His casting out
devils, His raising the dead, and His filling sorrowful hearts and
homes with joy and gladness. How much we may learn of Christ by
.studying the Holy Spirit's presentation of Him. Not a few have
tried in their day to give a different picture of our Lord and
Saviour ; but we will never rise nearer to God through their teach-
ing. May we keep close by the Spirit's revelation of Him which is
winsome and glorious.
Further, to grow in the knowledge of Christ, is it not indispens-
able we be in sympathy and fellowship with Chris/ f To rise in under-
standing and appreciation regarding the character and teaching of
another, it is necessary to be in sympathy with him. If we look at
him as cold spectators, without any friendly feeling, we will be
certain to make little of him. This is as true in relation to Christ as
in relation to any other. How many see nothing in Him that they
should desire Him. The explanation of this is the absence of
sympathy with the Saviour. And so it follows, the closer our
728 CHRISTIAN GROWTH.
bympathy is with the Lord Jesus, the more we will rise in the
knowledge of Him. But it is equally needful to cultivate fellowship
with Christ. We may know much about our Lord as the world does^
without this^ but to know Him we must get into His fellowship,
through the Word and prayer, while the closer our fellowship with
Him is, the more we will come to know the secrets of His hearty His
worth, and His greatness. Along with all this, must we not put
ourselves irUo the hands of the Holy *^pirit to he guided by him into all
truth ? Into this temple of wonders — the knowledge of Christ, we
can make no headway with any lasting advantage to ourselves apart
from such guidance. But under the Holy Spirit's teaching we will
come to know more of Christ than the acutest unaided intellect can
tell us out of the mere facts of His history. " He shall glorify me,"
said our Lord, " for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto
you.^' To promote this growth, our Lord too makes us pass through
much trial. Many a believer has learned to say, " I seem to grow best
in trial." They grow as the cedars in Lebanon, whose roots strike
deeper and become stronger through the tempests they encounter.
But in conclusion let us notice
THE GAINS THIS GROWTH WILL BRING US.
One is steadfastness. This will appear in friendship to Christ; in
walking ih the Law of God ; in abiding in the doctrine of Christ ;
in sustained interest in the welfare of Christ's Kingdom on earth*
Those among the children of God who from time to time are most
liable to deny Christ, to depart from the Divine law, to be staggered
by plausible, but unsettling teaching, and to grow cold about the
advancement of the Redeemer's Kingdom, are those who have least
of the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour about them.
That grace and knowledge are what lash us to the abiding Christ,
imparting firmness and steadiness w^hen others are drifting. We
become strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
Another gain is meetness for service. Though God may use an
unsanctified instrument at times in His service, His general rule
seems to be to use those most who are most meet for His use.
«
Israel could not stand before the men of Ai because of transgres-
8ion. God would not honour them in that condition. A similar
experience have His people stilL But when they rise out of un-
belief, transgression, earthliness, self-seeking, and such things as are
fitted to mar their Christian usefulness, they live a separated life
consecrated to the Master's use, have a savour of Christ about them,
and come to find the blessing of God going out with their Christian
OUR POSITION AND ITS DUTIES, 729
teaching and influence in 'some form or other. It is the same
thought essentially which is in the apostle's mind, when writing to
Timothj he says, " That the man of God may he perfect, thoroughly
furnished unto all good wOrks," that is, fully equipped for Christian
service. Such equipment comes through the lines of experience
indicated hy our text. Other gains are, greater naturalness in <mr
Christian life, or freedom from unreality, religious pretentiousness,
seeming piety; greater facility in Christian work; greater courage to
confess Christy to disdain heing ashamed of the Cross, and acting as
if Christian light should be put under a bushel in the market-places
of the world, or in the presence of worldly society. Ostentatious-
ness in religion will never meet the approval of the Master, but to
be natural and true to Him and never ashamed to own our relation
to Him in any society, is behaviour which will certainly meet with
His commendation and reward. ** Whosoever, therefore, shall con-
fess me before men, him will I confess also before My Father, which
is in Heaven ; but, whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I
also deny before My Father, which is in Heaven." The gains thus
indicated markedly appear in the life of the Apostle Paul. They
have distinctly appeared in many other lives down through the
ages of the Church's history. Let the growth thus pressed upon
our attention become more general throughout the Christian Church,
and it will become an intenser spiritual force, changing the moral
wastes of the earth and making them as the garden of the Lord.
Very appropriate, then, is the prayer in this connection : " Awake, 0
north wind ; and come, thou south ; blow upon my garden, that the
spices thereof may flow out." Just as those heavenly winds waft to
our souls Divine influence, will we grow up like unto Christ in all
that goes to make an ideal Christian.
** Saviour, I follow on, guided by Thee,
Seeing not yet the hand that leadcth me :
Hushed be my heart and still ; fear I no further ill ;
Only to meet Thy will my will shall be."
OUR POSITION AND ITS DUTIES.
An Ajddrbss Delivered at the Opening op the Synod in Mains
Street Church, Glasgow, May, 1890, by the Rev. T.
Matthew, Kilwinning.
Fathers and Brethren, — In accepting the honour you have con-
ferred upon me, and returning you my sincere thanks for it, I have
73^ OUR POSITION AND ITS DUTIES,
to bespeak your kind forbearauce while. I proceed to discharge its
first, and, as I fondly trust, what will prove to have been, ita most
difficult duty. According to use and wont it now devolves upon me
to address to you a few suitable words ere you enter npoQ the plea-
sant, though withal arduous and anxious duties of another anno^
meeting ; and surely it is matter of thankfulness to God that in tb«
course of the bygone year, and amid the ravages of death, the last
enemy has made no breach in the ranks of our ministry. TLk
following as it does, more than an entire decade of similar immunity
from the stroke of the destroyer/ is fitted to awaken wonder as wel'
as gratitude, and to lead us to adore the providence of Him, " Wk*
is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working."
Yet from the reports of presbyteries that have just been sub-
mitted, it appears that the last has been a rather eventful year in
the history of our little church. The changes that have beei
chronicled are likely to suggest to some minds the idea that it is
becoming increasingly difficult for us to maintain our isolated ecclesi-
astical position, and to lead othei's, perhaps, to ask, " Is that positioL
worth maintaining?" There are interested spectators from the
outside and occasionally a candid friend within, who readily adnt t
that the Original Secession has had a noble history — that for manj
years it kept the lamp of truth burning in many of the dark placei
of our land, and that it helped to kindle the flame of vital piety ir
all the other churches, but they frankly tell us that its continued
existence is an anachronism. It has *' served its day " and should
forthwith " take end " by becoming absorbed in some larger com-
munion. For my part, fathers and brethren, as the chairman of
the English Congregational Union remarked the other day when
dealing with a similar suggestion, '* I fail to see the charms of
suicide." And I feel sure if such a thought has ever occurred t"
any of you, you have met it as a temptation to be resisted and not
encouraged — one of those foul birds, of which Luther speaks, which
we cannot hinder from flying over our heads, but which we mas:
prevent from building their nests among our hair. No one who
has an intelligent grasp of the great principles identified with tbe
Reformed and Covenanted Church of Scotland, and who is at all
acquainted with the present state of matters in the various Scottish
churches, will for a moment waver in the conviction that there is
*' ample room and verge enough " for such a denomination as ouis.
and that we would play the part of traitors to a noble trust if we
were to desert the position in which God has placed us in Hi^
providence.
OtJR POSITION AND ITS DUTIES. 73 1
I. lu our distinctive priuciples we have important truths to
mainliain.
If we exclude the Reformed Presbyterian Church, which is so like
our own that we can easily excuse outsiders for mistaking the one
for the other ; or rather if we include our covenanting brethren as
one with ourselves, where shall we be able to find an ecclesiastical
connection in which we can render due honour to such a great
truth as that of our Lord^s Royal Headship ? This doctrine, as is
well known, divides itself into two branches, viz., Christ's headship
over the Church implying her independence of the civil power in all
spiritual matters, and His headship over nations, including the civil
recognition of the true religion and the establishment of the Church
whenever circumstances render it possible. Now if we cease to
occupy our present position and go in one direction we shall enter a
communion not yet entirely free from the taint of Erastianism as
well as certain other mtm still more serious. And if we go in other
directions we shall be more or less deeply involved in an unscriptural
voluntaryism or so-called "religious equality," which forbids the
State to do what God, by the light of nature and the teaching of
Scripture, has plainly commanded it to do. " Be wise now, there-
fore, 0 ye kings, and be instructed, ye judges of the earth ; serve
the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son lest
He be angry, and ye perish from the way when His wi*ath is kindled
but a little." *' The nation or kingdom that will not serve thee
(the church) shall perish, yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted."
In our present position we can honour our exalted Lord, by main-
taining a faithful testimony for this great principle in both its
branches. We are neither Erastians nor Voluntaries. We steer
clear of Scylla on the one hand and of Charybdis on the other, while
to the mast-head of our gallant little ship we have nailed our colours,
an I inscribed on them the historic words : —
<' For Zion's King and Zion's liwB,
And Scotland's covenanted cause."
Again, there is the great Bible principle of National Religious
Covenanting y which is so intimately connected with our Lord's head-
ship. It may be shown to flow from this as a natural and necessary
inference, but it is also capable of an independent course of proof.
This principle found practical application in ancient Israel whenever
religion revived among the people, and it was itself an eminent
means of further revival. The Old Testament prophets who foretold
the blessedness of New Testament times, such as Isaiah and Jeremiah,
732 OUR POSITION AND ITS DUTIES.
clearly indicate that Christian nations would enter into covenant with
God. And in accordance with these predictions at the time of the
Reformation, our own country and seyeral continental states, on
repeated occasions pledged themselves by solemn oath and covenant
to be true to God and to each other in maintaining all the great
doctrines of the evangelical system, and in resisting the encroach-
ments of the Man of sin which then, as now, threatened the very
existence of true religion and civil freedom.
Now, fathers and brethren, if truths that are generally ignored
from the very fact of their neglect, become the " present truth "
which those that would be faithful to their great Master are specially
bound to maintain and teach, assuredly the truths to which I have
referred have reached that position of eminence. And tohere^ I ask
again, shall we be able to do our duty towards them, save in our
present connection?
But further, if I do not greatly misread the signs of the times, the
day is rapidly approaching when there shall be either a great revival of
scriptural theology and apostolic practice, or we and those that sym^ta-
thise with us shall be left very much alone for a time to bear a faithful
testimony in behalf of truths still more fundamental than these —
such truths as the inspiration and infallibility of Holy Scripture, the
substitutionary nature of our Lord's death, and the doctrines of rich,
free, sovereign grace. And if God has given, or is about to give us.
work like that to do, surely this is no time for us to tliink of turning
our back upon that profession which has been so signally owned of
God in the past, and whose existence is a stimulus and encouragement
to those that are aiming at being faithful in all the other Presbyterian
and Evangelical Churches.
II. We provide a simple and scriptural form of worship.
Not many years since it was easy enough to find this in any of the
larger churches of the land. But every year it is becoming increas-
ingly diflficult to do so, at least over a large part of the Scottish Low-
lands. And as a consequence, numbers of God's people in different
parts of the country are precluded from joining with their fellow-
Christians in the commonest acts of divine worship.
It may be that in some cases this arises from no higher reason
than unintelligent prejudice, or the possession of strong conservative
instincts that create a dislike to the violation of Scottish Presbyterian
use and wont. We are often told that such is the case, and grant-
ing that it is true to some extefit, is the weakness of these people
to receive no consideration 1 Are they to be driven because they re-
fuse to be drawn 1 Is the taste of everybody to be consulted but
OUR POSITION AND ITS DUTIES. 733
theirs, because theirs happens to be the same as that of their sainted
fathers 1 Who has authorised the office-bearers of the Church to
ride rough-shod over even the prejudices, the innocent prejudices, of
God's people 1 And are thej not to be allowed to worship God in
public without being rendered uncomfortable in the process and
having their edification seriously marred by the use of hymns, and
organsy and liturgies, and other unauthorised innovations ?
Then there are others that have strong and intelligent convictions
on the subject of New Testament worship. They have carefully
studied the subject in the light of Divine revelation and of early
Church history, and they have come to the conclusion that pure wor-
ship is quite as important as sound doctrine. They believe that God
has forbidden everything He has not appointed — that to offer God
what He has not asked is to lay ourselves open to the charge of will-
worship, and that the Apostolic Church, with its purity and simplicity,, •
is a model for us in this respect as well as in every other ; while they
have no sympathy with that Christian experience that cannot express
itself in the words and forms that were amply sufficient for our Lord
Himself and His immediate followers, as well as for the best and
noblest men and women our own country has produced.
And then it may be there are others still who occupy a sort of
intermediate position between the two classes I have now described.
They have not strong convictions either way. They cannot doubt
the Christianity nor the conscientiousness of many who use these
new modes of worship, and they see the blessing of the Lord appar-
ently resting on services conducted by them as well as on those con«
ducted by others who differ from them. But as for themselves, they
are doubtful as to their scriptural authority, and until these doubts
are removed, they feel that what might be lawful for others would
be unlawful for them. They are quite sure, for instance, that if they
sing a psalm " in spirit and in truth," the Lord will accept of that
service and will make it a means of grace because He has asked it.
But they are not so sure that He will accept a merely human hymn
which may be true or not, and which, at anyrate, is used to displace
what all admit to be something better than itself.
Now, people belonging to all these classes may find a home within
our borders, where their favourite views are embodied in our common
practice, and their conscientious scruples are carefully respected. And
I for one rejoice in the fact that we have been able to furnish a
" harbour of refuge" for not a few of God's people in various parts of
the land who would have been deprived of all Church connection, and
of the privileges of public worship, had not our doors been open to
admit them.
■ r
I
734 OUR POSITION AND ITS DUTIES.
And therefore, on tlie very first principles of Christian liberty, it is
evident that there is not only room for such a Church as ours, but a
clear call to us to continue in the meantime in our present position.
III. We have ample opportunity for engaging in all approved
Christian work.
However important it is to maintain all parts of revealed truth
and '^ to keep pure and entire ** the ordinances of divine worship, I
regard it as still more important to gather sinners to Christ, and to
assist in rearing that magnificent temple of redeemed humanity which
shall be an eternal habitation of God through the Spirit. Those are
but the means, this is the end. Truth is in order to faith and holi-
ness. And if the truth held and taught by us fails to awaken sinners,
and to comfort and edify believers, there is reason to fear that there
is something seriously amiss with our own character and life. For if
we are teaching scriptural doctrines, and observing scriptural forms of
worship, the instrument in our hands ought to be more effective thau
in the hands of those that act differently. And if to this extent we
are " honouring " God, we have His promise to assure us that He will
" honour us," and use our ministry, however unworthy, for promoting
His glory among men.
Now, it is not my present purpose to inquire as to whether our
success in spiritual work is greater or less than others, nor as to the
causes of a personal kind that may be hindering our suecess. What
I wish to emphasise now is that we are not seriously hindered by the
position that we occupy.
No doubt the congregations of most of us are comparatively small,
and we who are ministers do not enjoy the stimulating influence that
comes from large numbers. But large audiences are not essential to
spiritual prosperity. Indeed, I am persuaded that the past history of
the Church will bear me out in the statement that the largest number
of true Christians have usually been found in the smaller congre-
gations. As every one knows, there is a system of high-farming that
can make a few acres skilfully cultivated more productive than a
multitude but poorly tilled. And such a thing is possible in the
spiritual sphere. In reading that remarkable book, "The Auto-
biography of Thomas Boston," you will find, if I mistake not, that the
membership of his congregation never exceeded ninety, and when
tempted to leave it and go elsewhere to preach, he would say,
*' Though it is a small congregation, it is my congregation, and as the
power of the Word depends upon the blessing of God, that blessing is
most likely to be enjoyed in the place to which He has sent me/'
And who is there that does not know that his homely pulpit in the
OUR POSITION AND ITS DUTIES. 7^5
wilds of Ettrick was perhaps the loudest sounding-board in all broad
Scotland at the time, if not in all Christendom, and that its rever-
berations have not jet died away ?
In the face of such a shining example and others like it, which of
us is bold enough to say that he has done all he can for the spiritual
welfare of every individual that God has entrusted to his care ? And
if we are deeply conscious of past failures, the day is coming when,
probably, all of us will have cause to think that our congregations
have been large enough. On a certain occasion, the pastor of a little
church had resolved on resigning his charge because his meeting-
house could not hold more than two hundred people. A wise friend
to whom he told his purpose quietly remarked that on the day of
judgment he would perhaps find that two hundred were as many as
he could give a good account of. Whether this consideration led the
discouraged pastor to change his mind, I cannot tell. But surely it
is well fitted to reconcile us to the position that Providence has
assigned to us, and to rouse us to deeper concern for the eternal well-
being of every member of our flock.
Everything depends on our being in the sphere that God has
chosen for us, and on our doing our best with His assistance and
blessing to fill that sphere from day to day. Of course I do not mean
by this that we are to think it our duty to limit our efforts to our
respective congregations. My purpose is to indicate that when our
opportunities are thus providentially limited, we may be engaged in
work quite as fruitful as those that occupy wider spheres.
In most localities, however, there is a large mass of the population
lying outside all the churches, and the door of access to these people
is quite as open to us as to others. They have a claim upon our
sympathy and efiPort as much as upon those of other Christians.
Nay, more, our duty to God requires us to exert ourselves to the
utmost to rescue the perishing, " pulling them out of the fire, hating
even the garment spotted by the flesh." Our ability and opportunity
are the measure of our responsibility, and if men need spiritual help,
and we can give it, that help must never be denied.
We may visit them at their homes, deal privately and faithfully
with them in regard to their eternal interests, gather them into
larger or smaller meetings for prayer and exposition of Scripture,
scatter among them religious literature of an attractive and awaken-
ing kind, and precede and follow and accompany all we do with fer-
vent, believing, importunate prayer. We may do all this ; and until
we do it we have no reason to complain of a narrow sphere. And when
we have done it, I do not think it likely that we shall complain. The
truth is, that while men arc crying out for spheres, spheres are cry-
73^ OUR POSITION AND ITS DUTIES.
ing out still more loadlj for men. In this Scotland of ours, and in
this day of ours^ " there remains jet very much land to be possessed."
The harvest truly is plenteous, and labourers of the right sort are
few. Never was it more necessary to enter into the spirit of the
Master's words, " Pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest that He
will send forth labourers into His harvest."
And while there is much to be done at home, the whole heathen
and Mohammedan world lies before us. Already we have taken
possession of a part of India in the Master's name ; and I fearlessly
affirm that in proportion to our numbers we are doing as much, or more,
for the perishing heathen than any of the Churches around us. We are
not, however, doing all we might nor all we should, nor all we yet expect
to do. When we think of the little Waldensian Church, with less
than twenty congregations in the valleys of the Alps, sending forty
missionaries to the larger towns of Italy, besides one or two to
foreign lands; and the heroic Moravian Church, with its thirty
thousand members, in Britain and America, claiming seventy thou-
sand converts throughout the heathen world. When, I say, we think
of these, we shall be ashamed to boast of our late and languid
efforts, and will, I trust, be rather roused to a holy emulation in the
grandest enterprise the world has ever seen. If, in our several con-
gregations, we keep steadily before our people the needs and claims
of the heathen world, if we foster the missionary spirit among the
young, and fan the flame of evangelistic zeal among all classes, none
can estimate the influence we shall exercise in helping to speed the
predicted time when " The kingdoms of this world shall become the
kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ." " God be merciful unto us,
and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us, that Thy way may
be known upon the earth, Thy saving health among all nations^"
Fathers and brethren, I have but imperfectly described the position
we occupy as a separate branch of the great Presbyterian family, and
the duties and responsibilities of that position. But enough has been
said to show that the faithful maintenance of our distinctive prin-
ciples does not preclude us from entering upon every department of
approved Christian service. Rather does it enable us to do what
many, whom we highly esteem for their Christian character and work,
are nevertheless failing to do ; and it requires us to throw ourselves
heart and soul into every wise and good and holy enterprise, giving a
fresh emphasis to the apostolic exhortation, " Therefore, my beloved
brethren, be ye steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work
of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in
the Lord."
I thank you heartily for your kind attention to the remaries I have
READINGS IN FIRST SAMUEL. . 737
felt called on to make at this time. I ask for your fervent prayers
from day to day while I occupy the Moderator's chair, and I trust
that all of us shall continue to enjoy the presence of the guiding
Spirit in all our deliberations and decisions. Amen.
READINGS IN FIRST SAMUEL.
Bt H. K. wood C* a Glasgow Merchant *').
chapters v. — vii. — idols dethroned and jehovah exalted.
The awful emptiness of home and heart, when one near and dear has
been removed into the darkness of death, is^ alas I well known to
most of us. We can therefore thoroughly understand the poet's crav-
ing for." the touch of a vanished hand, and the s^und of a voice that
is still."
But vastly more distressing to a religious nature is the absence of
Crod in His realized presence. " Oh ! that I knew where I might
find Him I " cried Job. "Behold! I go forward, but He is not there ;
and backward, but I cannot perceive Him."
" Lord, why castest Thou off my soul 1 Why hidest Thou Thy
face from me 1 " ^as the mournful exclamation of the Psalmist.
And while the disciples were in the tempest-tossed boat on the
Lake Galilee, John pictures the depth of their distress in the
touching words, " And it was now dark, and Jesus was not come to
them,** ^
Friend after friend may depart into the silence of the grave, and
joy after joy of earth may vanish ; but if God is with us, all is well.
Whether as individuals or as a nation, we have no reason for despair
vfhiie God is manifestly on our side ; but if our sinfulness cause
Him to withdraw the tokens of His gracious presence, we may well
call ourselves " Ichabod — for the glory is departed."
Israel had lost a battle, and the high-priests had been slain ; but
these disasters were nothing compared with the humiliation of being
deprived of the symbol of Jehovah's presence — the Ark crowned with
the Mercy-Seat, whence the Divine glory often shone, and the voice
of the Heavenly Majesty was heard. In wrath, because of heinous
transgressions, had the earthly throne of the God of Israel been allowed
tQ fall into the hands of the enemies of His chosen people. The
Tabernacle was left desolate. The Lord turned away His face from
His disobedient children, leaving them in darkness ; while the Phil-
3C
73^ READINGS IN FIRST SAMU£L.
istinea carried off in triumph the trophy thej had won, to grace the
temple of their idol in Ashdod. They thought thus to honour the
image whioh they worshipped, as if it had helped them to obtain the
victory. Soon were they made to know that the God of Israel alone
was worthy to be feared.
On the first morning after the Sacred Vessel had been deposited in
Dagon's temple^ the image was found prostrate on its face before the
Ark of the Lord. The priests anew set up the idol whence it had
fallen, but on the following morning a greater indignity had occurred
to the insensate block. Not only was it lying flat before the Ark
again^ but its head and hands had been cut off, and were found on
the step at the entrance to the apartment. Only Dagon was left —
that is, the fishy part — for the idol was in the form of the fabled
creature the upper part of which is human and the lower a fish.
The historian adds that the priests of the idol were ever after careful
to avoid treading on the threshold of Dagon's temple. More rever-
ence far did they pay to the work of their own hands, than many
self-styled Christians do to the Maker of all.
The loss which Israel had suffered had been no gain so far to the
Philistines ; but worse calamities still befell them. Severe diseases
attacked the people of Ashdod, which they speedily traced to the
presence of the Ark of the God of Israel. Steps were immediately
taken to have it removed to Gath ; but no sooner had it been brought
thither than the epidemics which had prevailed at Ashdod broke out
with virulence. Soon, therefore, the Sacred Vessel was despatched to
£krou. There, too, its arrival was the signal for a fearful outbreak of
deadly and humiliating diseases. The city was in agony ; and it
would appear, withal, that the whole country was being devastated
at the same time with multitudes of mice, which ate up the crops
and threatened to produce a famine.
Why then did the Philistines keep the Ark so long 1 Why were
they so slow to learn ? It is not affliction by itself, but grace from
heaven which softens the heart and teaches it true wisdom. '* Though
thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet
will not his foolishness depart from him." Surely they had been
clearly taught the utter impotence of their idol-god. Surely they
ought by such providential judgments to have come to know that the
God of Israel alone is Governor among the nations, and Ruler in
heaven and earth. What could Dagon do, or what could his
worshippers do against Jehovah ? It was a poor god that could not
protect itself ; and those who trusted in such a contemptible thing
deserved to suffer for their wilful and perverse blindness.
Only when compelled by increasing distress did the authorities in
READINGS IN FIRST SAMUEL. 739
Philistia resolve to send home the Ark. They never thought of ab-
juring idol worship, and of submitting to that God who had shown
Himself a God indeed. Calling for their priests and fortuue-tellerS)
they inquired how they should get the Ark conveyed out of their /
country. The answer was a mixture of wisdom and folly. The
affictions that had fallen on the people too plainly proved that sin
had been committed ; and as an acknowledgment of transgression,
and a propitiation to secure the removal of its consequences, they ad-
vised that golden images of the morbid tumours caused by the chief
disease which had fallen on the nation, and of the mice which had
wrought such havoc in the fields, should be presented to IsraeFs God !
They further directed a new cart to be built, and two milk cows, un-
broken to the yoke, to be fastened thereto. The Ark was then to be
placed in the waggon, along with a casket containing the jewels of
gold. While the calves were to be shut up at Ekron, the kine were
to be started without a driver to direct them. If, in spite of the
calls of their offspring, the cows went straight away towards the land
of Israel, and rested not till they reached it, there would be manifest
evidence that the distress which had fallen on them had been sent by
Jehovah. If, however, the cows turned back, then their troubles
bad come on them merely by chance. Israel's God had had no hand
in them at all.
These priests of the Philistines appear to have been more ignorant
than even the common people. The instinct of the sufferers led
them to trace all their recent troubles to the presence of the Ark ;
but the priests were, with all their learning, still doubtful. Their
utterances remind one of the dying infidel's prayer: — "0 God, if
there be a Grod, save my soul, if I have a soul." They would test
God, as it were, like the Jews who demanded a sign from Christ be-
fore they would believe. Soon were they to have unmistakable
proof that aU power belongeth to Him whom Israel professed to
worship.
At home in Judea the Sacred Vessel could be properly removed
only when carried by its poles or staves on the shoulders of the
Levites, after being carefully covered with its cloth of blue by the
priests. Ignorance of this ordinance brought no fresh punishment
on the Philistines. The Ark and the jewels having been placed on
the cart, the milch kine set off immediately towards the land of
Israel, lowing as they went. They heard the cries of their calves*
which had been forcibly separated from them, and they answered
with their voices. If they could, they would have turned homewards,
but there was an unseen but all-powerful constraint on them which
they could not resist. Followed by the lords of the Philistines, who
740 READINGS IN FIRST SAMUEL.
were watching the result, the animals stopped not till they reached a
great stone in the territory of Israel near the town of Bethshemesh.
It was the time of wheat harvest, about the beginning or middle
of May — always a joyful season, but now made doubly joyful
because the Ark had been restored. Priests and Levites were
summoned. The Ark was lifted on to the great stone, and beside it
was placed the cofifer containing the golden offerings of Philistia. It
seemed, to the gladdened officers of God's house, as if the great stone
was speciaUy suited for an altar of sacrifice; and under a holy
impulse they presented thereon to the Lord the kine and the new
cart as a bumtoffering. Female oxen were not acceptable as burnt-
offering according to the Mosaic law. Why then were these accepted
now 1 Because God had consecrated that pair by the work fie had
permitted them to do. After cart and kine bad conveyed the earthly
throne of the King of kings, it was not seemly that they should
ever again be employed in meaner service.
Other sacrifices presented by the men of Bethshemesh followed ;
and the day was, at least for a time, one of unmingled happiness.
The lords of the Philistines, who had walked behind the cart like
servants, beheld from afar all that had occurred, and then returned
home. Convinced but not converted were they — convinced that the
God of Israel alone had smitten their idol and themselves — but still
resolved that they would not submit to the rule of Jehovah.
Before pursuing the narrative, let us here note that every creature
is under God's control. The milk cows must leave their offspring if
He commands, however clamant nature's instinct may be. It is a
blessed and cheering thought for every child of God, that no animal
on earth, no creature in the universe, can do otherwise than the
Great Creator directs or permits. Though hungry themselves, the
ravens must bring bread and flesh twice a day to Elijah, hidden
beside the brook CheritL The lions could not harm Daniel when he
was thrown into their den, for a Divine messenger had shut their
mouths. John Craig, a noble coadjutor of our own Knox in the work
of the Scottish Eeformation, was once wandering in Italy, after he
had escaped from the hands of Romish priests who would have
tortured him to death. Soon his money was spent, and he knew not
what to do. In his extremity a great dog appeared. He was in
terror lest he should be attacked by the brute ; but as it approached
nearer, he observed it carried something in its mouth. It proved to
be a large purse of money which it laid down at Mr. Craig's feet, and
then ran away. He accepted it as sent by the Lord, and was enabled
to escape at length to his native land.
A period of great joy is not seldom followed by a season of sin and
nv^
READINGS IN FIRST SAMUEL. 741
sorrow. The poor, foolish heart of man, becoming unduly elated, is
the more exposed to fall under temptation. Forgetting to watch and
pray, it stumbles rashly into evil courses, and then shame and punish*
ment necessarily follow. So it fell out at Bethshemesh. Under the
influence of improper familiarity and sinful curiofiity, a number of
the inhabitants looked into the Ark of the Lord. No one had a right
to see even its outside except the priests ; and to open it and gaze
within, as the Bethshemites did, betrayed an irreverence and un-
godliness calling for instant repression. Large numbers of the guilty
were struck dead. Dr. Young states that the original Hebrew says,
^'seventy men — fifty chief-men;" which, I presume, means that
seventy in aU fell dead, of whom fifty were persons of some position.
Sinful curiosity is ever succeeded by a suitable penalty. It was so >
with Eve. It was so with these Bethshemites. The inquisitiveuess
of the corrupt heart is continually leading men down into the depths
of Satan. " Fools rush in where angels fear to tread." They would
like to experience this and that forbidden pleasure. They taste, and
taste again of a sensual enjoyment, or indulge themselves in the
perusal of polluting literature ; and ere they are aware, they are
bound in chains which they cannot throw off, or plunged into misery
which their own folly has invited. Thus saith the Lord^ '^ Stand in
awe, and sin not.''
Great terror, because of the condign punishment of presumptuous
sin, prevailed among the Bethshemites. Awe-stricken, they cried,
"• Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God] and to whom shall
He go up from us 1 " Glad were they when the men of Eirjath-
jearim, at their request, removed the symbol of God's presence, and
placed it under the care of Abinadab who dwelt on a hill close beside
their town. His son Eleazar was set apart to keep the Ark of the
Lord, and there it abode for nearly seventy years. Why it was not
taken back to Shiloh where the Tabernacle was, we are not informed.
Perhaps there was no direct order from Heaven on the subject, and
both priests aud people might be afraid to take the responsibility on
themselves.
Twenty years passed by from the date when the Ark was brought
to Kirjath-jearim ; and it is said " the time was long, and all the
house of Israel lamented after the Lord." During the whole of this
period, the Philistines had been lording it over the Hebrews, exacting
tribute, and treating them as a conquered nation. No wonder the
time was felt to be long. The hours move on with leaden feet while
we are under suffering. When because of painful disease or other
severe tribulation, we are constrained to exclaim at night, " Would
Grod it were morning I " — and in the morning, " Would God it were
i
/
/
I
742 READII^GS IN FIRST SAMUEL.
evening ! " — minutes become hours, and hours are burdensome as dajs-
And the oppression under which the Israelites were now groaning
might well occasion the cry, " Hast Thou utterly rejected Judah t
and hath thy soul loathed Zion f "
The desire for help from Heaven was daily becoming more intense.
Samuel, as God's appointed minister, stood forth at length, and pro-
claimed that if the people would indeed turn from their idols, and
seek and serve the Lord with all their heart, He would speedily
deliver them. Repentance is not real unless with honest intentions
we discard all evil, and strive to obey God's commandments with all
the energy of our will. In response to Samuel's appeal, the Israelites
abandoned the worship of Baalim and Ashtaroth — idols representa-
tive of the sun and moon ; and declared their desire to serve Jehovah
only. Well it is for any individual or any nation when affiction
produces such a result.
The destruction of the idols having been completed, Samuel
summoned the people to Mizpeh, a few miles north of Jerusalem, to
engage in a season of fasting, humiliation, and prayer. Large
numbers assembled, and with contrite hearts confessed their sins*
Among other acts of worship, they drew water and poured it out before
the Lord. Perhaps they meant it as a symbol of their irrevocable
resolution to cleave henceforth to God alone ; for water spilt upon
the ground cannot be gathered up again.
Tidings of this great assembly were conveyed to their oppressors,
and they resolved to nip such a threatening demonstration in the bud.
With a formidable body of troops they marched towards Mizpeh, and
intelligence of their approach filled the children of Israel with terror.
'* Cease not/' they said to Samuel, '' cease not to cry unto the Lord
our God for us that He will save us."
Under the guidance of the Spirit, Samuel instantly presented a
sucking lamb as a whole burnt-offering unto the Lord. It was a
fitting type of Him of whom every sacrifice was an acted prophecy,
and who in the fulness of the time offered up Himself on our behalf.
While the smoke ascended from the altar, Samuel's prayer was borne
aloft on the wings of this pillar of cloud, and entered into the eara of
the God of Sabaoth. As the act of adoration and supplication was
thus proceeding, the Philistines drew near to smite the Israelites.
Hark ! what awful sound was that which instantly burst from the sky 1
It was the first peal of the dread artillery of heaven. On every side
of the attacking host lurid clouds gathered ominously. With roaring
thunders, and forked lightnings which mowed down their foes, God
answered the prayer of Israel. Hundreds were struck dead. In
terror the rest fled precipitate. Possessing themselves apparently
READINGS IN FIRST SAMUEL, 743
of the weapons of those already dead, the now emboldened Hebrews
pursued for miles and utterly discomfited their enemies. The over-
throw was complete. The Philistines were compelled to restore the
whole of the cities and territories which they had formerly seized ;
and during at least all the days of Samuel, they came not again into
the land of Israel.
On the field where the battle was won, a pillar was erected to
commemorate the event. The monument was fitly named Ehenezer^
that is, The Stone of Help, because, said Samuel, '* Hitherto hath the
Lord helped us." As we read in the first verse of the fourth chapter,
it was on this very spot, full twenty years before, that the Israelites
were utterly defeated. That old story — defeat at first and ultimate
victory — has been often repeated in a higher sphere since then.
Many a spiritual battle has been lost, in the unending conflict with
sin and Satan, because of transgressions permitted and unloathed j
but when, calling on the name of the Lord, the fight has been re-
newed with clean hands and honest hearts, the armies of the aliens
have been put to flight. Well may Satan tremble " when he sees
the weakest saint upon his knees."
Samuel was recognised as chief judge all the day» of his life.
Under his pious and efficient government peace prevailed ; and the
people, outwardly at least, gave heed to the Law of the Lord.
It was, as we have seen, only to Jehovah that Samuel and the
people cried in the hour of their distress, and their approach was
made with a whole burnt-offering. Let us ever follow their example.
No need now, however, to present lambs and bullocks, for the Lamb
of God has offered Himself in our behalf. "Having therefore,
brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
.... let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith."
•^ Call upon Me in the day of trouble," saith the Lord : " / tail/
deliver thee^ and thou shalt glorify Jifc" (Psalm 1. 15). Never during
all the ages has this promise been unfulfilled, and many a tribute of
thanksgiving has therefore been rendered to the Hearer and Answerer
of Prayer.
Let me present a simple modern example of coming by God's way,
and successfully seeking God's help in time of need : —
A working-man in Yorkshire, who loved and served his Saviour,
had been severely hurt by an accident, and was unable for some
months to win his family's daily bread. His poor wife did her best
to tide over the difficulty, but sore straits came at length. One day
she appeared at her husband's bedside in tears. "What is the
matter 1" said Jonathan ; "what is distressing thee 1 " "Why, the
children are crying for something to eat, and I have nothing to give
744 HEBREW PROPHECY.
them," was hia wife's reply. , " Hast thou faith in God 1 " asked
Jonathan. '^Dost thou believe in His providence and in His Word)
Has He not said that bread shall be given thee, and thy water shall
be sure ? Kneel down and pray to God. Tell Him how thy chil-
dren are circumstanced — that they have no bread, and that thou
hast nothing wherewith to buy it. I will also pray. Who can tell
what God may do 1 He heareth prayer."
In the name of Jesus, the suffering pair drew near to the Father.
They earnestly pleaded His promises, and cried for deliverance ; and
then they resolved patiently to wait the answer. Not long had they
to remain in suspense. A knock was heard at the door, and on its
being opened a stranger handed in a large loaf of bread. The
gladdened wife carried to her husband's bedside the treasure which
had come in answer to their petitions. '* Kneel down," said Jona-
than, '^ before you touch ii,y and let us together thank God for having
heard and so quickly answered our supplications." After prayer,
husband and wife and children feasted on the dry bread, with more
delight than rich men eat their dainties. Speedily, however, they
had additional occasion for gratitude, for a laige joint of meat was
brought them. When it was shown to the bedridden man, he said,
" Yes, wife, God is better than His Word. He promised bread, and
He sends flesh in addition. Kneel down, and let us thank Him
again."
For mercies received, and especially for answers to prayer, let us
never forget to erect an Eb^nezer of grateful praise. So shall we
glorify Him from whom cometh down every good and perfect gift.
HEBREW PROPHECY.
By the Rev. A. Aitken, Yester.
II.
In our former article on this subject we spoke of the Conditions of
Prophecy and of its Nature and Function. We proceed now to take
up in this latter connection the very important branch of Messianic
Prophecy. We note these features : —
1st. Its Unique Character, — Other nations of whose history we
have any knowledge dwell chiefly on the past, their Poets sing of the
days lying behind, there lies their Golden Age. The Hebrew Prophets,
on the other hand, uniformly throw their Golden Age forward ; they
are stirred more by the hopes of good days to come than by memories,
HEBREW PROPHECY. 745
however precious, of the past. Again, while other nations worshipped
the men who had founded their empires, the Jews, on the other
hand, centred their hearts and hopes, not so much on Moses the
founder of their nation, as on the Messiah to come — ^all eyes were
strained forward through the far-reaching mists and fixed on Him.
The nation's glory, it was believed, was to reach its climax in and
through Him. And so all Old Testament writings, from Genesis
onwfirds, are simply saturated with Messianfc ideas and hopes.
A second feature is its Progressive Character. At first those
Messianic predictions are vague and indefinite, but by-and-by, as the '
ages roll on, they become clearer and more definite, till, read in the
light of the Gospel, you can trace His actual history, written before-
hand, in those Prophetic pages. You have His pedigree, birth-place,
offices, and other traits, clearly marked. And, as the grand outcome
of the work and suffering of the Messiah, what glowing pictures rise
before the Prophets* eye ! — pictures of a people triumphing over
every foe — of a commonwealth of glory of which the Messiah is the
central figure. '
A third feature is its Consecutive Character, These Prophecies
are not to be regarded as disjointed, random utterances, but as con-
nected with each other and springing the one out of the other. It is
progress by development. There is a chain of unity running through
all. At first the prediction means that the Messiah is to be one of
our own race, of the seed 'of the woman. Then He is to be unlike any
other man — He is to be a blessing to the whole world. Then, again,
He is to be closely identified with one particular tribe — that of Judah.
By-and-by the particular family is indicated, and so on.
A fourth feature is their Historic Character. History gives them
occasion and also their peculiar colour. When the Assyrian dominion
is growing powerful, the Messiah is portrayed as the Conqueror
who is to come. In the days preceding the exile and during the
same when Prophet and people are suffering, the Messiah is thought of
as the suffering servant of the Lord — ^by His sufferings healing the
nation. * Then, after the exile, when the Jews are busy building the
Temple and devoting their thoughts to the worship in connection
therewith. He is portrayed as Priest and King-Priest. And finally,
when darkness is settling down — the deep darkness of unbelief and
idolatry, He is set forth as the Sun of Righteousness, who shall rise
above the mountain-tops with healing in His beams, scattering the
prevailing darkness.
Thus ** to Christ give all the PropJiets witness.^* He is their crown-
ing theme. He is the First and the Last — the Alpha and the Omega.
There is something grandly impressive in this gradual way in which
746 HEBREW PROPHECY.
God was preparing the world for His Son's advent. Princes had
their heralds. Jesus is no ordinary Prince ; He is Prince of Peace ;
He is heralded therefore in no ordinary way. Messenger after
messenger through the ages is sent to announce His coming with
growing clearness, till the voice of the last, in terms the most definite,
declares, *^ Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of
the world."
Against all this the objection is urged that we are in this way
reading Messianic jdeas into the Old Testament, that there is nothing
there but indefinite longings and hopes of perplexefd patriots, cheer-
ing their sad souls and those of the people around them, with faiiy
tales.
Christian men can, of course, meet this objection with the reply
that they are entitled so to read these prophetic utterances, for
Christ so read them, and likewise claimed their fulfilment in His per-
son and experience. " I know that the Messiah cometh," says the
Samaritan woman, *• which is called Christ ; when He is come He
will tell us all things." With what remarkable definiteness does
Jesus reply, *' I that speak unto thee am He." Then on the day of
the Resurrection twice over He laboured to prove the same thing
out of the Prophets and the Psalms, etc. " These are the words
which I spake unto you while I was yet with you, that all things
must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses and of the
Prophets and in the Psalms concerning A/c." And, moreover, Chris-
tian men can urge that this way of reading these Prophecies is cor-
roborated by the testimony of history. Throughout the whole Elastem
world the Messiah's advent was looked for, and at the very period
when he came, expectation had reached its highest.
Matthew Arnold does not deny the fulfilment of these prophecies
in Jesus, but considers it as arbitrary and unnatural and not war-
ranted either by a strict interpretation of the text or by any real
Divine purpose. He characterises it as " Happy audacity ! " and
" Lucty hits ! " Well, it seems to us that it was too lucky to be only
lucky. The key that fits in to a new and intricate lock, fits in by
design and by its very " ma^«." Jesus fits in to the whole complex
scheme of ancient prophecy. Could that have been accomplished
otherwise than by design, and on account of His peculiar mission I
Could mere good fortune do it 1 Strange that He who was so im-
fortunate in other respects happened, by the veriest chance, to be so
fortunate in this respect. Could " preconcerted measures" have done
it, as Lord Bolingbroke alleged ? It would have been the most re-
markable instance of plotting the world had ever witnessed. But
could scheming do iti Are these pure and lofty Messianic ideals
HEBREW PROPHECY. 747
within its reach ? We cannot hesitate to say, Nay. As the vapour
eludes our every grasp, so would these ideals fade away before the
grasp — before the spirit of the mere plotter. Nor could he fuse them
even though he was lucky enotigh to bring them within his reach —
as impossible as the fusing together of bodies the most heterogeneous.
And who was freer from mere cunning than Jesus? While false
messiahs and prophets pandered to the popular taste, He rose above
it — even crossed it when needful — and bowed His will to none but
His Father in Heaven, though it carried Him to Calvary. The
fact is that the alternative here set before us is that we believe either
in a miracle of vice or a miracle of grace. Which 1
In our mind these Old Testament Prophecies were as naturally
fulfilled in Jesus as when the bud and blossom pass into the fruit
stage. Naturally, yet necessarily, because there was the underlying
purpose of God seeking and effecting fulfilment. There may be
much that remains unfulfilled, much, too, perhaps, that could never
be fulfilled. But is not that in accordance with God's way of work-
ing as seen in nature 1 How much beautiful blossom nipped and
destroyed — but the vital ones fruit. How much, too, of what we
might call mere rhetorical bloom in connection with these Old Testa-
ment Prophecies the chill breath of time has nipped and blown away^
but the nmin thing is that their essential matter has received its
largest and fullest fulfilment in Christ.
III. The Value of Prophecy.
Has Prophecy evidential value? Formerly that was never
doubted. The argument was : The predictions of the prophets have
been verified, therefore their message must be divine. The tendency of
the present time is to belittle this form of the argument, and that be-
cause there have been heathen predictions (Vide, Dean Stanley's, " The
Jewish Church,** Vol i. p. 448,) that have received, as is alleged, as full
and as definite a fulfilment in history as the scriptural Prophecies. We
think the tendency is extreme, and that the very definiteness and
exactness of these Prophecies is their beauty, for if heathen prophecy
was specific, these surely greatly more so — so much more so that
another stamp is impressed on them, a higher, a diviner, differentiat-
ing them^ if not in kind, certainly in quality. And this feeling grows
when the argument is looked at in cumulo. The first point to note is
that the material condition of the people forming the subject of
prophecy was such as could not in itself give definiteness to the pre-
diction, but vagueness rather. Babylon, e.g,, was in her glory and
had every national advantage when Isaiah foretold that she would be
brought down to a state of emptiness and desolation. Tyre, again.
748 HEBREW PROPHECY.
wa§ the mart of natious when £zekiel foretold that soon she would
be but a bare rock on which a few poor fishermen might be seen
drying their nets. And yet while this is so we have not merely
definiteness, but we have these predictions assuming a diversified, yet
the most discriminating form. Tyre was to be forsaken. £gypt
was to be degiraded among the nations. Judah was to be dispersed.
Now when we see all fulfilled and precisely as predicted, though the
prophetic form is so varied and the history so chequered, one cannot
help feeling that mere sagacity has no place here, and that the claim
of the Bible is substantiated thereby. And the impression made by
the minute consideration of these points is deepened and the argu-
ment further corroborated when we consider this Qther feature of these
Old Testament Prophecies — viz., that they are not stray and isolated in-
stances of prognostication or of fortune-telling, which have fossilised
with the growth of time, as is the case witli heathen predictions, but
the living branches of a pure and living religious system that still
bears fruit though so old : indeed, more instinct with life and meaning
as the ages roll on, and reminding us with accumulating force that
God is and that He is righteous.
The weight of this argument is substantially increased when we
come to Messianic Pi-ophecy. Jesus Himself made use of the fulfil-
ment thereof for demonstrating His Messiahship and confirming the
faith of His wavering disciples, who experienced a tremendous shock
because of His death. And so did the apostles. And what they did
we surely may do with advantage.
When we see the roll of prophecy through the long centuries ever
contracting and narrowing till all concentrates in Jesus, we feel that
fresh point is given to the Baptist's exclamation, " Behold the Lamb of
God that taketh away the sin of the world." Here, again, compari-
son is profitable, for while the oracles of Delphi do not grow in wealth
of content, and cannot, with the advancing years — these Messianic
Prophecies have this as their peculiar feature that they grow fuller of
revelation and richer in meaning as the centuries increase, till they reach
their fulfilment and consummation in Jesus. And again, think how
ideals, apparently the most incompatible, became perfectly congruous in
Him. The saintly Jews of old were puzzled, when they turned to the
Scriptures, by what appeared to be a number of grave contradictions.
They could not understand, e. ^., how the Messiah was to be a great
Victor and at the same time the greatest Victim ; how He was to be
the Life-giver and yet Himself was to be bruised in death ; how He,
the Man of Sorrows, was at the same time to be the Giver of peace
and joy and hope. We can understand how incongruous all would
seem to a Jew who had not the New Testament to throw light on his
PSALMS AND HYMNS IN PUBUC WORSHIP. 749
page. We, on the other hand, by means of that light, flashed back^
wards and forwards^ can see all beautifully harmonized in Jesus — the
mystery, as many another, made luminous in and through Him.
Now, we cannot help feeling that in all that we have valuable evi-
dence that leavep an impress on our religion quite distinct from any
that has ever been left on other religions, and which, together with
other evidences still weightier, mark it off as a religion divine in its
origin. The force of this has been felt in quarters, too, that could
test itw The enlightened mind of Pascal bowed to the influence of
this argument, and a Rochester became a convert by a careful study
of the whole subject
Ordinarily, this line of argument may not compel belief, but it may
at least be employed for the confirmation of it. The oracles of Greece
and Rome were dangerous by their ambiguity or useless when under-
stood, but we have here " the more sure word of prophecy," which
will be a perennial source of confidence to the humble and candid
believer in every age of the world.
PSALMS AND HYMNS IN PUBLIC WORSHIP.
m
IL
(a paper bead at a young men's literary association.)
The Book of Psalms is a book with which every one, whose heart is
right, ought to be satisfied. But you will never please the people
with hymns. I was present at many of Mr. Moody's meetings on the
occasion of his first visit to Edinburgh, and I shall never forget the
sweet experiences I then enjoyed. But I fear much harm mingled with
the good done at that time. Public sentiment was so much against
hymns then, that I remember Mr. Moody had to enter into an explana-
tion one day. He tried to argue that the Psalms were like roast-beef,
and that we could not always be eating roast-beef. He pleaded for the
introduction of a few hymns as a variety, 1 have the book at home
which he introduced at that time. It is a very innocent^looking book
so far as size goes. It does not seem a very formidable rival to the
Psalms, but look to what it has grown ! Here is a copy which pur-
ports to be the latest edition. Look at it ! It contains the modest
number of 750 hymns I If Psalms are roast-beef, then I submit there
is too much champagne in this feast. The Free Church Hymnal
7 so PSALMS AND HYMNS IN PUBLIC WORSHIP.
contains 386 hymns (Dr. Candlisb, when hymns were first introduced,
assured the Assembly that twenty-fivt was the number they wanted).
The U.P. Hymn-book contains 366; Established Church of Scotland
442 ; Hymns Ancient and Modem 638. Let us make all due allow-
ance for the ssime hymns recurriug in different books. It must still
be evident to the most opaque that the enlarging and multiplication
of such hymn-books is utterly destructive of uniformity and un-
animity in worship. That leaves out of the question the probability
— or possibility— of poor people spending money in the purchase of
books that are in a great measure useless, or may very soon become
useless, in the praises of the sanctuary.
There appeared in a journal, recently, the following paragraph en-
titled, " The Best Hymns and Foolish Notions " : —
'* The lists of the 50 best hymns by American authors sent to the
' New York Obsei;ver ' by 700 competitors for the offered prize, in-
cluded a total of 1046. This fact leads Dr. Charles Robinson to re-
mark : — ' For a long while there has been a clamour for a Hymnal with
only 300 or 500 hymns. Does anybody suppose that such a thing
would satisfy everybody 1 Here over 1000 are named — all American,
Hence the collection of 500 persons would produce 10,000 hymns, and
then all the English and Scotch would have to be added. The variety
of wishes and tastes is passing strange and wonderful.' In the list sent
to our New York contemporary, Dr. Robinson finds prevalent an entire
forgetf ulness of the fact that a hymn is meant to be sung in public
worship. * I Would Not Live Alway * is placed high up on the list
though it is not a hymn at all, and Dr. Robinson mentions that its
venerable author tried more than once to withdraw the piece from
the hymnals, insisting that it was never fashioned for singing in pro-
miscuous assemblies."
Allow me briefly to advert to another point — the tendency of
hymns. The recent history of the hymn movement in Scotland and
elsewhere is sufficient to show that whenever a church passes the
boundary line between psalm singing exclusively, and the use of
hymns, a course of events ensues that may not be intended by the
agents, but follows most assuredly. Time will not admit of proof ;
but I would just ask you to remember that, in the last great hymn-
debate in the Free Church in which the late Dr. Begg took part, he
warned the leaders of the hymn party that organs would follow in
the wake of the hynms, and that other defections from purity of
worship would take place. His opponents pooh-poohed his silly fears.
But who was right ? Organs have been introduced into that Church,
not generally yet, but they have been adopted, and the desire for
them is steadily growing. Tho psalmody-book of that Church is
PSALMS AND HYMNS IN PUBLIC WORSHIP. 75
harmonised for the coming change. It is harmonised for the orgai
rather than for the human voice. It is a very strong case agains
the introductioD of hymns that they come into worship like the came
into the Arab's tent — the nose first ; then the head ; then the fore
feet ; and in the end the Arab is kicked out into the cold. Rea<
the preface of the " Free Church Psalmody " and you will see tha
it has been considered necessary by the committee to express a hop
that the Psalms will not be set aside for the use of hymns — an ind
cation that the camel has got pretty well in there. There is no dii
tinct boundary line between order and uniformity on the one hand
and chaos and error on the other, so well marked and defensible a
that which separates Psalms from hymtis. The exclusive use of th
Psalms in public worship is safe. The use of hymns may become a grea
danger, as a means of propagating error, of making existing difference
of creed more pronounced, and thereby hindering union ; of leadin
to forgetfulness or neglect of great and useful and sometimes essentia
doctrines ; of leading to ritualism, and thereby destroying the Ne^
Testament ideal of worship ; or, of degrading religious meetings t
the level of bare-faced entertainments. •
An objection often urged against the Psalms is : — " We do not se
Christ in the Psalms.'' The name of Jesus may not be reiterated i
the Psalms with such frequency as to lead men to convince themselv^
that their hearts feel what their heads understand and their lips repea
The spiritually blind will not see Jesus anywhere. By the spiritual ej
Jesus maybe clearly and gloriously discerned where the natural eye ma
not see His name. That Jesus may be seen in the Psalms is atteste
by the Apostles in theii^epistLes, by Jesus Himself in the course of
threescore furloug walk as He talked with the disciples of Emmau
and when He mysteriously appeared in the midst of His disciples an
said : — " These are the words which I spake unto you while I was yi
with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in tl
law of Moses, in the Prophets, and in the Psalms concerning Me
God is not seen in the world around us. His name is not blazoned c
His works in large capitals. Yet He is the life and essence, at
source of all. The name of Jesus is not seen in the Psalms, but £
is their author, their theme, their glory. Where is the human hyn,
that makes known to us the thoughts and feelings of the Saviour <
men as He hung His head upon the accursed tree of shame ? It
no human hymn, but an inspired Psalm, so full of pathos that
thrills one's being to its depths to hear its cry : —
My God, my God, why hast Thou me
Forsaken ? why so far
752 PSALMS AND HYMNS IN PUBLIC WORSHIP.
Art Thou from helping me^ and from
My words that roaring are ?
All day, my God, to Thee I cry.
Yet am not heard by Thee ;
And in the season of the night
I cannot silent be.
All that me see laugh me to scorn,
Shoot out the lip do they ;
They nod and shake their heads at me.
And, mocking, thus do say :
This man did trust in God that He
Would free him by His might ;
Let Him deliver him, sith he
Had in Him such delight.
Like water I'm poured out, my bones
All out of joint do part ;
Amidst my bowels, as the wax.
So melted is my heart.
My strength is like a potsherd dry'd,
My tongue it cleaveth fast
Unto my jaws ; and to the dust
Of death Thou brought me hast.
I all my bones may tell ; they do
Upon me look and stare.
Upon my vesture lots they cast
And clothes among them share.
Bat be not far, 0 Lord, my Strength,
Haste to give help to me,
From sword my soul, from power of dogs,
My darling, set Thou free.
It may be taken note of as a subject w6rth inquiring into and
deciding in your leisure time, how far this outcry for hymns, con-
taining special and frequent reference to the work of Christ, is the
outcome of an erroneous conception of God's relation to men. Is
it not to be feared that it arises from a belief that Christ so loved
the world that He endured the Father's wrath, in preference to the
belief that *' God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have
everlasting Life " ]
Another objection frequently put forth against the Psalms is this :
" The Psalms breathe a different spirit from that which ought to
characterise the Christian Church. They were written by men of
another time, when war and blood and a spirit of revenge prevailed.
Look at David. What a bloody man he was. Listen to his lan-
guage— ; " and then they repeat to you the cursing Psalms, as they
call them. ** In these New Testament times we ought to breathe
forth gratitude, love and devotion^ and we need hymns as an expres-
PSALMS AND HVMNS IN PUBLIC WORSHIP. 753
sion of a sentiment we do not find represented in the Psalms — a
spirit of love and ohanty. The Psalms were all good in their own
way, and men in olden times may have thought it proper to express
such thoughts as these, but surely no follower of Jesus could ever
allow himself to utter such awful sentiments." To this it may be
replied, ''I have already explained to you that I believe, and my
belief is founded on good testimony, that the Psalms were meant
for all time. If your objection means that I may not, in a revenge-
ful and bitter spirit, pray to God that a certain man, whom I know to
be my enemy, may meet with disaster, famine, loss, or beggary, I
endorse your opinion ; but you have misread the Psalms if that is
your reading of them. That would, indeed, be a spirit worthy of
severest condemnation and reprobation. What I read in the Psalms
— what I sing — is not in any sense a contradiction of what I see
in the world around me, what history teaches me, as the outcome
and manifestation of God's providential dealings — the just retribution
of God ou guilty men. Your hymn books, as is most natural, since this
is one of your objections to the Psalms, do not sing much of retribu-
tion or of judgment, and therein they reflect the sentiment of our time.
Therein they are imperfect. The doctrines of judgment and retribu-
tion are so foreign to prevailing sentiment that it is not a matter of
wonder that the Psalms are rejected, and that hymns are adopted which
emphasize God's general benevolence and mercy, and the Saviour's grace
and condescension. From that dark hour when, with wandering steps
and slow, our first parents took their solitary way from Eden, to that
momentous hour when the Saviour of the world hung in agony upon
the Cross, and in the extremity of His anguish gave vent to the bitter
cry, ' Eloi ! £loi I lama sabachthani ? ' there rise before me scenes
to which I cannot close my eyes — a world drowned by a flood, cities
burned with fire and brimstone, dogs licking a murderer's blood ; and
I hear voices to which I cannot turn a deaf ear : — * Because I have
called, and ye refused, because I stretched out my hands and no man
regarded, I will laugh at your calamity, I will mock when your fear
cometh.' ' Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared
for the devil and his angels.' ' And as the hand of inspiration slightly
draws aside the veil that divides the present from the eternal future,
I see a mighty city in ruins and in smoke. Standing far ofl* are the
princes and great ones of the earth, weeping and saying, * Alas !
alas ! that great city, for in one hour is such desolation come upon
her.' And while her smoke ascendeth for ever and ever, I hear
above the noise of the conflagration and the weeping a mighty shout
of praise in Heaven, ' Alleluia, Alleluia ! ' and in that song I am
not entitled to join as one who imwillingly acquiesces in what he
3D
754 PSALMS AND HYMNS IN PUBLIC WORSHIP.
disapproves — or to print it in small italics that I may sing it softly —
but as one who rejoices and is glad in the overthrow and destruction
of wicked and obdurate men."
" Then, you know, the metrical version of the Psalms you sing is
so archaic."* Archaic! did you sayl If the hills are archaic, cor
Psalms are archaic. Pardon me. We are not without a little senti-
ment of our own. We do not altogether despise what is old. We
do not make antiquity a reason for contempt. Oh, archaeologist,
who Pickwick-like wilt weep over the discovery of an old Roman
rusty bowl ; oh, young man, whose glory it is to have achieved dis-
tinction in the study of early Saxon; oh, young woman, whose
tongue becomes most eloquent over, and whose delicate fingers toy
lovingly with, a piece of antique lace, provided it be old enough and
dirty enough to stir your emotional nature ; oh, old woman, whose face
is lighted up with a mysterious pleasure as you take from an old corner
press your grandmother's cracked china, of the willow-pattern — will
you not grant unto us that we may cherish a little sentiment of our
own? Yours are at best harmless foibles. Ours is a sentiment connected
with what is grand, and good, and edifying. Our rhymes may be un-
couth and the words not altogether modem here and there, but we
love them. As we sing them our memories wander back to other
days and circles of friends now broken. We hear again in fancy's
ear the voices of loved ones who were wont to join with us — ^not
skilfully it may be, but earnestly aud with heavenward thoughts —
and we would not part with them.
And our sentiment is a patriotic one. How much of our country's
remote and recent past is intimately connected with the Psalms of
David ! They are inwoven with our domestic and national life : —
The cheerfu* supper duno, wi* seriouB face
They round the ingle form a circle wide ;
The sire turns o*er wi' patriArchal grace
The big Ha' Bible, ance his faither's pride.
HiR bonnet rev'rently is laid aside.
His lyart haffets wearin' thin and bare ;
Those strains that once did sweet in Zion glide,
He wales a portion wi* judicious care,
And ** Let us worship God," he says wi' aolemn air.
* It may be well to mention that our metrical version of the Psalms is not a
rendering of our prose version into metre, as many suppose it to be, but, as its
title-pago indicates, an independent translation directly from the Hebrew,
and a translation which competent authorities consider to be in some respects
superior to our prose rendering. Where there. is an apparent absence of
smoothness in the versification or arrangement of words, it in many cases
arises from a laudable desire to give faithful expression to the original
meaning.
r-^:
PSALMS AND HYMNS IN PUBLIC WORSHIP. 755
They chant their artless notes in simple gaiBe»
They tune their hearts^ by far the noblest aim ;
Perhaps Dundee's wild, warbling measures rise,
Or plaintive Martyrs*, worthy o' the name,
Or noble Elgin beets the heavenward flame,
The sweetest far o' Scotia's holy lays.
Or, again, in the touching address to the Rowan Tree : —
Oh ! there arose my father's prayer
In holy evening's calm,
How sweet was then my mother's voice
In the Martyrs* psalm. •
Now a* are gane t we'll meet nae mair
Aneath the rowan tree ;
But hallowed thoughts around thee twine
0* hame and infancy,
O ! rowan tree.
It may suit the purposes of the novelist^ in pandering to a circle of
readers who mistake profanity for wit, and irreverence for freedom of
thought, to quote for purposes of ridicule,
' '* I like an owl in desert am,'* &c.;
or to render ludicrous by reason of some descriptive contextual
matter that has issued from the distorted imagination of a man
whose fancy never wings its way into any other region than that of
caricature, the words,
" Moab's my washing-pot.'
My friends, let me whisper in your ear that if literature of that
nature is to weigh with you in your choice of hymns in preference
to Psalms, I could summon forth from the hymn-books in general
use, such a crowd of quotations capable of similar treatment — such a
crowd of rart% aves — as would lead that owl of the desert to fly away
affrighted, or cause it to appear in your eyes and estimation as a
bird of Paradise in comparison. My purpose is different. I have
more respect for hymns than to treat them in this way. I believe
they have done great and good work in the conversion, edifica-
tion, and sauctification of men and women ; and I do hope that
what I have said will not be misunderstood, as implying anything
more than an anxiety that hymns should not be allowed to usurp the
place that properly belongs to the Psalms.
I intended to refer to some other important points, Ruoh as the
following — the argument based on the passage "Psalms, hymns
and spiritual songs " ; the plea of hymns for children, and its
dangers ; the Book of Psahns an organic whole, contrasted with
books of hymns as disproportionate compilations ; the question of
756 PSALMS AND HYMNS IN PUBLIC WORSHIP.
morality involved in the appropriation of hymns after materially
changing their original meaning ; the wrauglings that have taken
place in the selection of suitable hymns, as described by the men who
havd engaged in the work; and to advert more fiilly to the
glorious history of the Book of Psalms. Bat these and other in-
quiries must be left to yourselves. I must stop. My purpose will
be amply served if I lead you to take an intelligent interest in
this subject. You may persuade yourself of the great value of the
Book of Psalms by reading all the commentaries on them that you
can lay your hands on. Dr. Ker, in his beautiful preface to his
book,* says : "It would not be easy to number up the commentaries
on the Book of Psalms. Calmet, in the early part of last century,
reckoned them at about a thousand, and from his time to Mr.
Spurgeon's * Treasury of the House of David,' they have largely in-
creased." Then, that you may give justice to the subject, read all
the commentaries on the hymn-books you can secure. Let me know
when you do find one. You may find histories of hymns and hymn-
books, of authors and compilers — but these ai*e not commentaries,
and it is commentaries I ask you for.
It is riot long since I stood by the arm-chair of one who had lived
well nigh a hundred years, who had been all her life-long cheered in
sorrow, sustained in trial, and aided in devotion by the Psalms of
David, and who, in old age, when sight had failed, refreshed her
spirit by repeating them in her solitude. One asked her whether
she thought there was anything wrong in singing hymns, and if she
would not like to hear and join in singing one. A playful light
crossed her sallow, wrinkled face, and a suggestion of a twinkle
appeared in her dim eye as she leant forward to the questioner and said
in a whisper, as if it were a secret she was about to reveal, " Ay, I'm
gaun to begin the hymns — when Vve feenished the FsalTns"
Tradition has it that there was a time — in the history of our
country and of other lands, where the people of God were killed or
scattered by persecution — when the peasants were wont to gather
stealthily by the ruins of their earthly Zions that they might hear in
the stillness of the evening's calm, the echoes of Psalms that had
been sung there in days long since gone by. It was only a fancy,
but it was a superstition that arose from, and also strengthened
belief in a glorious truth — that it is the spirit of the Psalms that
leads men to martyrdom, and that though men may die and their
works decay, the Psalms will live on. '* The world and the fashion
thereof passeth away, but the word of the Lord enduretk for ever."
* '* The Psalms in History and Biography."
ORDINATION CHARGE. 757
AN ORDINATION CHARGE.
Dblivbbed at Midlem, March, 1890.
My Dear Brother, — By the solemn Preabyterial act of which you
have now been the subject, you have reached the full status of an
ordained tQiuister of Christ, and are henceforth entitled to discharge
all parts of your high and holy ofl&ce. To this day and hour you
have no doubt long looked forward with pleased, though anxious,
anticipation ; and now as the Lord has granted you the desire of
your heart, and placed you over a people worthy of yovir best
endeavours, may your ministry among them be " a sweet savour of
Christ," and an abiding joy to yourself and them.
It is a time-honoured custom and one that is sanctioned by the
Word of God, for the newly-ordained minister to receive some
a ppropriate counsels as he enters on his life-work. And in consequence
of my former connexion with this congregation, and the likelihood of
my knowing somethiug of the special needs of this locality, your Pres-
bytery have asked me to deliver the usual address. In proceeding to
do so, and to sketch my ideal of " a good Minister of Jesus Christ,"
you are not to suppose that I claim to have reached that ideal, or
that I expect you to reach it all at once. We learn much by our
mistakes ; and when we are humble and docile, past failure is an aid
to future success. But from the start it is well to set before our
minds a high ideal, and never to be satisfied without strenuous
endeavours to realise it. As one has quaintly said, '* The man that
aims his arrows at the sun, is likely to strike the jtopmost bough of a
neighbouring tree." The better we long to be, and the harder we
strive to be it, the better we shall become by God's rich grace — the
holier in heart, the stronger and clearer in intellect, the more sym-
pathetic and Self-denying in spirit, the more active and industrious
in habits of life — in short, the more conformed to Him who is Pattern-
man and Pattern-minister, our Lord Jesus Christ.
To give a measure of order and coherency to the remarks I am
about to make, I shall speak of the minister of Christ first and chiefly
in his capacity as a Christian, or with reference to his personal
relation to God, since that, though private, exercises a subtle and
potent influence on his whole public life and work. Then I shall sp>eak
more briefly on the minister's duty as a student, a preacher of the
gospel, and a pastor.
I. Let me address you as a Christian,
In the ministry of the Word more depends on what a man is than
on what he says. Character counts for more than eloquence. Un-
less there is an organic adaptation to the work, through the
75 8 ORDINATION CHARGE.
renewing of the heart and the constant indwellhig of the Spirit of
God, the most strenuous efforts will come to nothing. Sooner will
a blind man become proficient in the art of painting, or a lame man
become an adept at all athletic sports, than a minister destitute of
the grace of God accomplish satisfactorily the duties of his sacred
office. We must ourselves be saved if we would hope to be the means
of saving others. The vessels into which God puts the heavenly
treasure, though earthen, must be clean. They must be washed
with the washing of regeneration and cleansed by the ^* blood of
sprinkling." An unclean vessel pollutes the purest water, and those
must be thirsty indeed who would care to drink from it. A Christ-
less minister misrepresents his Master, and raises a prejudice against
the truth, however ably he advocates it. And better for you and
me, my brother, better ten thousand times, that we break stones
by the roadside all our days than dare to mount a pulpit and speak
of a Saviour we do not know, and of truths whose power and sweet-
ness we have never felt. In other spheres of life a man may be quite
efficient without personal piety. He may exercise successfully the
profession of a lawyer or of a physician and be eminently useful in
either. He may be an excellent farmer, or shepherd, or mechanic,
because moral qualities are not essential to such occupations, though
much to be desired in all. But without grace in the heart no man
can possibly be a true minister of Christ — ^he wants the first and
main essential.
But the minister must not only be a living^ he should be a livelt/
Christian — with grace in strong and vigorous exercise — a man ftUl of
faith and of the Holy Ghost. And if you would be this, dear brother,
you must give earnest attention to the duties of secret religion. A
considerable portion of every day should be devoted to direct com-
munion with God in prayer and Bible-study and honest self-scrutiny.
Your closet should be the most frequented room of your house. And
whatever other engagements you find it necessary to make and keep,
forget not your daily tryst with God. Time spent in this way is not
lost. It is truly and most wisely husbanded. You will find it not
only like the sharpening of the sickle, which makes your work easier
and more effective, but also like gathering stores of seed-corn,
which you can scatter freely on every field. To have power with
men you must have power with God. To grow outward you must
grow inward. To grow upward you must grow downward. What a
beautiful sight it is in the bright summer or autumn weather, when
you go into yom* garden and see the fruit-trees rich with foliage and
brilliant with blossom, or laden with golden fruit ! But all that
wealth of beauty could have never been but for the silent, ceaseless
ORDINATION CHARGE. . 759
processeii carried on by the stem and roots all out of sight. And so,
dear brother, if your character is to flower into loveliness and ^ur
ministry to be ricii in fruit, your soul must be continually nourished
by the " hidden manna " and watered by the secret springs of fellow-
ship with God. All the greatest achievements in science and literature
and art have beeti made by men who had a passion for solitude, and
none of the mighties in the Christian host have failed to imitate their
Great Captain, who while on earth frequently retired to the mountain-
top for secret communion with His Father, and who " trode the wine-
press alone."
When Paul gave directions to a youthful preacher, the Spirit that
inspired him meant them for all preachers in similar circumstances.
And this is the counsel he gave to Timothy : ^' Take heed unto tht/sdf
and unto the doctrine." '* Thyself," that is the first requisite to true
and lasting efficiency, even "the doctrine," the subject-matter of your
teaching, however important in itself, is only second to that. Keep
the vineyard of your own heart with wise and sedulous care, else all
your teaching of others is likely to be labour lost.
** Thou must 'be true thyself,
If thou the truth wouldst teach ;
• Thy soul must overflow if thou
Another's soul wouldst reach ;
It needs the overflow of heart
To give the lips full speech. "
Blaze yourself if you would set others on fire. Shine yourself if
you would have your people rejoice in your light. Live continually
in the spirit of prayer, and remember Luther's excellent maxim,
" Bene or&sse est bene studuisse." Beware of turning your Bible into
a mere hunting-ground for texts. Bead it with personal application
and for spiritual profit, and dread the danger of losing your own soul
in the attempt to sdve others. It was to preachers of the Gospel our
Great Master first said, "Watch and pray that ye enter not into
temptation." We have temptations to sins of various kinds in
common with our fellow-men. We have temptations to other sins
peculiar to our personal character and official position. We may ex-
pect to be more assailed by Satan than others, as the tree that grows
on the bare height is more exposed to the blast than those that nestle
in the lowly valley. Therefore the wise words of the wisest of the
sons of men are ever to be remembered by us, " Keep thy heart with
all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life." A good and able
man who had preached the Gospel for more than forty years declared
publicly that he was continually haunted by the fear lest he should
fall into some grievous sin by which he would stain his own soul,
injure the cause of religion, and weaken the testimony of his whole
past life and ministry. And one of the greatest of the Christian
76o , ORDINATION CHARGE.
Fathers, if I remember rightly, is credited with the remark that irben
he thought of a minister's duties and temptations, it was a wonder to
him that any minister should be saved. Such humility and self-dis-
trust are often the means that Qod employs to keep His servants
watchful and pure. '* Let us therefore fear lest a promise being left
us of entering into His rest any of you should seem to come short of
it." "Avoid the very appearance of evil." "And thou,0 man of God, flee
from whatever is sinful, and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith,
love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on
eternal life. Continue in these things, for in doing this thou shalt
save both thyself and them that hear thee."
Learning, talent, eloquence, genius, all are welcome in the Christian
pulpit, and many a time, we are thankful to say, all have been laid
on the altar of Christian service. But if we were forced to choose be-
tween these and a living, thriving, fervent piety, we would make our
choice without a moment's hesitation. Gifts without gt*ace are the
bane of the churches, the sport of the world, the laughing-stock of
devils. But the meanest talents purged and sublimated by the Spirit
of God may accomplish wonders. It has ever been God's way to
employ " the weak things of the world to confound the things that
are mighty." David's sling and stone have brought down many a
giant. Peter's homely Galilean speech pierced the hearts of
thousands. A single monk shook the world. It has been said
that a common candle, when fired from a rifle, will pass through a
door. The penetrating power is not in the candle, but in the force
impelling it. Of himself the ablest can do nothing. God with the
weakest can do all things. Hence it has been often seen that the
holiest men with the slenderest mental equipment have succeeded
where others far more talented have failed. David Brainerd, the
devoted missionary to the Red Indians of America, speaks of " the
gracious state of a minister's heart as wonderfully assisting him to
come at the consciences of men, and, as it were, to handle them."
The Scottish worthy, John Livingston, whom God greatly honoured
at the Kirk of Shotts, and who lived and laboured for many years in
a parish not far from where we are now assembled, speaks of a some-
thing in preaching that with a sweet violence pierceth into the heart
and affections and makes the hearer feel as if the word came im-
mediately from the Lord. And he adds, " If there is any way to
attain to any such thing, it is by the heavenly dis^xmtion of tJu
BpeaJcer'^ The ministry of Robert M*Cheyno of Dundee owed much
of its power to the aroma of saintliness he carried about with him
everywhere, and which impressed all with whom he came into con-
tact. ''He walked with God in truth and equity." His life and
ORDINATION CHARGE. 761
ministry caught their odour and complexion from his heavenly com-
panionship. ^^And he did turn many away from iniquity/' You
wish, I am sure, to emulate such men in their usefulness. You see
then the secret of their strength. Be filled with the Spirit Aim at
universal holiness. You have entered on a holy calling. You serve
a holy God. Ere long you shall have to stand before a holy Throne.
Listen, therefore, to your Master when He says, " Be ye holy, for I
am holy."
II. Let me address you next as a student.
In ordinary language jour student days have come to an end. But
I am sure you will not think so, so long as you find this two-fold ex-
hortation in your book of inspired directions, *' Give thyself to read-
ing," and '' Meditate on these things." Reding and study are an
important part of every minister's work, and he who has ceased to do
either, or who does them carelessly, should cease to preach. The best
furnished mind stands constantly in need of being replenished. Let
the wealthiest of men be continually giving away without adding to
their gains, and they will inevitably become poor. Let the farmer
continue to crop his fields for a series of years without dealing
generously with the soil, and in the end he will reap a miserable
harvest. Let the fire burn brightly in the grate for a while without
fuel being added to it, and it will go out in smoke and ashes. And
so the minister giving out his thoughts from week to week
will greatly need to repair this constant waste by diligent and
systematic study. I mean, not only that he should read and
borrow the thoughts of others (which is quite legitimate, provided he
passes them through his own mint, and puts his own image and
superscription on them), but also for the purpose of rousing his own
mind to action and suggesting to him trains of thought that other-
wise would never have occurred. We have all seen a person driving
the handle of a force-pump with great vigour and to no purpose, until
a little water was poured into the cylinder, and then it gave forth a
copious supply. We may ply our mental powers in vain at times,
imtil a thought or two from another's mind make our own minds pro-
ductive.
And I need hardly say that the Word of God is ever to be your
great Text-book. As it must always hold the place of honour among
your books of devotion, so it will furnish the largest scope for fruitful
study and persevering investigation. Read a portion of it every day
in the original tongues. Read it with all the helps to a full under-
standing of it that lie within your reach. Despise not commentaries,
but refuse to be a slave to them. Depend most largely upon your
own personal study, accompanied, as it should ever be, with unceasing
7^2 ORDINATION CHARGE.
prayer for the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Dig ever
deeper into these unfathomable mines, and you will not fail to strike
new veins of golden ore. Dive ever farther into these crystal caverns,
and you will find still larger and purer pearls. " Search the Scrip-
tures," literally ** Ransack the Scriptures," are the Master's words,
and it will be long ere you exhaust the fulness of meaning contained
in that expression.
But while the Bible must ever hold the chief place in your studies,
there are many other subjects which you will find helpful in your
work — from the )X)nderous theological volume down to the daily or
weekly newspaper. Bead voraciously, read discriminatingly, and try
to carry something away with you from everything you read. For
this purpose it will be well to read generally with a pen in your
hand, jotting down in your note-book what strikes you at the time.
And thus I doubt not you will succeed in making your sermons
fresh and interesting. The wisest of ancient teachers sends his
readers to the ant for instruction, and the simplest and sweetest of
modern singers bids us copy the diligence of the bee. Be always
gathering, and where others may find the poison of error, be it yours
to bear away only the honey of truth.
More particularly I might advise you all through your ministry to
take a course of systematic theology, and not only to read the books,
but to master them. History, both ecclesiastical and secular, is a
study of fascinating interest, and abounds in lessons of practical value
and in illustrations of moral and spiritual truth. Biographies like
those of F^ward Payson and Robert Murray M*Cheyne might pro-
fitably be read once a year at least. Mental and moral philosophy,
and such natural sciences as Botany and Natural History are all
fitted to be eminently serviceable in the pulpit and the Bible class.
But I would conclude this section of my address, and summarise
my counsel in this connection by strongly recommending to your
perusal these three priceless volumes — the Book of Nature, the Book
of Human Nature, and the Holy Scriptures. For the study of the
first — the Book of Nature — I know of none more favourably situated
than you will be in this quiet rural village on these fafir southern
uplands. For the study of the second — the Book of Human Nature —
you will have yourself and your neighbours always at hand. And
the man who is well acquainted with himself knows a good deal of
every other man. And for the study of the third — the Holy Scrip-
tures— you will at least have more leisure than the most of your
brethren in the ministry. And that leisure well employed will make
you a scribe instructed unto the Kingdom of God, and like the wise
" householder that bringeth forth out of his treasury things new and
old." May the Holy Spirit sanctify and prosper all your studies !
:^(
\
ORDINATION CHARGE. 763
Iir. Let me in the next place address you as a jtrecLcher,
All your preparatory studies up to the present time have had for
their chief object and highest aim your better equipment for the task
of preaching the everlasting gospel. And all your subsequent
studies will be pursued by yourself with a view to the same great
end. What you are by nature, what you may have become by grace,
what you hope to be by diligent application and growing experience,
all are in order to your being " an able minister of the New Testament.**
Now preaching is the leading part of your ministry. The, administra-
tion of the sacraments is inferior to that We are preachers, not
priests ; and every one of those that have been called and qualified
by the Holy Spirit may say with Paul, ** Christ sent me not to
baptise but to preach the gospel." And these are the terms in which
our commission runs, "Go ye unto all the world and pi^each the
gospel to every creature" " Preach the word ; be instant in season, out
of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine.'*
Deliver your message wherever you find an open door. Deliver it
faithfully whether men like it or not. Deliver the whole of it, though
some parts may be painful to yourself. " Shun not to declare the
whole counsel of God," and see that your hands are clean of the blood
of souls. Seek not to please your hearers but to profit them, and
in doing the one you will most effectually accomplish the other.
With regard to the matter of your preaching, allow me to emphasise
one counsel. ** Preach Christ " publicly and from house to house. Let
Christ be your first and favourite theme. For that you have the
example of all the apostles and of all the apostolic preachers in every
age. When Paul was about to visit the rich and cultured and
luxurious Corinth, the commercial capital of Greece, he formed this
sublime determination : — " I determined not to know anything
among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified." And again he
writes, " We preach not ourselves but Christ Jesus the Lord.*'
Not only will the name of Christ be often mentioned by you, but
He will be of the essence of every discourse. You will frequently
take opportunities of preaching directly on Him, as that is the theme
the Spirit delights to employ in enlightening darkened souls, in
cheering sorrowful hearts, and in promoting the work of grace in all
believers. Christ in the glorious constitution of His Person, as the
divine-and human Redeemer, Christ in His mediatorial offices as
Prophet, Priest and King, Christ in His endearing relations as
Husband and Brother and Friend, Christ in His peerless character,
and meek and lowly spirit, Christ in His works of power and com-
passion, and His words of grace and truth, these will ever be your
chief and choicest themes.
764 ORDINATION CHARGE.
And even when you do not preach on Him directly. His all-
pervading presence will brighten every discourse. Every sermon
will have Christ in the heart of it^ giving it life and warmth and
power. Every doctrine you discuss, and every duty you enforce
will point to Him as the rays of light to the sun in the heavens.
If you treat of history, you will show Christ's hand in it, controlling
every agent, and guiding every movement to the accomplishment of
His wise and holy purposes. If you handle the writings of the
prophets, you will show that *' the testimony of Jesus is the spirit
of prophecy." If you set forth sin in the light of God*s law, you will
not fail to exhibit Christ as the end of the law for righteousness to
every one that believeth. If your theme is the corruption of the
heart and the pollution of the life, that will lead you to speak of the
power of Christ's omnipotent grace who is made of God unto us
'"Sanctification." If you are urging your hearers to a cheerful
obedience to the divine commandments, you will show that the love
of Christ is our master-motive, and the life of Christ our perfect
model. If you are describing the terrors of death and judgment and
eternity, you will call upon impenitent sinners to " flee from the wrath
to come " by fleeing into the arms of Christ. And if you try to
depict the joys and glories of the heavenly land, you will show that
to be in heaven is to be with Christ, " For the Lamb is the light
thereof." And you will never cease to speak of Jesus as the surety
and substitute of all His people, and to give a place of special
prominence to the great and central doctrine of our Lord's atoning
death. Many in our day may ignore that truth or try to explain it
away. Others may scoff at it, and describe the system of which it is
the core, as " the theology of the shambles." But like the great
apostle, let it continue to be all your boast. " Grod forbid that I
should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ."
And then as to the manner and spirit in which you should preach
Christ, permit me to impress upon you the extreme importance of
simplicity in method and style. Be as profound in thought, as
vigorous in language, and as forcible in argument as you can ; but
always try to make your meaning so plain that none of your audience
can misunderstand you. We have all heard how Archbishop Tillotson
before preaching his sermon was wont to read it to a poor and
illiterate woman, and when he had used a word she did not under-
stand, he replaced it by another and simpler one easily understood.
One of the great masters of the English tongue used to give this
somewhat hard advice to youthful writers : — " When you think you
have written a particularly fine sentence, sit down and draw your
pen through it." In preaching, at any rate, there is reason to fear
ORDINATION CHARGE. 765
that it is often the fine sentences that spoil the spiritual effect.
They draw attention to themselves and make the truth pointless.
The hest style is that which is so clear that you are never tempted
to think of it any more than you do of the common glass in a window
when you are looking out upon a landscape. A florid style is like
painted glass. It intercepts the light and fixes the eye of the
spectator on itself. " Preach a crucified Christ in a crucified style,"
and for your encouragement remember that the most powerful and
popular preacher of our day is characterised by simplicity of method,
and a clear vigorous Saxon style.
Further, let me exhort you to make your preaching seardang.
Use the piercing sword as well as the soothing cordial. Ply the
hammer lustily as well as the healing balm. ^' Is not my word like
a fire, saith the Lord, and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in
pieces 1 " Discriminate between classes among your hearers. Bo you
address them as if they all belonged to one class, and that the people
of God, as dome ministers are said to do. Do you be satisfied even
with dividing them into the two classes of saints and sinners ; for iu
that case some weak believer will be sure to place himself in the
wrong class, while ignorant or presumptuous sinners will count them-
selves among the saints. Divide and sub-divide, if I may so speak.
Shew from the Word of God that men may have many excellencies
and yet be destitute of saving faith — that they may live all their
days quite near the Kingdom of God and never enter it — that they
may be " almost " Christians without ever becoming altogether such.
And on the other hand, show that there are different stages of growth
among the children of God — that some are described as " babes in
Christ, others as young men, and others as fathers." Adapt your in-
struction to each class, giving milk or strong meat according as it is
required. Now it will be necessary to use the curb and anon the
spur. Much wisdom is needed to know the right word to say, and
the right way to say it. But wisdom is promised to them that
ask it, and he that gets that heavenly gift will be " a workman that
needeth not to be ashamed, rightly divining the word of truth."
Once more. Let your preaching be affectionate. Let your heart
be filled with love to God and man while you speak. Keep a vigilant
watch over your own spirit lest pride or passion should be the dead
fly that spoils the savour of your pot of ointment. Ijct what Paul
says in writing to the Thessalonians be true of you : " Being affec-
tionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you,
not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were
dear unto us." Utter the most solemn and awakening truths with
the utmost tenderness. While you declare tlie terrors of the Lord,
766 ORDINATION CHARGE.
let yoiir heart melt with sincere compassion for those that are
thoughtlessly braving these ten'ors. And while you denounce iniquity
and warn impenitent transgressors, let the tones of your voice show
how earnestly you desire their present and eternal happiness. Can
human language give better expression to the spirit in which we
ought to preach than these words of the Christian poet :
** Much impressed
Himself as conscions of his awfnl charge,
And anxious, mainly, that the flock he feeds
May feel it too ; affectionate in look
And tender in address, as well becomes
A messenger of grace to guilty men."
May this, dear brother, be a true portrait of yon as an earnest
gospel preacher !
IV. Let me, in conclusion, address you as a pastor.
Under, that head I include all the other duties of the ministerial
oflBce except preaching, and more particularly the instruction of the
young and the visitation of the flock.
In your attention to the spiritual interests of the young you will
be ever stimulated by the 'example of our Divine Master who was
pictured in Old Testament prophecy as one " who would feed His
flock like a shepherd, would gather the lambs in His arms and carry
them in His bosom," and who, when on earth, attracted the little
ones to Himself, and put His hands upon them and blessed them,
uttering as He did so the never-to-be-forgotten words : " Suffer
the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not."
Among the last words He spake, too, before He ascended to His
mediatorial throne, was the thrice-repeated commission to Peter, and
in that the " lambs " are made a special object of the under-shepherds
<5are. Carrying out this commission, you will form classes for the in-
struction of the young, will take a practical interest in the Sabbath
school, in the course of your usual ministrations will drop an oc-
casional crumb for such as are of weaker capacity, and will try to
lay yourself alongside the young in their homes that you may find
•out their deeper thoughts and feelings, and so do all you can to win
them to Christ. Love begets love, and your efforts for their benefit
•will be all the more successful if they see that they have a place in
the minister's heart.
And then as to private visitation, you have the example of the
apostle at Ephesus who tells us that "he preached the gospel
I)ublicly and from house to house." The advantages of thus coming
into close contact with your people — advantages both to yourself and
ORDINATION CHARGE. 767
them — are so obvious that I need not do more than refer to a few of
them. You will come to know them, and so be better able to adapt
your instruction to their case. Medical men teach us a lesson here
— they do not prescribe for their patients according to some generally
acknowledged principles of their science. But while holding to
these, they take each case individually, make a diagnosis of it, and
prescribe accordingly. A wise course of visitation will, in manifold
ways, be a great help to preparation for the pulpit and effectiveness
in it. You will have many a theme suggested to you in conversa-
tion with your people which will lead out your own mind in profitable
trains of thought, and do something to supply you with material for
good and interesting sermons.
The people also will listen to you with ^jeater interest, and are
more likely to profit from your public ministrations if you put your-
self about to call at their homes from time to time, and if you prove
to tbem by your private intercourse that your zeal for their souls is
not assumed but real, not merely professional but sincere and hearty.
A popular evangelical preacher of the past generation is credited with
the remark that '^ the way into a man's heart is through his house-
door," while the old proverb reminds us that ** a house-going minister
makes a church-going people."
You will feel it specially incumbent upon you to visit the sick
members of your flock, and while God with His rod thus " opens their
ear to instruction," be a fellow-worker with Him in pouring in those
truths most fitted to benefit theuL From the Size of your con-
gregation you will find it possible in ordinary circumstances to visit
the sick once a week at least. And you will find such visits greatly
longed for and highly valued. You will endeavour to sympathise with
your people in all their trials and to rejoice with them in all their
joys. Let them feel that you are the friend and confidant of every
one of them, able to enter into their case and to look at things from
their point of view, and so ready to obey the apostolic precept, " Bear
ye one another's burdens and so fulfil the law of Christ."
And now, dear brother, I commend you to God and to the word of
His grace which is able to build you up and to give you an inherit-
an6e among all them that are sanctified. ''The Lord bless thee and
keep thee, the Lord make His face to shine upon thee and be gracious
unto thee, the Lord lift up His countenance upon thee and give thee
peace." Amen.
768 LITERATURE,
The question of the relation of Church and State is one that still
awaits solution in the sphere of the practical life. Many controyersies
have ranged around it, and the voices are not yet silent. For the
foi'mation of an intelligent opinion on it, we know nothing better,
next to a firm grasp of Bible teaching, than a historical review of the
adjustment of the relation between the two divinely-j^iven institutions.
This is furnished in the latest addition to the Handbooks for Bible
Classes and Private Students, " Church and State : A Histowcal
Handbook," and is from the pen of Mr. A. Taylor Innes, Advocate.
{T. d: T, Clark, Edinburgh,) It is a work of much research, and of
masterly legal exposition. Beginning with the primitive church iu
its relation to the civil powers with which it was brought face to face,
it traces the attitude of the two organisations to each other, during
the closing period of the Roman Empire, in the Middle Ages, at the
period of the Reformation, and in Britain, Europe and America, since
that epoch-making event. At every point the legislation that was
adopted is examined, and its exact legal bearing on both sides— civil
and ecclesiastical — is clearly expounded. Every available source
from which light and information could be obtained, seems to have
been examined, and this of itself must have cost an immense amount
of labour. The polemical element, if it was in the mind of the writer
in taking up and .carrying through the task, is very carefully con-
cealed. The facts are left to speak for themselves. That the trend
of modern legislation is away from civil establishments of religion is
shown, but this appears on the very face of that legislation itself.
Whether it may commend itself to us or not^ it stands there so that
none can deny it. Some popular mistakes are corrected by searching
historical inquiry. It is generally supposed that Constantine, the
Roman Emperor, after his conversion to the Christian religion,
formally established it as the religion of the Empire. This is not
borne out by the legislation enacted in relation to the Christian
Church during his reign. He ^* never established nor professed to
establish Christianity. And not until two generations after this
date (a.d. 313), when his sons and their successors in the purple had
all passed away, do we find a statute which may fairly be represented
as the act making Christianity the established religion of the Empire.^*
Its endowment came even later. It was the famous Charlems^e,
who, in the beginning of the ninth century, established everywhere a
tithe or tax on land, one- third of which went to support the bishops
LITERATURE. 769
and clergy, one-third to maintain the edifioes of the church, and one-
third to the poor. Any endowment which the church enjoyed
previous to this date, came either from private benefactors or as gifts
from the Imperial exchequer. The book is a storehouse of informa-
tion on the subject with which it deals, and of information well
arranged and easily accessible. A serviceable index at the close adds
to its usefulness.
The story of Abraham is one that is surrounded with perennial
interest, and is almost infinite in its suggestivenees. A fresh study 'of
it is given in the latest Bible Class Primer, " The Life op Abraham,"
by Charles Anderson Scott, RA. (T. & T, Clark, George Street, Edin-
burgh,) It reflects the greatest credit upon the author, and is admir-
ably fitted to be a manual of instruction in a Bible class. The
localities in which Abraham sojourned, and which are identified with
various incidents in his life, are placed before us very vividly ; the
meaning of God's dealings with him in training his faith is ably ex-
pounded, and the lessons of his life are simply, yet very effec-
tively exhibited. There is no parade of learning, but every page
bears witness to its possession. The simplicity which characterises
the treatment of the subject thibughout gives the book a great charm.
As an example we may take his remarks about the command to
sacrifice Isaac : p. 68-9 : —
What this Command Meant fob Abraham. — This was a demand for the
sacrifice, final and complete, of the most precious thing that Abraham had.
It was "his eon, his only son Isaac," on whom he had, since the dismissal of
Ishmael, concentrated all his affection and all his hope, that he was now to
give up. And in Abraham's case, the natural affection of a father was multi-
plied by the long years of expectation, during which he had looked for this
son ; by the hope of posterity which was bound up in him, and by the un-
speakable value of that inheritance, of which he had been taught by God to
see in Isaac the channel to mankind. At the command of God he had already
surrendered one son. This further demand involved the giving up both of
natural affection and of religious expectation. In Isaac he would surrender
both the pledge and the possibility of the promised Seed, Land and Blessing,
on the strength of which he had cut himself off from his kindred, and in
dependence on which he had lived these many years in Canaan.
What this Command Did Not Mean fob Abraham. — In the command to
put his son to death Abraham did not feel that he was called to perform an
act of cruelty i or of tyrannical violence, a wrong against Isaac. According to the
Tiews that have prevailed in most early communities, the right of a father over
his sons was regarded as absolute, and beyond challenge. They were his
property, to do with them as he pleased. As against his ownership of them
they owned nothing, not even their lives. Neither could Abraham regard
what he was summoned to do as a crtTne, a wrong against society. For the
society of his day, like most societies at a similar stage of civilisation, recognised
31-
770 LITERATURE^
hia power of life and death over his son, and tolerated such an exercise of it,
even regarded it in certain circumstances as a man's highest duty, a supreme
act of worship and propitiation of the gods. Nor, again, must wc suppose that
Abraham looked on human sacrifice as a sin, a wrong against €k>d's law. That
it is BO was, in fact, part of the lesson he was to learn. God speaks to men
through their conscience. The Divine Voice never speaks contrary to con-
science. It never bids them do what they know to be wrong.. So far as
Abraham yet knew, human sacrifice was pleasing to God. It was practised
by the nations round about him. To their gods he had seen them offering their
best, even their children. Was he to withhold his best from the God whom
he worshipped, whom he rightly held to be very far exalted above the gods of
his neighbours, who, moreover, had so richly blessed and prospered him ? The
command came to Abraham that he might learn in the clearest way that hid God
differed in this also from the gods of the neighbouring tribes, — that He did
not require human sacrifice to honour or propitiate Him, while, at the same
time, He did require the absolute surrender to Him of human hearts and wiUs.
The human sacrifice which the true God requires^and accepts, does not die but
live.
The Btudy of Bible prophecy is beiug diligently prosecuted in our
day. The minute forecasts of coming events which many drew from
the visions of Ezekiel, Daniel and John, and which proved false, gave
to many a distaste to all prophetical exposition. Mr Spurgeon ex-
pressed recently in his own quaint way the feeling of many on the
matter. In expressing his conviction that the promised coming of
Christ is drawing nigh, he frankly stated that that conviction was
not based upon a study of divine prophecy. '* I am not a prophet nor
the son of a prophet. I cannot explain Ezekiel, for I get broken
among his wheels. Moreover, I would rather go into the lion's den
than expound Daniel." Still, it has been given for our earnest prayerful
study, and rich results are promised to those who give themselves to
this. In the very forefront of the Revelation of John are foimd these
words ; — " Blessed is he that readetb, and they that hear the words
of the prophecy, and keep the things which are written therein." It
is to be read diligently and prayerfully by all who love Christ and
seek the extension of His Kingdom, and is to be read in the assemblies
of the disciples that all may hear it. All past attempts at the expoet-
tions of this book and its Old Testament counterparts in Ezekiel and
Daniel — however mistaken in some respects they may have been —
have removed obstacles out of the way of a true and satisfactory
exposition. As has been said recently, " There are but two possible
theories of what the apocalypse was written for. It is either essentially
predictive or purely descriptive. Its proper subject matter is either
events or ideas. In the one case, its purpose is to foreshadow the
future fortunes of the Church, at successive epochs of its history ;
in the other case, to set forth, in symbolic scenes and dramatic
1. —
LITERATURE- 77 1
movements, the great principles that have been struggling for the
mastery in all ages and in different forms — ^light and darkness, good
and evil, the so-called world-power, whether Egypt or Babylon, Pagan
or Papal, in hostility to the Kingdom of God." (Dr. David Brown
in Expositor for December 1889). One fatal objection to the non-pre-
dictive and purely descriptive theory — of which Dr. Milligan, Aberdeen
is one of the latest and ablest advocates — is, that the principles
exhibited are far more plainly enunciated in other books of Scripture.
Were this the only purpose the book was intended to serve, its place
in the canon could not very successfully be justified. Its predictive
character is accepted and vindicated in a recent commentary which
lies on our table. " Thb Revelation op John. An Exposition by
P. W. Grant." (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1889.) There is
110 preliminary discussion of the character and contents of this sacred
book, and so the view which the author, adopts is left to be gathered
from the commentary. This, we venture to think, is a mistake in
method, and tends to burden the commentary with what is not ex-
pressly expository. A short statement at the outset as to the view
of the book adopted, would have supplied the reader with a guide to
the expository part. A middle path is pursued in which both a
descriptive and predictive element is recognised, and in which they
often bleud into each other. The visions connected with the open-
ing of the seals are viewed as bringing before our mind in pano-
ramic view the different kinds of agencies employed by God in
establishing His kingdom on the earth, and not so much distinct
periods in which the activity of one agent might predominate. The
vision of the sixth seal is regarded by him as representative, not of
some one day or time of vast and seemingly final judgment, but rather
of the sum of all the judgments of God against the unbelieving impeni-
tent opposing and persecuting world, at different times and in different
places. Neither does he accept the view that the subsequent visions in
their order represent the real order of events symbolised. "Like the Book
of Daniel, but to a far greater extent, the apocalypse adds vision to vision
of one and the same object, because in no other way can that object
be set forth in all its various aspects. The architect has to use more
than one plan in order to exhibit the simplest house. So more than
one symbolic picture must be presented, if a complete idea of a
complete object is to be conveyed. Thus, Daniel uses the visions of
the image of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, and that of the rise of the four
beasU out of the stormy sea, in order to create a clear conception of
the four great empires to which they refer. In this way we may have
to go back again and again to the same point after we have been
carried pretty far forward in the stream of time. The vision, for in-
77^ PAGES FOR THE YOUNG.
Stance, of the twelfth chapter, of the sun-clad woman, carries us at
ouce farther hack and farther forward than does many a previously
recorded vision." As to the historical events in which the visions
found their fulfilment, he differs in various points with previous
interpreters, and has always reasons for so differing. The commentary^
apart from its interpretations of the prophetic element, abounds in
interesting and stimulating exhibitions of gi'eat Gospel verities. A
careful perusal of the volume will be found spiritually very profitable,
confirming the truth of Mr. Grant's own words near the beginning :
'* The atmosphere, the spirit of this small book is felt and enjoyed as
the atmosphere, the spirit of heaven; and the more we breathe
it^ the more are we blessed by being made more and more like the
inhabitants of this eternal sphere, and feel that we are becoming in>
creasingly fit to join them, and to be for ever with the Lord."
IPafles for tije goung.
BIBLE QUESTIONS.
I MAY begin this month by answering the question asked me by " Patience/*
€hottsbum, as to the absence of this name or motto from the list in July. The
reason is, that the answers, which were quite cdrrect and very good, were not
forward in time. The Magazine was entirely out of my hands ere the letter
reached me, as the issue was a little earlier than usual. If it had been sent
in the end of May or the opening days of June, it would have been all right.
The members of the classes from America were also late, but came all rights
but it is not so far a cry to Shottsbum as to America.
You wonld notice last time that the questions were printed on the cover.
This was owing to the pressure upon the space, and I very much regretted it.
The questions will be printed anew in this number before the answers are
given. I know that this has been a holiday season with my young friends.
This was brought home to me by the post^marks on some of the letters.
Wherever you have been, or are now, I hope that you will be greatly better
for the change, and come back to your tasks with renewed spirits and energy.
I am glad that thotigh at the sea-side or in the country so very few have failed
to attend to the Bible Questions.
In the junior division the que^ons were based on the story of Absalom»
and have received very good answers. These were the questions : —
Under 10.
1. Who was Absalom? and tell what he was like.
2. How did he break the fifth commandment ?
3. Tell how he died.
4. What did people do as they passed his grave ?
6. Write out Prov. xxx. 17.
*We have taken those of ** Primrose," Carluke, as a sample.
PAGES FOR THE YOUNG. 773
1. Absalom was one of the sons of King David, and was an exceedingly
beautiful man. He had not his equal in the kingdom. From the sole of his
foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him. His hair, when
polled every year, weighed two hundred shekels.
2. He tried to turn away the hearts of the people from his father, and then
rebelled against him.
3. Being defeated in battle, he fled, riding on a mule. His long hair caught
in the branches of a tree. The mule went from under him, and left him
hanging. Joab, going up to him, thrust three darts into his heart and killed
him.
4. They who returned from the pursuit piled a great heap of stones over his
grave, and returned every man to his tent.
5. Prov. XXX. 17. The eye that mocketh at his father, and deapiseth to obey
hifl mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles
shall eat it.
Good answers have come to hand from — America — •• Mizpah ; " Aberdeen —
"A.D.," "Purity; "^yr— "Zoar," "Onward," "Gowan," "Blythe;"
Coupar- Angus— " Rosebud ; " Dundee. — «* LUy ; " Edinburgh — ** Love,"
" Youth," •• Beginner," ** Tried ;" Kirkcaldy—*' Try;" Kilmnning—'* Honey-
suckle," "Apple-blossom;" OWrjr—" Wave," " Sweet- William," "Clover,"
" Star ; " Perth—'* Rose ; " Stranraer—" William," «« Blessedness ; " Thurao
—"LUy,"" Dolly."
In the middle division it was the narrative in the 4th chapter of Daniel
that was the subject taken up. The following were the questions : —
Undeb 13.
Read Daniel iv.
1. Show from Scripture that Daniel's advice to Nebuchadnezzar regarding
the poor was good advice.
2. Give another instance of a proud man being humbled.
3. Where do we read in the New Testament of a man being thankful for his
reason being restored ?
4. What difference is shown in this chapter between Gkxl's kingdom and
men's kingdoms ?
Instead of giving any one set of answers, we may summarise the substance
of them.
In answer to Question 1, a great many Bible passages are given commanding
that kindness be shown to the poor, and commending those that show it, such
as Leviticus xix. 10 ; Proverbs xi. 17, xiv. 31, xix. 17; Psalms xl. ; Isaiah Iviii.
6-9 ; Matthew v. 7 ; Galatians ii. 10 ; James i. 26.
In answer to Question 2, a great variety of answers is given, a goodly number
mentioning Haman, others adducing Manassah, Ahab, Naaman the Syrian,
Saul of Tarsus.
In answer to Question 3, all refer to the demoniac of Gadara whom Christ
healed.
In answer to last Question, it is pointed out by most that God's kingdom
is everlasting, whereas that of man's is ever shifting.
These excellent replies have been received from — America^" Try Again ; "
Aberdeen-" Mabel," " Honour ; " Affr-" Sincerity," " Snowdrop, »» " Blue-
bell ; " Carnoustie — ** Standfast ; " Coupar -Angus—* * Gowan ; " Edinburgh —
" Endeavour; " HamiUon^** Hope ; " Kirkintilloch-'* Bright ; " Kirkcaldy-
774 PAGES FOR THE YOUNG.
" Sidua ; " Kilwinning—" El6v^ ; " Olrig—'' Scotch Fir," "Persevere ; " Perth
- -** Miapah ; " Stranratr—'' Marion," ** Fear Not ; " Thurso^'' Snowdrop,"
" Persevere."
In the Senior division the Water of life was the theme, and these are the
questions that were put : —
Abovb 13.
1. Show from Scripture that water is a great gift.
2. Where is Jesus called the Water of Life ? and why ?
3. In what respect is the influence of the Spirit like that of water?
4. Name three instances from the Old, and three from the New Testa-
ment, in which water was connected with a miracle.
5. Why is water used in the Sacrament of baptism ?
The answers given by " Flos," Kirkcaldy, may bo given as a sample of many
others.
1. Isaiah xli. 17, 18. Psalm cvii. 35. Exodus xvii. 1-6.
2. John vi. 35. John iv. 10, 14; this and some other passages in
Revelation xxL and xxii. seem to refer to the Holy Spirit. Jesua
is called the Water of Life because he gives life and sustains it.
3. It cleanses, Ezekiel xxxvi. 25 ; it refreshes, John vii. 37 ; causes
growth, Isaiah xliv. 3-4.
4. Old Testament. Exodus vii. 20. Water into blood ; Exodus xlv. 22.
Passage through water ; 2 Kings v. 14. Naaman the Syrian.
New Testament. John iL 7^10. Water into wine ; John ix. 7.
Pool of Siloam ; Matthew viii. 26. Jesus rebukes wind and
waves. [Other miracles connected with water are mentioned in
other papers, such as the water drawn from the rock, the causing
of the axe's head to swim, the healing of the waters of Marah,
in the Old Testament; and the Pool of Bethesda, and Peter
walking on the waves in the New Testament.]
5. Water is used in baptism to si|;nify the cleansing of the soul from
sins by the blood and spirit of Christ.
Capital answers have been sent in from : — Aberdeen — '^Sapere Aude ; " Ayr —
" Mount Zion," ** Homines Deum Venantor,'* " Cyrus," " Speedwell ; " Birsay
—••The Morning Cometh," •• Ever True,** "Hinder me not;" CoWiiJte—
••Peace ; " Dundee—" No Cross no Crown ; " Edinburgh— ** Bold On," " Sim-
plicity," "L'^l6ve," ••Faithfulness;*' Glasgow, Mains Street—** Ro^," ''Try
Again ;** HamUton— "Old Light ; " Kirkcaldy—" Signifier; " Olrig—**Vtaay,''
•• Eliel," •• Musk ; " Shottsbum—" Patience,** •• Try ; " .SS^m»m«r—** James,"
••Jehovah Nissi."
The following are the questions to be answered in next number of the
Magazine. Address, O.S. Magazine, Rev. R. Morton, AUanbank, Perth.
Underneath the motto in your next answer put your own name and address.
Do not forget this.
Under 10.
1 Samuel xvii.
Tell the following things about David and Goliath : —
1. What made the giant think he was sure to overcome David ?
2. How did David know that God was able to help him ?
3. Who tried to keep David from fighting with the giant ? and why did
they do so ?
PAGES FOR THE YOUNG. 775
4. Kame David's weapons and Goliath's.
5. Write out (in metre) the 7th and 8th verses of the 28th Psalm.
IJnd£R 13.
Read Daniel vL
1. Show from the Psalms that it is foolish to praise such gods as Belshazzar
worshipped.
2. Name a king who, in a difficulty, went for advice to the same kind of
men as Belshazzar went to ; and name the man who, like Daniel, revealed
God's will to him.
3. Wherein does Daniel show that Belshazzar was worse than Nebuchad-
nezzar?
4. What was signified by the scarlet robe, and the gold chain (v. 16.), and
where else are these words so used ?
5. Which parable tells of men having their goods taken from them and given
to others, because they were not rightly used ?
Above 13.
1. Where does Jesus say that He would arise again from the dead ?
2. What means were taken to keep Him from rising ?
3. Name some people who saw Him alive after His death.
4. Name others who have risen from the dead.
6. Prove that we all shall rise from the dead, and tell what Scripture says
about the order in which men will rise. (Quote the words.)
^ EDITORIAL NOTE.
Tbb Editor would remind all those who have promised to help in giving
book prizes to those who have most regularly and intelligently
answered the Bible questions, or who may wish to help in the
matter, that arrangements will have to be made soon. Any contribu-
tions will be welcomed. Those who may have books they wish to
send, and that will be useful and helpful to young readers, will
kindly forward them to me at their earliest convenience. Those who
put money into my hands for this purpose may rest assured that it
will be well spent. Take note that the address is — Robert Morton,
Allanbank, Perth.
WORK.
Will you let me say a few things to you, my children, about work. A
right view of it may take away the dislike you may sometimes have to it, and
may give you delight and joy in it. The first thing I would seek to impress
upon you is that it has been ordained for us by our Heavenly Father. When
He created man He put him in a beautiful garden, where there was plenty of
work for him to do. God did not want him to be idle but to be busy and
aetive. There was no provision made for i<Ueness when man was divinely-
placed on the earth.
When Adam deWed ana Eve span
Where was then the gentleman ?
776 NOTES BY THE WAY.
It is not sin that has brought work upon us. It has brought the labour and
travail that makes it so often burdensome and painfuL God from the begm-
ning meant us to work, and we cannot fulfil the great end of our being by
liWng in idUness. Wherever we are there is work of some kind laid to our
hands. Has not God imprinted this law of work upon all nature as if to shame
us out of any disposition to shirk it ? Nature everywhere presents a scene of
constant activity. The sun rises in the moniing, does its appointed work in
lighting up the world, and then sinks to rest beneath the western horizon.
The streams are continually draining the water from the hills and carrying it
out to the ocean, there to be prepared for its fertilising work. Men may oome,
and men may go, but they go on for ever. How busy the birds are in the
spring- tide building their nests in the hedge-rows and trees which the boys so
much delight to search out 1 Everywhere around us there is constant activity
rebuking in us any tendency to idleness.
Work being thus designed for us by the Great Author of our being, is essential
to our happiness. You have organs and faculties given to you by God which
demand work^ and if this denuind is not granted unhappiness will be the result.
Yon have bauds, and you know that they were not meant to hang lisUesBly
by your side, or to be kept in your pockets. You have feet, and if you were
never to move them they would soon give you a good deal of pain. You have
minds, that you may understand things and acquire knowledge for your guid-
ance in life, and if not actively engaged in some way they will cause distress.
AbMDoe of oocnpaUon ii not rest,
A mind quite vsoant li a mind distressed.
The qualities which have been given to you, fit you for some special work,
and only in the doing of that work can you be happy.
And can we ever forget that work has been ennobled by Christ's engaging in
it ? His reputed father was a carpenter in the village of Nazareth, and in His
boyhood and youth Jesus took part with him in the work. If you oould have
looked into that village workshop nineteen centuries ago you would have seen
the young man Jesus working away at the bench, making or mending some of
the agricultural implements that were in common use at that time. Might
He not be recalling the carpenter's shop when He uttered the parable of the
splinter and the beam, and when on the way to the Cross — at the end of life
the mind goes back to the beginning of it —he drew the distinction between
green and dry wood ? Surely if our earth has been glorified by His treading
upon it, our water glorified because He drank of it, our air glorified because
He breathed it, work, the humblest and the meanest, has been glorified by His
engaging in it. Since the Son of God was not ashamed to become a carpenter,
mending the wooden ploughs and harrows which were used in tilling the land
around Nazareth, and mending them well — we need not be ashamed of any
work laid upon us, however lowly.
Ilotea 62 tfje Mag.
The power which the Papacy is regaining in the counciU of the
nations makes plain that the final struggle with it is not yet past.
NOTES BY THE WAY. 777
It has been working secretly for the recovery of that power, and its
efforts have not been in vain. Its converts may not have been very
numerous, though its progress in this respect is considerable, but its
social and political power has advanced with rapid strides, in recent
times. The negotiations that have been going on between our
Crovemment and the Vatican in relation to affaivs in Malta and
Ireland give an indication of this, and are disgraceful in the extreme.
The effect of the arrangement sought to be made with regard to
Malta seems to be the placing of it under Canon Law, and making our
civil and military officers the instruments in enforcing its provisions.
This is certainly acknowledging the Pope's temporal supremacy, and
is too dear a price to pay for the Pope's influence in keeping Ireland
quiet. If we cannot govern Ireland without the Pope, we may as
well cease to attempt the governing of it at once. We are leaning
on a system that will use us to advance its own interests and theu
turn about and rend us. Its past history may teach us this, but
there seems to be some infatuation in this matter passing over us.
♦ *
One of the fmest spirits of our age, that has come under the fascina-
tion of this system, has just passed away in the death of Cardinal New-
man. His career has been an eventful one, bftt all will give him
credit^ however much they may think he was mistaken and deluded,
for honesty and singleness of purpose, scrupulous conscientiousness,
and beautiful transparency of character. The " powers that be " in the
Romanist camp found it needful to keep him quiet. Since he be-
came a Romanist he has never written or preached any such sermons
as those that made him famous in the English Church, and which
will remain monuments of a mind of rare power and a heart of deep
spiritual sympathy and insight.
♦ *
*
The inroads that are being made upon the sanctity of the Sabbath,
will, if they are not checked in some way, soon make our quiet rest-
days set apart to spiritual things, very much a thing of the past.
The increase of railway travelling on that day is very marked in
Scotland. We remember once meeting with a gentleman who gave
as his reason for undeitaking railway journeys on Sabbath that it
was so much quieter than on any other day of the week. If things
go on as they are doing at the present time, that selfish reason will
lead people to avoid the Sabbath as the time least likely to be quiet.
The scenes at some of our railway stations on Sabbath, if newspaper
reports are to be trusted, are anything but suggestive of rest and
778 NOTES BY THE WAY
sacred ness. Our Bummer resorts have too, this season, witnessed a
new development in the way of providing pleasure for the Sabbath
evenings. What are called sacred concerts have been performed
every Sabbath evening for some time past on Portobello pier, and have
been countenanced by many thousands. The success which has
attended them will ere long lead to their being inaugurated in other
places. The people have been prepared for this way of spending the
day, or part of it, by the place that has of late been given to these
musical entertainments in the services of the church. If what is
designated a service of sacred music be legitimate within a church
building, it cannot be wrong under the open canopy of heaven. If it
be helpful in the one place there is no reason why it should not be so
in the other. But the result really is to drag these sacred exercises —
which should ever bring the soul face to face with divine realities —
to the level of mere entertainments in which pleasure is the main
end sought, not holiness or strength to fight manfully against eviL
It is significant that with the advocacy of this manner of spending
the Sabbath there should be the attempt to reduce it to the position
of a mere holiday without any definite divine sanction or appointment.
A series of articles have recently appeared in a widely read
evening paper, the drift of which is to prove that the idea of the
Sabbath as a divine institution demanding that the whole time be
regarded as sacred, was one entirely opposed to the teaching and practice
of the Reformers, and only gained the ascendency in these lands with
the advent of the Puritans, who are blamed for having in many ways
retarded the progress of the Church. Stray passages from the writings
of the Reformers are skilfully strung together in such a way as to
leave the impression that they all regarded the Christian Sabbath
simply as a convenient day for assembling for worship, and enjoying
rest and recreation. We are quite aware that some of the Reformers
held by no means strict views on this question, but is that to be
wondered at, taking into account their training in the Papal Church
where the Sabbath is regarded as less sacred than many saint days I
Of more importance than the teaching of the Reformers, or their
private opinions, is the teaching of the Bible itself, which they exalted
as the supreme standard. This is excellently put in an able
pamphlet published last year by Francis Peek, and entitled " Ideal
Sabbaths," from which we take the following extrsict :
"In the following pages, the word 'Sabbath' and not 'Sunday' will be
used ; for, although it la now the fashion to decry the use of this word— a
fashion unhappily acquiesced in even by many religious teachers — this most
surely arise from ignorance of its real meaning, and from confounding its true
obligations with those prescribed by the Scribes and Pharisees among the Jews,
and by the English Puritans in later times.
NOTES BY THE WAY. 779
" The Divine laws regulating the Lovitical, the Jewish, and the Christian
Sabbaths are neither pharisaical nor puritanical ; through them all there runs
one distinct principle gradually developed, first imperfectly revealed in the Old
Testament, then made complete by Christ's teaching ; and that principle is the
consecration of one day out of seven for the rest and refreshment of man. The
Sabbath-day was instituted for man's happiness, for the amelioration of the
condition of the toiler, and in order to redeem for him, from the exactions of
labour, time in which his higher nature might be developed. It was at first a
day of cessation from all but necessary labour, to which the stranger and the
slave, the man-servant and the maid-servant, were equally entitled. Later on,
it is declared to be a day from which not only manual labour, but business,
money-making, and even words of vanity were to be excluded. Lastly, it is
adopted by Christ Himself as His own special day, which He claims should be
consecrated to Himself, as the Son of Man, declaring that as the Sabbath was
made for man, therefore the Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath."
It is only when the Sabbath is regarded in this light that its true
character is discerned, and the right manner of observing it made
plain.
*
It is strange what things in the way of religious service find ad-
vocates in these days when there is a restless craving for something
new. Even the Passion Play at Ober Ammergau, in which the awful
experiences of Calvary are presented on the stage, is lauded as a
means of instruction, and of moral and spiritual elevation. Mr.
Stead, the famous journalist, was present at the last acting of this
play, and has done his best, by surrounding it with a certain glamour,
to justify it as a means of doing good. Even Canon Farrar, who was
also present, seems to have been carried away with it, and has lent
his literary power to the commendation of it. Others, however,
have torn aside the veil from it, and shown us the real nature of the
whole transaction. It is simply a means of drawing a large number
of visitors to the place, that they may spend a little of their wealth there
for the benefit of the inhabitants. It is really a gigantic speculation
in which a gain is made of godliness. The' real character and habits
of some of those who represent the most revered figures in the sacred
story are such as to make the thought of their daring and want of
right feeling somethuig wonderful. It is not the Gospel clothed in any
such fashion as this that will transform the world. Christ's own
method — that of simply preaching it in faith — will in the end be
found the most effective. This was the method adopted in the
apostolic age, without the adventitious help of anything like musical
entertainments, or theatrical displays, and the success, as we all
know, was something marvellous. The closer we keep to it, the
better success will attend our efforts. It is, after all, preaching of
the right stamp that the age needs.
78q ecclesiastical intelligence.
The Rev. C. A, Salmond, M.A., of Edinburgh, has written a very
interesting sketch of the late Dr. Wjlie in the Frte Church Monthly
. for August, which is accompanied by a very good portrait. AVe give
the following extract, which cannot but be interesting to many of our
readers : —
r
** His name — James Aitkin Wylie — is itself suggestive, to those familiar with
Scottish Secession history, of the surroundings and influences among which as
a boy he was reared. James Aitken, his minister and name-father, was one of
the most godly and in every way estimable leaders of the ' Old Light Anti-
burghers,* and Dr. Wylie felt and owned to the last how much he owed to hii
nurture in that school of robust primitive piety. It may interest modern
readers about * Thrums ' to find the old man writing thus not long ago : * My
heart often goes back to Kirriemuir. Its Communion Sabbaths, though now
eighty years behind me, are still green and fragrant in my memory. I bless God
that X was born in the Original Secession Church. I now see that it was an essen-
tial preparation for doing the work to which I have been called ; and if I have
done any good in the world, the ordering of my birth has been one of the main
subordinate causes. The *' History of Protestantism " has its roots in the ferl-
ings, the kindlings, and the aspirations of my boyhood, and in the sympathy for
the oppressed and downtrodden which was wrought in me by the derision and
persecution which Mr. Anderson [author of " The Ladies of the Covenant "j and
myself daily endured from a set of reprobate school-fellows, who term^ us
•*Aitkenites."'»
His mind went back to these old Kirrie days on his death-bed.
(EccUstastiCi^l Intelligence.
Kirkintilloch. — The Glasgow Presbytery met at Kirkintilloch on
Thursday, 5th June, for the induction of the Rev. David Matthew,
B.D., late of Toberdoney, as pastor of the congregation. The Rev.
Thomas Hobart, M.A., Carluke, commenced the public services, after
which the Rev. Ebenezer Ritchie, Paisley, preached from Exodus
iii. 12— "Certainly I will be with thee." The Rev. William B.
Gardiner, PoUokshaws, narrated the steps of procedure with a view
to the induction, put the questions of the Formula, and offered up
prayer, inducting Mr. Matthew to the pastoral oversight of the con-
gregation. The brethren present gave the newly inducted minister
the right hand of welcome. The Rev. John M*Kay, Bridgeton,
addressed pastor and people, and the Rev. Thomas Matthew, Kil-
winning, closed the proceedings with prayer, praise, and the bene-
diction. At the close the young minister received a cordial welcome
from the congregation.
The congregation entertained the members of Presbytery and other
friends to dinner in the Temperance Hall. Mr. William Gibson,
elder, occupied the chair, and about 60 were present. Short
addresses were given, after dinner, by the chairman, Rev. Messrs.
Hobart, M'Kay, Gardiner, Stirling, Ebenezer Ritchie and Thomas
Matthew ; the young minister and his father, Mr. Micah Matthew,
Arbroath ; Rev. A. M. Brown, B.D. ; Rev. W. Reid, B.D. ; Messrs.
A. Lawrie, Gilbert Lang, D. Home, D. Sinclair and John Fletcher,
Kirkintilloch, and Mr. Robert Howie, PoUokshaws.
In the evening a social meeting was held in the Church under the
OBITUARY. 781
presidency of the Rev. David Matthew, B.D., and was largely-
attended. After tea, stirring and practical addresses were delivered
by the Rev. Thomas Hobart, M.A., Rev. Alexander Stirling, Rev. A.
M. Brown, B.D., Rev. William Patrick, B.D., and Rev. W. Reid, B.D.
In the course of the evening Mr. William Gibson, in name of the con-
gregation, presented the Rev. William B. Gardiner with a purse
containing ten sovereigns as an acknowledgment of his services as
interim Moderator during the vacancy ; and Mr. Andrew Lawrie
made a similar presentation to the young minister when welcoming
him to his new sphere of labour. Both Mr. Gardiner and Mr.
Matthew suitably replied. The customary votes of thanks were
given to speakers and chairman on the proposal of Mr. Malcolm
Pollock and Mr. John Bell, elders^ and the happy meeting was closed
with the benediction.
On Sabbath Mr. Matthew was introduced to his new charge by the
Rev. Alexander Stirling, who preached forenoon and evening to large
audiences. In the afternoon the young minister began his public
ministry in Kirkintilloch by preaclung, to a congregation that filled
the church, from CJolossians i. 18 — " That in all things He might
have the pre-eminence."
©ftituarg.
At 24 North Silver Street, Aberdeen, on the 20th June, Jane Troup, 'viddow of
the late Rev. Adam Rettie, F.C. minister, Evie and Rendal, Orkney.
Mrs. Rettie's name has for long been familiar as a household word, not only
to our ministers, but also throughout our congregations. Her afiiEible and genial
miuiners, and bright and cheerful presence will not soon be forgotten. Her
devoted attachment to the Secession cause and her Christian liberality in sup-
porting the Gospel, both at home and abroad, are well known to us all. Two
years ago she had a serious illness, and» although going about again, she never
regained her former vigour. When she died she had been only one Sabbath
out of church, and her friends in general, not being aware of her delicate state
of healthy have been quite taken by surprise at the announcement of her death.
She sank so rapidly, and her strength so entirely failed under her last illness,
that she was unable to speak. She appeared to have a presentiment that she
*' would not be long here," as she expressed it, in conversation with her mini-
ater before last meeting of Synod, as she sent by him her annual contribution
to the orphanage at Seoni and to the Foreign Mission Fund.'
The congregation to which she belonged, and the minister, as well as her
relatives, deeply mourn her loss. Hut the Master has come and called for her,
and knowing thiit their loss is her gain they .desire to say '^ Thy will be done.'^
Her kind word and cheerful countenance, as well as her open-hearted liberality
in aid of every good work will be sadly missed ; and now that she has gone, a
melancholy interest attaches to the numerous tokens of her kindness with
which she furnished the place of worship she loved so well. The deep and
tender sympathies of all our ministers and people are with the bereaved house-
hold. May tbe Friend that sticketh closer than a brother be their stay and
comforter, and may the Lord raise up others of kindred spirit with Mrs. Rettie
in all our congregations to carry on this work, although we feel we shall not
soon look upon her like again.
UNITED ORIGINAL SECESSION CHURCH-FOREIGN MISSION.
Contributions, per Family Boxbs and Collectinq Cards for Forciqn
Mlssion Fund and in Aid op Seoni Mission School — 1889-90.
The following is a List of the Box and Card Collectors in aid of the
General Foreign Mission Fund, and Seoni Mission School, with
details of the Money contributed through their efforts during the past
year. The Keport anent this Scheme is embodied in the General Record
of Synod Business. In again issuing the Boze^ and Cards for another
year, the former in aid of the Foreign Mission, and the latter in aid of
the Orphanage Fund, we do so in the earnest hope that the present yearns
efforts will be more successful than heretofore.
List of Box-Holders and Card Collectors.
I. Aberdeen.
Per Mr. James Dann.
F<yr Beani Mission School,
Lixde Mather, - L.O 7 0
Lizjde H. Still, .070
Katie G. B. Anderson. 0 2 0
jAniePennle, -016
4 Card!,
L.0 17 6
II. Abbkoath.
Per Mr. James Petrie.
For Fortign Mission Fund.
Mrs. Brockie,
Christina Petrie, •
Jessie Lyall, •
John Duncan,
Mrs. M'Kay, -
Mrs. J. Matthew, •
Sophia and James
SUrUng, >
7 Boxes,
L.0
0
0
0
0
0
5 0
9 11
8 0
4
6
3
3
0
0
0 7 6i
L.1 17 8i
Maggie Petrie,
Lillie Campbell, •
James Campbell, •
Mary Ann Kelller,.
David Beid, -
David Duncan, -
8 Cards,
L.0
0
16
6
8
6
0
e 10
0
b
6
0
6
1
0 14
3
0
9
0
L.8
8 10
ni. AUOHIKIiECK.
Per Mr. Alexander Clarke.
For Foreign Mission Fund,
Per Mrs. Stirling.
Fw Seoni Mission Sdiool,
Janie Matthew,
Alexander Petrie,
L.0 10
0 6
8
e
Carry forward, L.O 16 8
Mrs. Wm. Peden, L.0
James Smith,
Mrs. John M'Leod,
Mrs. Agnes Peden,
Mrs. Jas. Temple-
ton, -
Mrs. Robert Stew-
art,
Mr. Alex. Clarke, -
0
0
0
0
0
0
6 0
8 6
8 6
6 0
4 6
4
2
6
0
7Boxe«
L.1 8 0
IT. BiBBAT.
Per Rev. Robert Brmab.
For Seoni Mission Sdiool.
MissBakie, •
Miss Bruce, •
B. Spenoe, -
M. Folster, .
Mrs. Adamson,
M. Stevenson,
T. Johnstone,
7 Cards,
L.1 10
6
1 18
3
0 15
0
2 2
6
0 19
6
1 3
0
0 17
6
L.0 6 3
y. Carluke.
Per Mr. John Fbrresi.
For Seoni Mission SdtooL
Bessie and Mary
Keith,
James Hobart,
Ellen Young,
John Condon,
Jeanle Young,
Maggie Weir,
L.0
2
0
0
0
0
S
3
4
3
5
8
5
0
9
Carryforward, L.8 7 4
783
Brought forward, L.3 7 4
Jeanie CadjBOw, .040
Kate M'Laren, .030
Nellie Weir, - - 0 8 9
Minnie Weir, -062
Lizzie M'Einnell,. 0 1 11
Li2zle Crawford, -048
Jeanie Armstrong, 0 0 9
Robert Weir, - 0 2 6
Janet Sconlax, - 0 2 0
George Crawford, • 0 11 11
John Hope, • • 0 7 0
Alexander Prentice, 0 8 0
Thomas Bojes, -010
iieoTg9 BoMell, - 0 1 10
Alexander Thomson, Oil
Lixzie Weir, • - 0 6 0
Lixzie Kussell, - 0 2 10
JohnReid, - -022
William Longmuir, 0 7 1
John YaUl, - - 0 6 8
26 Cards,
L.7 9 8
VI. Carnoustix.
Per Sev. James Patrick.
For Sioni MxMtion School.
Sabbath Scholars, L.O 12 4
Maggie LowBon, > 0 2 0
Daniel W. Patrick, 0 6 8
8 Boxes,
L.1 0 0
VIL Coupab-Anovs.
Per Mr. Thomas M'ConnelL
For Seoni Mission School.
James Anderaon,
Mrs. M'Leish,
Sarah M'ConneU,
MissRaiU, •
Miss Taskcr, -
6 Cards,
L.0 5 0
0 6 0
0 8 0
0 8 0
0 6 0
L.1 7 0
VIIL Dajivkl.
Per Mr. James Malr.
For Seoni Mission SchooL
William Haodlton, L.0 6 0
A Friend, • -060
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Isabella Craig, -060
4 Cards,
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IX. Dkomobs.
Per Bey. Edward Whyte.
For Seoni Mission School.
Miss E. Gray, - L.O 10 0
Miss R. A. Bojd, -061
Miss Maggie Gillespie.O 10 0
Miss S. Hemphill, 0 7 8
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Miss Creelman, • 0 8 6
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Miss Humphrey, '066
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Miss Lissie Boyd, • 0 8 6
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Per Mr. James Lothian.
For Foreign Mission Fund,
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Robert M' Vicar,
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8 Boxes,
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6
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For Seoni Mission School.
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11 Cards,
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Per Rev. John Stunrock.
For Seoni Mission School.
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Per Mr. Robert Howie.
For Foreign Mission Fund.
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Three Classes of
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John Smith, - -06
James Lothian, - 0 4
Lizzie H. Stirling, 0 4
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Martha Irvine, - 0 2 7
A Friend, - - 0 0 11
H
0
8
4
14 Boxes,
L.4 11 7
For Seoni Mission School.
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2 Cards,
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0 13 0
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Xni. EiLwiKiriNO.
Per Rev. Thomas Matthew.
For Foreign Mission Fund.
Misses Muirhead,
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Misses Muirhead
(lb88-89), .
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4 Boxes,
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0 12
2
8
1 11 10^
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For Foreign Mission Fund.
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A Friend, - - 0 2 6
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Mrs. Lang, •
Mn. M'Gregor,
6 Boxes,
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0 6 0
0 10 0
2 6 0
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For Seoni Mission School.
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shore, • -216
2 Cards,
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784
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Per Miss Heron.
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17
10
5
4
10
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d
6
6
9
0 6 0
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8
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For Seoni Mission School
•
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0
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7*
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2
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8
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0
0
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1
0
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0
0
0
0
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0
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0
2
2
1
1
3
3
2
1
16
4
1
1
3
3
8
1
1
6
2
2
2
4
6
0
6
6
6
6
0
3
6
6
6
3
0
7
1
6
2
0
9
6
0
0
0
1 6
0
1 0
0
7 0
0
4 0
9
8 9
»•»►
L.6
8 2
XX. SHonsBVur.
Per Rev. John BItcfaie.
For Seoni Mission School,
Miss Jeanie Baxter,L.O 15 6
Miss Maggie Gun-
ningham, • - 1 11 6
Miss Christina Balllie»S 8 0
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4CSaids.
L.6 10 6
XXL Stbanbaxb.
Per Rev. Alex. Smellie, M.A.
For Seoni Mission School.
Sarah Montelth, - L.O
Jeannie M'Math, • 0
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Jeannie Watt, • 0
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The Sabbath School, 1
3 6
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12 6
4 0
10 6
14 0
9
11
16
5
4
7
5
3
8
13
8
7
4
15
6
0
6
0
6
0
0
0
0
6
0
6
0
0
11 6
21 Cards, L.12 8 6
XXn. Thurso.
Per Mr. John Waten.
For Foreign Mission Fund.
Alex. Swanson, - L.0 4 0
Matthew Waters, '- 0 6 6
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3 Boxes,
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For Seoni Mission SthooL
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XXin. Ttrokks DnoHss,
IBXLAJ7D.
Per Rev. George Laverty.
For Seoni Orphanage.
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6 Cards,
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THE
ORIGINAL SECESSION MAGAZINE.
NOVEMBEB, 1890.
READINGS IN FIRST SAMUEL.
By H. K. Wood ("A Glasgow Mbbohant").
CHAPTEBS VIII. — X. — FOLLOWING THB FASHION.
To be in the fashion is a very common craving of humankind. It
prevails among rich and poor, among the barbarous and the civilized ;
and manifests itseli in every age and country.
The children of Israel were no strangers to the desire to follow the
sinful fashions of the nations around. This corrupt tendency had
often brought them into difficulty in former times ; and the portion
of their history, which we have presently to consider, is only a fresh
illustration of the perversity of our fallen race in copying most
readily that which is evil.
Samuel was now well advanced in life, probably about his 65th
year. The burden of his official duties was becoming rather heavy
to bear ; and he appointed his two sons, Joel and Abiah, his assist-
ants in the southern districts of the country. These young men
had no doubt been well educated, and trained under their father's
eye to understand the business of rulers. Had Samuel not carefully
fulfilled his part in their upbringing — had anything indeed been
awanting on his side — we would have learned in some way of his
neglect. Not a word, however, is said against himself; and we may
rest assured that, till they left home, his sons had given good
promise of following in his footsteps, or he would not have placed
them in responsible positions. Removed from the supervision of
their noble parent, opportunity and temptation developed the hidden
786 READINGS I*N FIRST SAMUEL.
evils of their hearts. They "turned aside after lucre, and took
bribes, and perverted judgment.'' Money is a sad snare to many
who barter their eternal welfare for a little glittering dust. To steal,
or to cheat in buying and selling, in order to acquire wealth, is mean
and contemptible ; but far meaner and far more despicable is it for a
judge to accept a bribe. The dispenser of public justice should be
above suspicion. As a rule, it is so in our own country ; but in
many quarters of the world, the rich man, who can privately corrupt
the judge, too often wins the day.
Sir Matthew Hale, who was an English judge about 250 years ago,
was a true specimen of an upright public officer. On one occasion, a
gentleman, who had a law plea coming on before Sir Matthew, sent
him a fine deer with his respectful compliments. When the case was
called in court, the judge asked whether the gentleman who was the
pursuer was not the same who had sent him the venison. Finding
that he was the same, the judge insisted on paying the full value of
the present,^ before he would permit the business to be proceeded
with. The gentleman resisted as long as he could ; but when Sir
Matthew persisted in making payment, and actually handed over the
money, the gentleman suddenly withdrew the case, and allowed
judgment to go for the defender !
Happy the country whose judges, great and small, are as iu-
flexibly upright as good Sir Matthew Hale !
It is likely that Samuel's sons were at once removed from the posi-
tion they had dishonoured; and their misconduct became the
occasion of bringing to the surface a desire that had been fermenting
in many minds. When the Israelites looked to the neighbouring
nations they beheld everyone of them under the rule of a monarch.
Perhaps they had been jibed for their want of a king by their idola-
trous neighbours. Certainly, however, they did not appreciate their
vast superiority in having for their National Head the King eternal,
immortal and invisible, the only wise God, whose representatives
were the judges and the priests of the land, and who, all unseen by
the eye of sense, was ever beside them ready to hear their cry and to
help in every time of need. Jehovah meant to train them to live,
not by sight, but by faith in Himself ; but they craved for a visible
king, who might flatter their vanity by show, and their pride by
armies. "Now then," said the elders of Israel to their good old
judge, *' make us a king to judge us like all the nations,*^
Samuel felt this demand as a reproach to himself, though it was
much more a reproach to God. He carried his trouble, however,
where we should carry our every vexation and anxiety, to the throne
of grace, and was told to yield what was desired, but to do it under
READINGS IN FIRST SAMUEL. 787
protest. In anger the request was granted by the Lord. Better far
a prayer refused in love.
On his re-appearing before the assembly of the elders, Samuel
endeavoured to reason the matter. In plainest terms he showed
them what they were seeking, a despot, who would not regard ^ither
the liberty or the property of his subjects, but enforce his own will
at his own pleasure, and none would dare to resist. Some would be
made runners on foot before the royal chariot This was, and, indeed,,
in some countries is still a common piece of state in the East. By
long training from boyhood these footmen can easily keep in advance
of the fleetest horses ; and Chardin mentions one who could accom-
plish 120 miles in 14 hours, or at the rate of S^ miles an hour
continuously.
Others (said Samuel) would be compelled to be soldiers ; or to ear,
that is to plough, and tben to sow and reap the lands of the king,
whatever might become of their own. The daxighters of the. people
would be forced to act as cooks and confectioners. The land of none
would be held sacred, any more than their com, or their cattle, or
their persons ; and the exactions of royalty would become at length
so intolerable as to produce a cry to Heaven for help — a cry which
would not be regarded by the Lord.
This delineation of the rule of an absolute monarch, such as the
kings of Eastern nations were, and continue to be, was as true as it was
graphic. No reasoning would, however, meet the case. The wish
had been long cherished, and nothing would suffice but its gratifica-
tion. On again appealing to the Lord, Samuel was ordered to tell the
Israelitish chiefs that their desire would be granted ; and then he
dismissed them to their homes. Wonderful was their confidence in
the old judge. They knew they could trust him, and so they left
the arrangement of the matter with Jehovah entirely in his hands.
Never nation paid a higher compliment to any ruler, and Samuel
was worthy of it all. To assist at the appointment of a king was
practically to depose himself; but to what the Lord commanded
Samuel yielded ready obedience. His personal feelings were placed
without reserve in subordination to the will of Heaven.
The sin of the elders of Israel consisted in forcing their own scheme
to immediate completion without reference to the judgment of the
All-wise. The promise to Abraham that kings should descend from
him, and the provisions laid down in the seventeenth chapter of
Deuteronomy for the guidance of Jewish monarchs, make it manifest
that the Lord intended they should some day be governed by a king.
Had they left the time and manner of the appointment entirely to
the Lord — had thuy placed their petition in His hands to be answered
738 READINGS IN FIRST SAMUEU
how and when He should consider best — all had been well. Carried
away by the fashion of the world, they wanted to be without delay
^' like nil the nations^" C9st what it might, and whether or not their
desire was agreeable to the Supreme. ** Nay j but we wiUi have a
king^^' was their imperative demand. It was the fractious expression
of practical rebellion; and the grantiug of the wish brought little
blessing with it. If all the evils which might have resulted did not
follow upon their wilfulness, the elders of Israel had Samuel to thank
and not themselves.
Here let us take to heart the lesson that ufe should always let God
choose for u$.
" Thy will be done : " so we pray, but how often does our daily
life give practical utterance to the very opposite sentimeut 1 A plan
we have formed is upset by a cross providence, and we fret and fume
as if we had been appointed sovereigns of all. We lose money in
spite of our best care^ or we become unwell, and lo I we are dispirited
by what befalls us^ as if the helm of the universe were no longer
managed by Infinite Love. Oh! when will we learn that "Grod's
measure is ever best ; so much health and no more ; so much liberty
and no more ; so much riches and no more 1 He holds the rod and
the cup in the same hand by which He gives us Jesus Christ ; yea^
He afflicts with the same love with which He gives us any good."
" What God wills, I will ; what Grod nills, I will not ; if He will
that I live, I will live ; if it be His pleasure that I die, I will die.*'
Such was the remarkable utterance of one bom and reared a
heathen, but into whose mind some scattered rays of Divine truth had
found entrance. Whether, indeed, he was able to act out his pro-
fession of faith, I know not ; but Samuel, as we have seen, had the
grace of self-denial and submission to the will of Heaven in an extraor-
dinary degree. Like a fellow-believer in New Testament times, he bad
learned in whatsoever state he was therewith to be content ; and as
he waited on the Lord for directions as to a king for Israel his patience
was not severely tried.
Kish was one of the wealthiest proprietorstin the tribe of Benjamin.
Already far advanced in life, he had a son named Saul^ of very hand-
some appearance, and taller than any of the people from his shoulders
upwards. By this time Saul was married, and had grown-up sons of
his own ; but he was still residing with his father, and employed in
supervising the various farming operatidhs on the paternal property.
Some valuable asses having wandered away or been stolen, Kish
desired his son to take a servant with hiih, and go in search of the
animals. They travelled far \vithout success ; and a night or two
having passed, Saul began to be afraid that their lengthened absence
READINGS IN FIRST SAMUEL. jSg
would occasion anxiety to his father. This consideration for the old
man at home betokened not a little natural amiability. I wonder if
every one of my young readers would hare been as much alive to the
thought of sparing a pang to loved ones left behind ? Do you, indeed,
my friends, study the comfort of your nearest and dearest at home 1
Or are you heedless aitid careless as to what they may think . or feel,
wrapping yourselves up evermore in your own cold-hearted selfish-
ness ) Would that all of you could adopt as your own such loving
sentiments as Henry Kirke White expressed in regard to his mother : —
*' And canst thou, mother, for a moment think
That we, thy children, when old age shall shed
Its blanching honours on thy weary head.
Could from our best of duties ever slirink ?
Sooner the sun from his high sphere should sink,
Than we, ungrateful, leave thee in that day
To pine in solitude thy life away,
Or shun thee, tott'ring on the grave's cold brink.
Banish the thought I Where'er our steps may roam.
O'er smiling plains, or wastes without a tree.
Still will fond memory point our hearts to thee,
And paint the pleasures of thy peaceful home ;
While duty bids us all thy grief assuage,
And smooth the pillow of thy sinking age.'
If
To SauPs proposal his servant replied by a very wise suggestion.
At the moment they were near the settled or temporary residence of
Samuel, and the mai) proposed that they should consult him. The
chief obstacle in the way was the want of a present. Their bread
was done, or a loaf would have answered well. The servant, how-
ever, had a small coin worth about sixpence, and he offered it for the
purpose. In our country, in these modern times, to offer a paltry
sum, or indeed any amount of money to a great man, would be highly
indecorous. A gift of fruit, or flowers, or game, or some artistic
production, might, perhaps, be acceptable with us ; but in the East
then, and to this day, to appear in the presence of a superior toithout
a gift is the height of unpoliteness and disrespect. A bunch of
grapes, a cucumber, an orange, a pomegranate, a little bread, some
article of dress, or, better than all, some money, it is imperative to
bring when it is necessar]^ to approach any person of importance ;
and this, not as a bribe, but simply as a token of respect. One
writer tells of a poor man who had nothing to offer when a great
personage was passing along the road on which he was resting, and
who ran to a stream near }fj and brought his hands full of water — a
790 READINGS IN FIRST SAMUEL.
gift which was graciouBly accepted as the best the giver could
produce.
It is a sensible master who can profit by the suggestion of«a faith,
ful servant. Of course^ such a servant knows his place, and will
keep it ; but when he makes a respectful representation, it is to the
advantage of the master to give it kindly consideration. Happy the
master who has servants that consider his interest their own, and
that are as much taken up with the forwarding of their employer's
concerns as if the business belonged only to themselves.
To carry water publicly from the wells is, in Oriental climes, no
degradation to the daughters of even wealthy persons. Such a
menial occupation would be rather scorned among us by many young
people not very far removed from poverty — ^so proud have we
become, to our great loss, as a nation and as individuals. As Saul
and his servant went up the principal street, they met a number of
young women going to the well to draw ; and of one of these they
inquired whether the Seer was in the town. She answered very
fully indeed, telling them that Samuel had arrived that very day; that
there was a grand religious festival about to be celebrated ; that the
people would certainly wait for Samuel as his presence was necessary
in the service ; and that if they went up to the hill-top they would
be sure to find him. Jewish commentators have not failed to remark
that the young woman's reply was somewhat more lengthy than was
at all required ; but they add that she was attracted by the hand*
dome appearance of the taller of the strangers, and wished to detain
him as long as possible, while she scanned him closely !
As the two travellers ascended the hill they met him of whom
they were in search. Their way for a more than ordinary gracious
reception had already been prepared. But yesterday the prophet
had been warned that one would be brought to him from the tribe
of Benjamin, whom he was to anoint as king ; and as Saul and his
servant approached, the Heavenly voice whispered to Samuel, ^* Be-
hold the man whom I spake to thee of ! this same shall reign over
my people."
Inquiring of Samuel for the house of the Seer, he told them he
was himself the Seer; that they need not be troubled about the
asbes, as they were found ; and that he wished them to remain with
him over night, and be his guests at the feast which was to follow
the offering of the sacrifices. He gave Saul a very significant hint
of the honour that was in store for him ; and' at table had him
seated in the most honourable position, and supplied with the best of
the viands, thus marking him out to the other guests as a person of
peculiar distinction.
READINGS IN FIRST SAMUEL. 79Z
The same evening the prophet had a lengthy, private interview
with Saul on the fiat roof of the house where he was lodged, and,
no doubt, told him of the Lord's purpo8e,'and ministered such kindly
counsel as coming events made desirable. Early next morning he
convoyed Saul and his servant for a little distance on their home-
ward journey. Making the servant pass on before, Samuel privately
anointed the head of his companion with oil, to signify his appoint-
ment by the Lord to the kingdom of Israel ; and then, in token of
respect and homage, he kissed the Lord's anointed. To confirm
Saul's faith, he gave him, ere they parted, three signs, which he
would assuredly meet on the way. Near Raohers sepulchre, two
messengers from Kish would come to tell him that the asses were
found, and that his father was now lamenting after his son. A little
farther on he would fall in with three men going to Bethel with
special offerings, who would give him two loaves of bread, which he
was to accept. And as he neared home he would meet a company
of prophets praising God, and accompanying their sacred songs with
instrumental music; and then (he added) the Spirit of the Lord
would come upon him, turning him into another man, and he would
join them in their worship as if he had been trained along with
them. It all turned out as Samuel predicted. Amazed were on-
lookers when they found Saul fitted in a moment to join the choir
of the prophets; and their wonder found vent in words which
became proverbial when a sudden change to the better was observ-
able in any one's conduct, '* Is Saul also among the prophets 1 "
Arrived at hoipe, Saul kept his own counsel in spite of inquiries,
excited, we may presume, by the servant's report. He told all that
had taken place regarding the asses ; but uttered not a word con-
oeming the kingdom, or about the assembly of the children of
Israel, which Samuel, we may well believe, told him would soon be
called.
Saul's experience when he met the company of prophets was
certainly very extraordinary. By the sudden fall of the Spirit of
God upon him he was qualified in a moment to take part in the
choir trained to utter in song the high praises of Jehovah. By this
he ought to have learned where his great strength was to be found,
not in himself, biit in the Lord alone. Had he been effectually
taught by this wonderful occurrence to apply continually at the
throne of grace for wisdom and guidance, happy had it been for
himself and for the nation. He did not yield to the instruction
thus conveyed, but we may profit by his failure. Let us ask that
we may receive. Let us seek that we may find.
Saul was that day among the prophets, but not in reality one of
793 THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS.
them. He had got (another heart — it is . not said a new heart. He
had obtained oertain gifts to fit him. for his kingly office ; but not a
spirit right with God. If he had' sought the Lord with childlike
humility day by day, he would assuredly have been kept by the
power of God^ and enabled to walk as a servant of the Highest.
" All gifts are not of grace." It is not the possession of this or
that talent in regard to religious knowledge or utterance that con-
stitutes or proves us to be the ransomed of the Lord. Unless we
love the Father in Jesus with such a love as will make us hate sin,
and delight in His commandments, and deny ourselves so that we
may please Him, our religion is a delusion.
'' Which of all the graces, named in the opening verses of the fifth
chapter of Matthew, would you choose ? " was the inquiry which a
friend addressed to a little boy. The child replied, " I would like to
be pure iu heart, sir, and then I would have all the rest." It was a
wise answer. Only the pure in heart shall see God ; but they only
can be now partially, and at length perfectly pure, who invite King
Jesus to occupy the throne of their aflfecdons, and to cast out or
destroy everything displeasing to Himself.
THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS.
By a Highland Minister.
XVL
A passing reference was made in last paper to the religious destitu-
tion of the Highlands after the Revolution. The few clerical
survivors of the hilling times were most cordially welcomed back to
the churches out of which they had been tyrannically thrust in 1662,
but in most parishes the curates remained in undisturbed possession.
Many of the influential proprietors regarded with favour the old
regime. The sons and grandsons of earnest heritors who had eagerly
signed the Covenant in 1638 and succeeding years had in too many
cases gone with the Prelatic tide, and did not welcome the re-
establishment of Presbyterianism. In looking over the Presbytery Re-
cords of the northern district, one can hardly read a page without
seeing the enormous difficulties the Church Courts, weak in numbers
and influence, but strong in faith and unflinching in devotion to the
good cause, had for long years to encounter. Here and there
THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS. 793
ministers of Apostolic zeal laboured on iu the full assurance that God
would build up the waste places, and they were not disappointed.
Unwearied in ministerial duties, spending much of their time in Pres-
bytery meetings, which, of course, none of the Episcopal incumbents
attended, undaunted in rebuking sin, they toiled on cheerfully
through good report and through bad report. When the careless
curates ceased to occupy their manses and lift their stipends, the
Presbyteries forthwith took steps to proclaim the neglected churches
vacant, but very often the deputy told off for such duty had to re-
port that he could find no access to the vacant kirk, and had to en-
counter considerable opposition. From 1690 to 1712 things were
trying and perplexing enough, but the patronage, then forced upon
the Church in flagrant violation of the Treaty of Union, introduced
a new hampering element. Sometimes for years two rival patron^
battled as claimants for the obnoxious right of presentation to a
vacant charge, and thus prevented any settlement. The Highland
Presbyteries deplored the fatal Act of Queen Anne, and it is affecting
to read the earnest words in which they annually enjoined their Com-
missioners to each successive Assembly, " to move and press that the
Assembly use all endeavours to get tlie great grievance of patronage,
which is attended by so many evils, redressed." There was another
Act of the dark year of,1712 which grieved our northern Presbyteries —
the legal toleration of Episcopacy, and its exemption from the juris-
diction and discipline of Presbyterian Church Courts. The Jacobites,
hoping to prostrate the National Church now rising from the dust
and putting on her beautiful garments, secretly and suddenly intro-
duced this measure. A Highland minister, Mr. Baillie of Inverness,
had the high honour of being selected to accompany the eminent
Carstairs, and Blackwell of Aberdeen, as a deputation to London to
watch over the threatened interests of the Church, and to oppose the
Toleration and Patronage Bills. Next year " the Synod of Ross and
Sutherland " enjoined the Presbyteries within their bounds to urge
on their Assembly Commissioners : — " In regard a great many
erroneous and licentious persons, ill-affected to the present establish-
ment in Church and State, do take occasion from the late toleration
to disseminate erroneous principles to fortify persons in their wicked-
ness, impieties, and licentiousness, and to alienate the hearts of Her
Majesty\subjects from their affection to her person and government,
that they move and press the Assembly to make application for
having these grievances redressed. That in regard of the many
signs of impending wrath which threaten the land, therefore that
the Commissioners move and press that the Assembly appoint a
National Fast, and that the fore-mentioned evils, together with the
794 THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS.
breach of our Covenants, be insisted on as some of the causes and
grounds for the said Fast. That in regard of the many desolations
of this Provincial Synod, the spaciousness of the bounds, the hard-
ships under which the ministers planted here do labour, and the
difficulties of getting young men to be planted among us because the
legal allowance is taken away :
'* Therefore that the Commissioners do move and press that the
Assembly fall upon some method for encouraging young men to come
to the bounds, and appoint for us some probationers, especially Messrs.
Robert Kirk and Walter Ross, and other young men well reported of/
The probationers named were duly settled in Dornoch and Kilmuir-
Easter. Patronage is mentioned by the Synod as the foremost
grievance in the list of evils affecting the welfare of the Church in
the north, and complaints are made that men having (Gaelic are
settled in the Lowlands, contrary to Acts of Assembly. Reference is
also made to the necessity of applying to the " Society for Propagating
Christian Knowledge " for having some of "their free schools " settled
in populous districts remote from the parish schools.
In Inverness, on the death of the persecuting curate, Gilbert
Marshall, in 1691, " the magistrates would not suffer the vacancy to
be declared ; all avenues to the church were beset with armed men,
and double sentinels placed at the doors that no minister might
enter ; and when Duncan Forbes of CuUoden (father of the famous
President) sought to open the doors he was thrust back and struck
with violence. This made him and others represent the case to the
Privy Council, so that Lord Leven's regiment sent north to protect
the well-affected made patent doors, but for ten years no admission
was effected." In former papers we mentioned that the magistrates
were powerful enough to resist the desire of the congregation to have
M^KiUigan and Fraser of Brae settled. Two other ministers similarly
called failed to obtain admission. At length, in 1701, Mr. Robert
Baillie^ translated from Lamington, was inducted. His influence for
good was immense, and during his twenty-five years* ministry he re-
ceived calls from Kieth, Gladsmuir, London, and Rotterdam. The
call from the last place was before the Assembly of 1714. So strongly
did the Assembly feel on the occasion (in refusing the call), that they
requested their Moderator (Mr. William Mitchell) to intimate their
resolution to the Consistory of Rotterdam, stating, " Such are the
present circumstances of Inverness and of the country about, and
such is his influence and usefulness there, that they could not, with-
out great prejudice to the interests of religion in that coimtry, remove
him from that important post." The Church in Rotterdam called
him again without success in 1724. *'He had indeed few equals
THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS. 795
then iu the Church, ' was a solid, judicious, worthy man,' so that he
was ^ exceedingly regretted in that town/ and * an extraordinary
concern appeared at his death.' " Along with Carstairs and Black
wen, he wrote '* The humble representation concerning the Bill for
restoring Patronages."
Not a few of the Highland lairds in the neighbourhood of Inver-
ness were, for some time after the Revolution, largely imbued with
the same Jacobite spirit as the town magistrates. They were content
that the old curates should continue in* the undisturbed possession
of their benefices ; and that the Lord's Day should be desecrated by
assemblages in the churchyard or neighbourhood for athletic sports-
Their influence with the common people was too often strong enough
to induce them to present the settlement, after a vacancy of several
years, of an efficient and faithAil minister over many in a district
that hungered for the bread of life. Thus in Petty, a few miles east
of Inverness, the curate,' Alexander Denoon, was deposed, 1 9th June,
1 706, for the rather common prelatic sins of swearing and drunkenness,
but he disregarded the sentence, and was allowed *' to continue "
nu til his death in 1719. In a list of curates continued after the
Revolution, to be seen in the Advocates' Library, Wodrow, amid other
notable characteristics, frequently affixes the epithet of '* scandalous
drunkard." At Moy, twelve miles south of Inverness, Alexander
Oumming, the presentee of Bishop Falconer, and a bigoted Jacobite*
continued in full possession of the benefice until his death in 1709. A
long vacancy of seven years followed. Efforts were made to obtain
the faithful services of Daniel Bethune, but they were unsuccessful*
In 1716, the worthy James Leslie, a licentiate of the Presbytery of
Elgin, was called by the Presbytery, and inducted on the 23rd August
The following Sabbath he walked up along the banks of the
Findhorn to preach at Dalarossie, the other church of a united
parish, in the face of strong opposition. Within two miles of this
place of worship, at a wood overhanging the river, he encountered a
crowd of women with aprons well filled with stones — offensive
missiles readily obtained on the ground. Blocking up the narrow
way, they bade him return, and excitedly assured him that if he
proceeded farther they would certainly stone him. Mr. Leslie,
nothing daunted, replied to the angry clamour : '' Let the greatest
witch among you throw the first stone 1 " No one among the
Amazons cared for so unhappy a pre-emiuence, and, in the confusion
that ensued, the valorous minister was allowed to proceed. Arriving
at the church, he found it empty. There was a multitude in the
graveyard engaged in " putting the stone " — the husbands, brothers,
and sons of those women from whose hands the preacher had so
79^ THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS.
happily escaped on the way. Leslie urged the athletes to leave their
sport and attend his service, hut they emphatically refused, and in
return urged him to take part in the game. Thereupon he offered
to throw the stone (the test of physical strength) once, on condition
that if he surpassed them they would adjourn to the church. Being
a very powerful man, as he proved himself afterwards on various
occasions known to tradition in the parish, his one throw far ex-
ceeded the mark reached hy the foremost of the company. The new
parson at once rose in their estimation, and they readily acknow-
ledged his Buperio|:ity and followed him into the church. The
'' strength-stone " lay for many long years untouched on the spot on
which it had fSallen from Mr. Leslie's fiands ; and the sermon
preached on that bright autumn Sabhath of 1716 was the beginning
of a great moral revolution and blessed revival in that beautiful
strath.
Nearer Inverness, in the parish of Daviot, the erratic curate,
Michael Fraser, succeeded the worthy Alexander Fraser, deposed for
non-conformity in 1672. The outed minister survived the Re)^lu-
tion, but not being comprehended in the Act of Parliament of 1690
restoring the survivors of the persecution, he remained at Abbotshall.
Michael seems to have never shown any concern for the spiritual
interests of his parishioners. As early as 1675 he was enjoined by
the Synod that in time coming *'he abstain from all limning
and painting which hitherto has diverted him from his ministerial
employments." He continued in Daviot till his death in 1726.
When Mr. Shaw, minister of Cawdor, went to declare the church
vacant^ soon after he reported to* the Presbytery " that he found
great numbers, some in the churchyard, others in the open fields,
with the kirk door locked, the key carried off and could not be
found J while the people behaved so rudely that he could not worship
in the churchyard without being disturbed by them, and so returned
home.'' Mr. Leslie in coming to preach found numbers '* sitting at
a hill-side near the church *' — probably engaged in some of the games
sanctioned by the " Book of Sports " of King James, of worthless
memory. He gained admission into the dilapidated church, and,
more fearless than his brother of Cawdor, continued the service amid
much peril from ** the throwing of stones in at the door, windows,
and through the open roof." Verily, the Presbyterian ministers of
those times in the north required great tact, energy, prudence,
physical strength and courage, and the Head of the Church raised up
many such men — ministers whose names are fragrant in many a
remote and lonely Highlaud glen.
In Dingwall, the incumbent, Mr. John M'Rae, died in 1704, and
THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS. 797
there was a yacancy for twelve years. The pious Mr. Stuart of
Kilteam was deputed by the Presbytery to declare the church vacant,
but he was attacked by ''Highlanders with loaded pistols when
occupying the pulpit." In 1707, the bailies of Dingwall stated that
** they know not what is become of the keys of the church, and
cannot give access, and refuse to do so, under the authority of a
considerable proprietor."
A year after this, Mr. Daniel Bayne (probably a native, and one of
the influenHal Baynes of TuUoch), chaplain to General Murray's
regiment in Flanders, was called by the majority of ''the magistrates
and heritors." The Presbytery took the steps needed for the settle-
ment of the chaplain at very great inconvenience to themselves, but
when the heritors were called upon to give reasons for transportation,
*' they declined to draw up any reasons, pretending several excuses."
The Presbytery then drew up the requisite reasons, and forwarded
them to the Commission of Assembly. But after a vexatious delay
the settlement was not proceeded with. It is certain that many
Dingwall parishioners were anxious for a minister, but the Episcopal
influence of the " considerate proprietor " thwarted their wishes.
In 1716 the Presbytery succeeded in settling Mr. John Bayne, a
member of the Tulloch family.
Killeaman (or Redcastle), on the north side of the Beauly Firth,
owing to the opposition of the lairds, remained vacant for nineteen
years after the death of the curate. About the middle of the long
vacancy Mr. Campbell of Eiltearn " reported that, according to
appointment, he had supplied at Killeaman, and that he was rabbled
there in time of divine worship." At the same time the Presbytery
were "well informed that a considerable number of the common
people there are desirous to have the Gospel planted among them,
notwithstanding the disaffection of the heritors." In some cases,
•after long vafSancies, the sheriff of Ross is applied to " for giving
patent doors," and settlements were made in the face of lengthy pro-
tests from Jacobite dissentients.
The barbarous treatment to which certain Ross-shire ministers,
settled in 1711, were subjected, aroused the indignation of the
Creneral Assembly of that year. The loudest complaints were over
the hardships endured by worthy John Morrison on being inducted
to Gairloch. Mr. Morrison had all along, from his youth, a sore
battling life. Licensed by the Presbytery of Inverary in 1698, he
was sent in the following year to North Uist to supply the vacancy,
but when proceeding to preach he was hindered and threatened by
the mob, and forced to leave. We then 6iid him labouring for some
years in Glenelg. In 1706 he was translated to Boleskine (on Loch
79S THE RELIGION OF THE HIGHLANDS.
Ness). It was not a pleasant place to sojourn in, for Popeiy pre-
vailed in the neighbourhood. His predecessor, Thomas Houston, on
being asked, in 1677, why he did not exercise nor add in his rotation
before the meetings of Presbytery, replied: "That he was so troubled
in watching by night, and with fear of robbery by day by the Loch-
aber robbers that are so numerous and broken out, that scarce can
he have so much time as to provide a discourse on the Sabbath day."
'* The brethren,'' aware of his dolorous condition, excused him firom
taking his share in those Scriptural expositions and exercises which
still, even under Prelacy, were survivals of better days. After
labouring for four years in $oleskine, Morrison received an apparently
harmonious call from Gairloch. Mr. Thomas Chisholm was appointed
to preach and serve edict ; but at the next meeting of Presbytery he
reported " that after he was come near to the church of Gairioch he
was seized upon by a party of men and carried back again about six
miles, and that being let go by them he had essayed again to go to
the said church another way, and that he was again seized upon by
another party of men, and carried back by them to Einlochewe,
where he was detained by them for some time as prisoner, and there-
after by other parties coming successively, was carried back till he
was a great way out of the parish, and not let go till Sabbath after-
noon ; but that while he was detained prisoner, imderstanding that
he was designedly carried back lest he should preach at Gairloch, he
had read and intimated the said edict before six or seven persons
within a house at Einlochewe, which is one of the preaching places
of the said parish. And he returned the said edict indorsed by him
with the attestation of his having executed the same in the foresaid
manner.'' It was no ordinary courage to serve the edict in such cir-
cumstances, and Mr. Morrison, at his induction to such a lawless
parish, must have had sad forebodings of sufferings in store for him,
as in the church of Kilteam, sixty miles distant from his charge, he
listened to owe old Covenanting friend, Mr. John Eraser of Alness^
preaching in Gaelic from Song viii. 11, and in English from Goloss.
iv. 17. It was the first day of March, 1711 ; and the settlement
took place at Eilteam because " most of the brethren, at a previous
meeting, gave very weighty reasons showing why they could not
undertake to go up to Gairloch at this time and season of the year/'
Morrison forthwith proceeded in the direction of his new chai^ge,
and his reception by the parishioners may be best described in his
own graphic words : " After two days' journey he was interrupted at
Einlochewe (the east end of Loch Maree) by the tenants of Sir John
Mackenzie of Coul, who laid violent hands on him and his servant,
rent his clothes, made prisoners of them, and kept them three days
• GEORGE BUCHANAN. , 799
under guard in a cottage full of cattle and dung, without meat or
bedding the first two days, the tenants relieving one another in turn
by a fresh supply every day. On the third day a short supply was
allowed, but they were yet kept prisoners in the same place, without
other accoQunodation. When the fifth day came he was carried to
Sir John's -house, who declared no Presbyterian should be settled in
any place where his influence extended, unless Her Majesty's forces
did it by the strong hand." This was but the first instalment of the
harassing to which Morrison was subjected for years after. At the
ensuing Assembly, Wodrow, with that swift and accurate pen of his,
sends his wife an account of Morrison's " very inhuman treatment."'
He tells how Carstairs, the Moderator, "fell very brisk upon tha
dreadful barbarities in the North to the ministers in Ross. . . After
which the Commissioner made a speech and said he could not have
believed it, unless he had heard, that such inhumanities could have-
been used to men, let be ministers, in Scotland, and he was persuaded
80 to represent it to the Queen as never the like should be heard
again." (Wod. Cor. I. 217.) The "barbarities" to which the other
Ross-shire ministers were subjected in the same year may be left
over for future notice.
. GEORGE BUCHANAN.
Faxb, even when acquired, is not always enduring. They who reach
the highest pinnacle of greatness in their own time do not always
retain that position in the eyes of succeeding generations. Some
who were quite overshadowed by their greatness rise into greater pro-
minence in the retrospect of the future. The names of the former
are to a large extent forgotten, while the names of the latter become
household words. An instance of this kind is found in the case of
George Buchanan, in relation to John Knox, who was his contemporary.
In Buchanan's " History of Scotland " the name of Knox occurs only
four times, and the reference on each occasion is of the most casual
kind. The reason is, as is pointed out in a recent admirable bio-
graphy of Buchanan,^ that, in the eyes of such as Buchanan, Knox
was not '' the commanding figure he now appears to us. By their con-
temporaries, indeed, there can be no doubt that Buchanan, with his
European reputation, was considered the much more distinguished man
'"George Bachanan, Humanist and Reformer." By F. Hume Brown..
Edinburgh. David Donglas. 1890.
800 GEORGE BUCHANAN.
of the two," And yet, while Buchanan has been very much foi^tten,
or popularly remembered in a complete distortion of his real character
as a court clown, John Knox occupies a place in the popular mind
€econd to none among the heroes of our past history. There is a
cause lor this which will occur to any one who gives serious thought
to the matter. John Knox was above all a man of action. He
.threw the whole weight of his personal influence and gifts into the
advancement of the religious revolution which issued in the Kef or-
mation. He left his mark deep lind broad upon the nation's life — a
mark which it still retains after all these centuries. George Buchanan,
though in the end identifying himself with this movement, was jet
more of a humanist — a man of letters — ^than a reformer. His writ-
ing too^ were for the most part in the Latin language, and so did
not exert any great influence upon the common people. Still his
influence was in some directions very great, and we have thought
that a short account of his life and labours, based upon the fresh and
able study of them to which we have just alluded, would not be
without interest.
His birth-place was the farm-house of Moss, or Mid-leowen, about
two miles south-east of the village of Killearn, in Stirlingshire. Here
he first saw the light in February, 1506. A portion of the house in
which he was born, consisting of a thatched roof resting on oaken spars,
existed until the beginning of the present century, and was pointed out
to visitors. The oaken spars were afterwards made into a table and
chair, which are to be seen in the modem house built upon the same
site. An obelisk in his memory adorns the ridge on which the
village of Killearn stands. His parents were poor, but, as he was
fond of pointing out, were of honourable descent. The history of
the clan that bears the name was traced by him back to the grey
dawn of Irish annals, and embellished with many episodes illustrat-
ing its noble character. The process of sifting the legends of these
early annals, so as to ascertain on what slender basis of fact they
might be built, had not been discovered in his days. There can be
no question, however, that the family was highly connected, and could
claim kinship with the famous house of Lennox. These ties wielded
great influence at that period, for^ as Froude has told us, " social
duty in Scotland was overridden by the more sacred obligation of
affinity or private bond.'' His kinship on his father's Side with
this house of Lennox indicates that there was Celtic blood in
his veins, and, if all reports be true^ he acquired a good com-
mand of the Celtic tongue. There is a story about his meeting
in France a woman who gave out that she was devil-ridden and
could speak all languages. He tried her with Gaelic, and find-
GEORGE BUCHANAN. 8oi
ing her nnable to understand it, protected that the devil was, at
least, ignorant of that tongue. On his mother's side, he was con-
nected with the Heriots of Trabroun, a family of note in the county
of Haddington. It was one member of this family that founded the
magnificent hospital in Edinburgh that still bears the family name.
The good pedigree of which Buchanan boasted was combined, as in
the old song, with veiy straitened circumstances. There were seven
members of the household — four sons and three daughters — ^and this
with a narrow income made their condition anything but enviable.
Matters became woxBe wheu the father was taken away by death.
Oeoi^ was probably only seven years of age when this sad event
darkened his early home. It appears to have led to a removal from
Moss to Cardross, in the district of Menteith, where his youth was
passed. He was thus early inured to hardships and privations, of
which a great many fell to his lot in after years. Traditions vary as
to the place where he received his early education. He distinctly
says that it was ''in the schools of his native country;" but Killeam,
Cardross, and Dumbarton, all claim the honour. Perhaps it may be
shared between them* There was in all likelihood a grammar-school
at Dumbarton where he would be prepared for the University studies.
The provision made in Scotland for primary and seoondaty education,
even before the Reformation, as recent researches have proved, was
as ample and efficient as that found in any other country.
So much did George advance in his studies, that, ere he had reached
his fourteenth year, he had given such evidence of talent and quick-
ness in learning as to convince his friends of his aptitude for letters.
His uncle, James Heriot, determined to send him to the University
of Paris, '' then the dream of all the studious youth of Scotland," as
the German Universities are in our day. There he continued his
studies for two years, when, on account of the death of his uncle and
his own weak health, he had to return to his native land. At this
time — the early years of the sixteenth century — the conflict between
the old order of the Middle Ages and the new ideals connected with
the revival of learning, with its critical study of the Scriptures, had
begun, and was keenly felt in the University of Paris. In the end it
pronounced for the old order and shut its windows against the new
light that sought to stream in. The agitation could not but exert a
powerful influence upon Buchanan at that formative period of his
life. It was here, too, that he acquired that mastery over the
Latin language for which afterwards he became so distinguished.
One of the principal exercises in which he was drilled was the writ-
ing of Latin verse. '' Partly of his own choice and partly of com-
pulsionj the writing of Latin verse, then the one subject prescribed
8o2 GEORGE BUCHANAN.
for boys, made the chief part of his literary studies." After his re-
turn to his native land he seems to have resided a short time with
his mother^ but in the autumn of 1522, his health was so far recovered
that he was able to accompany an expedition into England, organised
by the Regent Albany. He wrote an account of it which is still ex-
tant. In 1525, we find him at St Andrews finishing the studies
which had been interrupted. Here one of his teachers was the famous
John Major who had then the superintendence of the logic class. As
taught by him it consisted largely of scholastic subtleties, and did
not make a good impression upon such a pupil as Buchanan, whose
mind was opening to the new learning. More than half a century
afterwards he spoke of his old master as '' teaching the , art of
sophistry rather than dialectics." It was thought that Major had
instilled into his pupils, such as Buchanan and Knox, who studied
under him in Glasgow, those liberal opinions in politics which led
them to take the side of the people, and assert their God-given rights
against all tyranny. But Mr. Brown thinks that they must have
come to them from other sources, as Major was " even in the liberality
of his political opinions still only the representative of the best
schoolmen." After graduating as Bachelor of Arts, in the same year
as he entered the University of St. Andrews, Buchanan again left his
native land and went to Paris.
This brings us to a new stage in his career. He had now de-
finitely made choice of the life of a scholar. The usual course for
those who followed this life was to take the higher degree in Arts
(M. A.), which qualified them to teach as " regents " in any of the
colleges. In this way the means of livelihood was secured to them
in the fees of pupils that might join their classes. In March^ 1528,
and so when he was just twenty-two years of age, Buchanan gradu-
ated as M.A.J and so became qualified to act as ''regent" On the
back of thiS; a place in the teaching staff of one of the most flourishing
and liberal colleges — that of St. Barbe — was given to him. There
is a great contrast between the work of a professor or tutor in our
colleges now and what it was at this early time, and between the
places where the work was and is dona In the class-room of the
ancient time the master or regent alone was seated. The pupils lay
in straw littered on the floor, and as their dress consisted of a gown
descending to the feet, one can imagine the filthy condition of many
of their persons. We can easily understand the necessity of a
rule, the observance of which was strictly enforced in the colleges,
that " no student was to carry his hand to his bonnet in the time
of meals." Brutal corporal punishment was iDflicted on the most
trivial occasions. Montaigne describes the schools as veritable
GEORGB BUCHANAN. 803
prisons of youth, and when you approached one of them you heard
nothing but, '^ oris d'enfants suppliciez et de maistres enyvrez en leur
chol^re." At the close, of his connection with St. Barbe Buchanan
wrote a poem on the "Wretched Condition of the Teachers of
Hnmane Letters in Paris/' One line confirms Montaigne's pictura
** Hence the rod is never idle, sobs never cease, the cheeks are never
dry." About this time there were two students at this college,
of which he was one of the regents, that afterwards greatly distin-
guished themselves in different ways, John Calvin and Ignatius
Loyola. He and Calvin must have met, for afterwards, in speaking
of this period, he mentions that "he fell among the Lutheran sectaries."
He would be drawn to this circle, of which Calvin was a prominent
figure, by his love for the new learning, of which it was the zealous
advocate. The honour in which he was held was evinced in his election
in 1529 to the procuratorship of the German nation in the college —
an office which put all its money affairs under his management, and
constituted him their representative in the coimcils of the Uni-
versity. It is said that he would have been elected to the higher
position of rector, but for his sympathy with the new viewa He
resigned his connection with St. Barbe in 1531, and soon afterwards
became tutor to the Earl of Cassillis.
While occupying this position in the Cassillis family he returned
to Scotland in 1535. The leisure which he had was employed by
him in writing a satirical poem against the religious order of the
Franciscans, entitled Somnium, The idea of the poem is that of a
vision in which St. Francis appears to the author, beseeching him to
don his habit. The answer given is that he can be an honester man
as he is, for vice and knavery are all that he can see in the so-called
religious orders. This reference to the wickedness prevailing among
them brought him the mortal enmity of the members of this order, and
their relentless persecution for many years. Circumstances, too, led him
to continue his assaults upon them, which increased their bitterness
against him. On the expiry of his engagement with Cassillis he had
thought of returning to France, but just then the reigning king of Scot-
land, James Y., asked him to become tutor to one of his natural sons.
Accepting this position, he was brought into close connection with the
court, and at the request of the king, who " enjoyed his roundest jest
at the expense of the clergy," and who thought the Franciscans
had been act and part in some plot against him, took up his pen
again to lash the vices of this order. His first effort resulted in two
short poems entitled PaUnodia^ full of savage satire. In them he
fancies himself judged by the members of this order, and, of course,
is mercilessly condenmed and punished. As soon as he is allowed to
304 GEORGE BUCHANAN.
speak he delivers himself in a strain like this : '' Prafane not, my
father, profane not, brothers, profane not your holy hands in my
blood. So may your seraphic order flourish under ever more glorious
auspices. So may the ignorant and stupid join your tribe in flocks ;
and may never an old woman be wanting for you to gull. May the
mob never discover your lies nor see through your impostures."
Worse follows. If the Franciscans were enraged before, this iucensed
them still more deeply. Still it was not enough to satisfy James, who
demanded of Buchanan another satire "which should not only prick the
skin but probe the vitals." In compliance with this royal request
he began the most elaborate of all his poems — his Franciscanus — a
poem which was not finished and published until James Y. bad
passed away. In it the satire upon the vices of the religious orders
is keener and more telling than in his previous efforts. It is very
coarse in some pal*ts, when judged by the standards of our own age, but
these were not the standards of the age in which it appeared, tn all
these productions, however, we have not a social or religious reformer
on firpwith zeal for the purity of religion and the welfare of men, so much
as the man of letters exercising his wit and his Latinit}\ It is said
that Buchanan had been contemplating entering the Church, but bad
been repelled from it on a closer examination of its life.
The Franciscans could not allow themselves thus to be attacked and
held up to ridicule without seeking to be revenged. He hdd to leave
his native land, and even in other lands where he sought an asylum their
persecution followed him. After wandering about for some time he
found a resting-place at Bordeaux, as regent in a college which had
recently been established there. Here he remained for three years,
-which were years of great literary activity. He wrote plays to be
acted by the boys in place of the absurd mediaeval mysteries. Among
them were translations of the Medea and Alcestis of Euripides, and
the dramatising of two Scripture stories, that of Jephthah and John
the Baptist. In the last two we see the working of those principles of
civil and religious freedom which a little later led him definitely to
take the side of the Reformation. They are the poetical draft of his
famous tract written in after years, De Jure regni apud Scotoa, and
which made him known in Europe as a political revolutionary. In
dedicating it to King James VI. in 1676;^ he says : " This little book
must seem to have a peculiar interest for yourself, inasmuch as it sets
before you in the clearest manner what torments and miseries tyrants
endure, even when they appear to be most prosperous, and this lesson
I deem not merely beneficial but absolutely necessary for you, so that
you may early begin to detest what it must always be your duty to
avoid. Moreover, I wish my book to be a standing witness with
.GEORGE BUCHANAN. 805
posterity,, that not with your teaohera but with yourself rested the
fault, if impelled by evil counsellors or your own .undue desire of
power, you should ever depart from the lessons you have received.''
After spending three years at Bordeaux he gave up his wotk
there, and for four years his movements cannot be very clearly
traced. In 1547 he was induced to go to Portugal, and to
join the teaching staff of a college at Ooimbra, which was
established to render unnecessary the travelling of the Portuguese
students to France. It was wrecked by the influence of the Jesuits.
Buchanan's stay here was marked by the composition of the most
objectionable of his erotic poems — evidently as an exercise of his
talents after the manner of the classical poets — and also of his famous
Latin version of the Psalm& This rendering of the Psalms into
Latin verse was a favourite exercise with the Humanists, as it gave
them scope for the exercise of their Latinity, and at the same time
kept them on good terms with the Church. Buchanan's version has
lived when others have been forgotten, but it can hardly be called a
translation of the Psalms. He seeks to give them the form and
texture of Horatian odes, and does not hesitate to introduce many
things quite alien to their spirit. His rendering of the 137th Psalm
is one that has been most admired. The next nine years after
leaving Portugal was spent in France, and during part of that time
he acted as tutor to a son of Mareschal de Brissao. His leisure again
was occupied in composing an elaborate scientific poem, entitled De
Sphcera, in which a famous text-book of astronomy, according to the
now antiquated Ptolemaic system, was paraphrased. His industry was
remarkable. In the latter years of his residence in France he seems
to have begun a serious study of the Bible, and of the questions at
issue between Home and the Protestant Reformers. Still he did not
decidedly cast in his lot with the Eeformers until his return to his
native land.
After anabsenceof 22 yearshe, inl561, returned toScotland. Heseems
to have become an inmate of the Court, cmd was in constant attend-
ance upon Queen Mary, reading Livy with her. It may seem strange
that Buchanan, who had joined the Beformed Church on his return,
should be so closely associated with the beautiful Queen who did all
she could to overturn it. His humanistic training and his intimate
acquaintance with France would form a bond between them in spite
of their difference in faith. He continued on this friendly footing
with her down to the murder of Darnley, when he was convinced that
she was not free from complicity in this crime. In his poem on the
birth of James YI. there are some outspoken passages that can only
be construed as animadversions upon Mary's private conduct and
8o6 GEORGE BUCHANAN.
private policy which did not meet with his approvaL The tragic
events that all too soon followed this — ^the murder of Damley and
Mary's marriage with Bothwell— changed his friendly feeling into one
of indignation and contempt. He acted with those who dethroned
her, and who put the case against her before Queen Elizabeth, and in
his famous Detectio used his literary skill to lay before Europe a justi-
fication of their conduct. Because of this he has been severely con>
demned by partisans of Mary, but an impartial review of the facts
reveals nothing at all discreditable to him.
Identifying himself with the Reformers he did good service, both by
his counsels and by his pen, to their cause. From 1563 he sat for
four successive years as a member of the General Assembly of the Re-
formed Church, and was one of the Commissioners appointed to revise
the Book of Discipline. He did much to oppose those — as the Hamiltons
and Maitland of Lethington — who sought to hinder the work of Reforma-
tion advancing. So great was the confidence of the Reformed leaders in
him, that they entrusted the education of the young king to his care.
If tradition is to be credited he did not deal with his royal pupil in a
different way from those whose cries were heard outside the class-room
at St. Barbe. His lessons were enforced with "dorsal discipline" when
it was thought necessary. Other methods he adopted were more likely
to be productive of good. He noticed in James an imdue facility
in complying with every request that might be made of him, and he
took the following method of correcting this weakness. " One day,
presenting two papers to him, he requested his signature. After a
careless question James did as he was desired. One of the papers
conferred on Buchanan the sovereignty of the kingdom for fourteen
days. He at once assumed the part of a king, much to the astonish-
ment of James, who began to think his master had lost his wits. On
asking an explanation he was informed that it was with his own con-
sent that Buchanan was now king. James was more amazed than
ever, but Buchanan, presenting the document with his own signature
afOxed, read him a lecture on the folly of his conduct." He sought,
too, to instil into his mind those principles about the rights of the people
that had taken a deep hold upon his own mind. It was for the purpose
of impressing these upon the mind of his pupil that he undertook at
this time the writing of a " History of Scotland " which, with all its
defects, remains a monument of his industry and felicity of style. His
labour in this respect, as history proved, was in vain, as James developed
that desire for absolute power which in the end proved so fatal to his
dynasty.
As might have been expected, he took the deepest and most practi-
cal interest in all educational matters, smd was of great service in set-
THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND AND A LITURGY. 807
tling the different educational establishments of the country in harmony
with the new ideals which the Keformation had brought. He was Princi-
pal of St. Leonard's College, St. Andrews, from 1566 till 1570, and
broughtlo it a prosperity it had not for long enjoyed. The liberal pro-
vision which the Reformers sought to make for education, lower and
higher, was in large measure withheld through the greed of the nobles ;
but the foundations were laid of those institutions which have done
so much for the intellectual and religious life of the country. No
small share of the work fell into the hands of Buchanan.
The closing years of his life were spent in Edinburgh, but in what
part of the town is not known. On the 28th of September, 1582, and so
in the seventy-sixth year of his age, his eventful and chequered life closed.
He died expressing his belief in salvation through the sacrifice of
Christ, and wishing all the worldly goods which belonged to him to
be given to the poor. He was ^ the first person of celebrity " laid in
the Oreyfriars' churdbyard, and the stone that was placed over his
grave, though renewed in 1701, has since disappeared. A simple
tablet now marks the spot, though in another part of the churchyard
a monument has been erected, consisting of a pedestal with a bust of
life-like size. Regarding his character we may quote the words with
^hich Mr. Brown closes the noble monograph to which we have
been indebted for the materials of this sketch. '^Taking him
all in all — having regard at once to the variety and scope of
his work, to the striking individuality of his character, and to the
fact that for nearly two centuries he stood before Europe as the one
man of genius his country had produced, we seem justified in assert-
ing that in the history of Scotland there is not a greater personality
than Buchanan. Scotland has produced more original thinkers, men
of perhaps higher literary genius, of greater practical power ; but in
xxo other Scotsman do we find, conjoined with the same range and
£[uality of gifts, that uniqueness of personal character, which, in its
iblendad humour and austerity, recalls to us certain of the great
figures of a classical antiquity."
DID THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND ONCE USE A LITURGY?
Therk was an article, by a contributor, under the above heading, in
the Scotsman of Monday, the 25th of August last^ and on the next
Monday, the 1st of September, the following letter was sent in reply;
but it was not allowed to appear, although communications of a later
date on the same subject were inserted. The reason why this
8o8 THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND AND A LITURGY.
calm and plain statemeut of facts was suppressed, bj a paper so pro-
fessedly fair and impartial, is, perhaps, obvious enough.
(To the Editor of the Scotsman.)
St. Andrews, 1st September, 1800.
Sir, — ^The article entitled, " Did the Church of Scotland once use
a Liturgy 1'' which appeai'ed in your issue of the 25th August, is
much more remarkable for its display of superficial knowledge than
for accuracy of statement. Not having access to my books last
week, I was unable to reply to it then ; but as none of your numer*
ous correspondents have yet touched the root of the matter, I will
now, with your permission, deal briefly with it.'
Begarding the English Liturgy, it is true that our Reformer was
the means of getting a rubric or declaration inserted concerning
kneeling at the Communion; but he was, nevertheless, far from being
satisfied with it as a whole. Your contributor admits that, when
Knox was in England, it is probable he " did not administer it in its
entirety, but used it rather with the same licence as was then allowed
in the Continental churches," but he immediately adds : — " That he
did use it, however, and this, too, without feeling that in so doing he
^ was violating his conscience, is just as certain as that, when he sub-
sequently went to Geneva, he carried with hiixv views which prepared
him for the reception of a much simpler form of service." Such an
emphatic assertion of Knox's having used the English Liturgy, while
in England, ought surely to have been supported by some authority.
Until your contributor brings forward some proof, few will care to
accept his statement ; and, assuredly, no one will do so who has
read Dr. Larimer's exhaustive monograph on ^' John Knox and the
Church of England." For the sake of those who cannot lay bands
on that woirk, the following quotation may be given : — " We are
now, then, fully in presence of the very remarkable fact that, for
four years after the issue of the First Prayer Book of Edward VI. —
i.e., from 1549 to 1553 — the border counties of England were ex-
empted from the obligation of conformity to the authorised liturgy of
the National Church, and that the Puritan forms of worship and
sacramental administration were in use in several, at least, of tbe;r
most important parish churches. John Knox preached and prayed
and dispensed the sacraments during all these years, entirely accord-
ing to his own views of Scripture warrant and prescription, not only
statedly for two years in Berwick, and for two years more in New-
castle, but also occasionally in Carlisle, and in many other places of
the two most northern counties. And he used this Puritan franchise
THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND AND A LITURGY. 809
uot only with the full cognizanoe of the Kiag and the Privy Council,
but with their cordial recognition and support " (pp. 160, 161).
Your contributor also remarks with apparent satisfaction that
" tbe Prayer Book of Edward VI. (as revised in 1552) was in actual
use in the country [Scotland] some years before the definite triumph
of the Reformation." It was immediately after the Lords had signed
the Band or Covenant, of the 3rd of December, 1557, that they resolved
on two things ; first, that in all parishes of this realm the '* Commoun
Prayeris" be read weekly on Sunday, and other festival days, publicly
in the parish kirks, '* with the Lessonis of the New and Old Testa-
ment^ conforme to the ordour of the Book of Common Prayeris : ''
and if the curates of the parishes be qualified, to cause them to read
the same ; and if they be not, or if they refuse, '' that the maist
qualifeid in the parish use and read the same." The second conclu-
sion shows the need of the first : — It is thought necessary that
doctrine, preaching, and interpretation of Scriptures be had and used
privately in quiet houses, without great conventions of the people
thereto, till afterward that God mov^ the Prince " to grant publick
preaching be faithfull and tre^ ministeris " (Laing's KnoXy i. 275,
276). Dr. M'Crie has pointed out that the Lords did not commit
themselves to all the forms and ceremonies of the English Liturgy
{IJife of KnoXf note D D). Knox was not in Scotland at that time,
but he was in July, 1559. I do not dispute your contributor's opinion
that, to some extent, the English Liturgy was used in Scotland at the
latter date ; but when Cecil wrote to Throkmorton on the 9th of
that month, his information on the point was, in all likelihood, simply
derived from Kirkcaldy's letter to Percy ; and, therefore, the matter
is perhaps not even yet "beyond all controversy." As David Laing
has well said : — " If we admit that the English Liturgy was actually
adopted, it could have only been to a partial extent, and of no long
continuance. But this, after all, is a question of very little import*
ance, although it has been keenly disputed ; for it is well to remem-
ber that at this period there were no settled parish churches, and as
there were no special congregations either in Edinburgh, or in any of
the principal towns throughout the country, no ministers had been
appointed. The Lords of the Congregation and their adherents were
much too seriously concerned in defending themselves from the Queen
Regent and her French auxiliaries, and more intent for that purpose
in endeavouring to obtain the necessary aid from England, than to
be at all concerned about points of ritual observances. In the fol-
lowing year, when the French troops were expelled from Scot|and,
and the Protestant cause was ultimately triumphant, we may con-
jecture that, in some measure, swayed by the avowed dislike of Knox
^lO THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND AND A LITURGY.
to the English service-book , . , the preference was given to the
Forms of Geneva " (Laing's Knox^ vi. 278, 279). It need hardlj be
said that no living man can pretend to be better informed than Laing
was on such matters. Writing to Mrs. Lock on the 6th of April,
1559, Knox expressed his opinion of the English Liturgy in no dubi-
ous terms^ He said : — '' Our Maister calleth upon his owne, and
that with vehemencie, that thej depart from Babylon ; yea, severelie
he threateneth death and damnation to such as, either in forehead or
in hand, beare the mark of the Beast. And a portion of his marke
are all these dregges of Papistrie which were left in your great Booke
of England, any jott whereof unU I never cotmaell any man to twe.
One jote, I say, of these Diabolicall inventiouns, viz.^ crossing in
Baptisme ; kneeling at the Lord's table ; mummelling, or singing of
the Letanie, a fvlgure et tcmpesiate : a subitanea et improvisa morUy
€to. The whole Order of your Booke appeareih rather to be devised
for upholding of massing priests, than for any good instruction which
the simple people can thereof receive."
So much for the English Liturgy. My strictures on your contri-
butor's statements concerning the Book of Common Order shall
follow in another letter if you will kindly grant me the necessary
space. — I am, etc., D. Hay FLsaoNO.
Had the foregoing letter been admitted into the columns of the
^Scotsman, a supplementary one would have been sent on the lines of
the following : —
(To the EdiUyr of the Scot97nan,)
St. Andre ws» September, 1890.
Sir, — Your contributor is grossly inaccurate in his account of the
origin of the Book of Common Order. After referring to the acces-
sion of Bloody Mary, and Knox's ministry at Frankfort, he saya : —
" Knox, it would appear, was not averse to compromise matters by
adopting considerable portions of the English Liturgy; for, in con-
junction with several prominent members of the congregation, he
drew up a summary of it, had it translated into Latin, and sent it to
Calvin for his opinioi) and advice. This compilation, rejected by the
Frankfort congregation, was now adopted by the exiles under Knox's
charge at Geneva. It was published in February, 1556, with the
title of * The Forme of Prayers and Ministration of Sacraments, etc.,
used in the Englishe Congregation at Geneva,' and was substantially
the same with the work subsequently known in Scotland as ' The
Book of Common Order,* or Knox's Liturgy." This can only be
characterised as a glaring example of culpable ignorance or wilful
THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND AND A LITURGY. 8ll
perversion. \ Knox, Whittingham, and others, in order to get Calvin*s
opinion of the English Liturgy, prepared a '*platt" of the whole
book in Latin for transmission to him ; but every one who knows
anything at all of the matter knows that this *' platt," summary, or
description of the English Liturgy was totally different from the
Book of Common Order. It is inconceivable how any one could fall
into such a mistake^ unless blinded by an infatuated desire to trace
the origin of our Book to the English Liturgy, which Knox abhorred.
While Knox and Whittingham, in making their summary for Calvin,
did not — out of pity--^xpose all the corruptions in the English book,
they took care to point out the portions which they most disliked,
and to show in what respects it resembled the Popish service. Tet
this is what your contributor has the effrontery to assert was rejected
by the Frankfort congregation, but used in Knox's congregation at
G^eneva, and substantially the same with the work subsequently
known in Scotland as the Book of Common Order !
Besides the above '^platt,'' or summary, two liturgies or orders
were prepared in Frankfort while Knox was there, and in both he
had a hand. After . long debating, it was resolved that Knox,
Whittingham, Gilby, Fox, and Cole ''shulde drawe forthe some
order meete for their state and time." The result was the first form
of the book afterwards known as the Order of Geneva, and still later
as the Book of Common Order. " This order was verie well liked off
many, but suche as were bent to the Booke off Englande coulde not
abide it." The contention waxed so hot that it was concluded that
Knox and Whittingham^ Parry and Lever, should devise some order
if it might be to end all strife. " Wherupon, after some conference,
an order was agreed upon: some parte taken forthe of the Englishe
booke and other things put to, as the state of that churche required "
{Brief Discourse of the Troubles begun at Frankfort, Petheram's re-
print, pp. 36, 37). It was agreed on the 6th of February, 1555, that
this order should continue till the end of April ; but the arrival of
Cox, on the 13th of March, put an end to the concord ; and soon.
Cox and Lever, Knox and Whittingham were engaged on still an-
other order. But on the third day of their reasoning, the Order of
Matins proved an apple of discord. As Knox puts it, '' Then began
the tragedie, and our consultation ended. Who was most blame-
worthy," he exclaims, "God shall judge; and if I spake fervently, to
God was I fervent " (Laing's Knox, iv. 46). To get quit of Knox's
opposition, his liturgical enemies adopted a despicable plan by which
he was forced to leave Frankfort, on the 26th of March, 1555, after
being there for five months.
The article, entitled " John Knox and the English Liturgy," bear-
8l2 THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND AND A UTURGY.
ing tlie initials of Dr. Sprott of North Berwick, which appeared in
3'our issue of the 8th September, although avoiding the atrocious
blunder of your preyious contributor concerning the origin of the
Book of Common Order, is misleading in several respects. I do not
refer to such michprints in his quotations as ''lituzgj" for ''litanj/'
and " full " for " face." For these he cannot be held responsible.
But his account of the Order, adopted by the English refugees in July,
1554, would lead one to suppose that it was simply the English
Liturgy with certain parts left out, whereas some other prayers were
substituted ; and it is specially mentioned that the people were to
sing '' a Psalme in meetre, in a plaine tune, as was, and is accustomed
in the Frenche, Dutche, Italian, Spanishe, and Skottishe churches."
Knox, however, had nothing to do with that Order. He was not
then in Frankfort. Regarding the proposed Order — already men-
tioned— which Knox was helping to frame just before he left Frank-
fort, Dr. Sprott coolly says : — " For two days their consultation was
amicable. Knox, it appears, made large concessions; but on the
third he lost his temper, and the consultation ended." This plainly
implies that the negotiations were abortive because of Knox's bad
temper; but the historian of the Troubles at FranJcfort lays the
blame on Dr. Cox's pertinacious adherence to the details of the Eng-
lish Liturgy. That Knox " spake fervently " is known only from his
own account ; but, as he himself has added, it was to God that he
was fervent ; and it has yet to be shown that a man cannot be fervent
for God without losing his temper.
Though casting blame — and casting it imjustly — on Knox in this
matter, Dr. Sprott knows that Knox's name is still one to oonjure
•with, and therefore he declares that, ^' It may be safely said that the
idea of a Church without a liturgy never entered Knox's mind," and
he immediately adds, '* He had no objection to the substance of the
English Liturgy, but merely to a few features of it." A sufficient
answer has already been given to the latter part of this statement ;
and the truth of the first part depends mainly, of course, on the
meaning put on the word " liturgy," and on the manner in which the
Liturgy, or Order, was to be used. As Professor Baird has said :
'* While discarding the cumbrous ceremonial of the Roman Church,
on the ground that it was not only overloaded with superfluous orna-
ment, but too fatally disfigured by irrational, superstitious, or impious
observances to be susceptible of correction or adaptation to the wants
of their infant congregations, the founders of the Reformed Churches
of the Continent did not leave the inexperienced ministers to whose
care these congregations were confided altogether without a guide* in
the conduct of divine worship. Esteeming a written accouut of the
THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND AND A LITURGY. 813
inanaer iii which the public servicea were customarily performed to
be the safest directory for the use of the young or ill-equipped, as
^ell as the surest means of silencing the shameless calumnies of their
malignant opponents, they early framed liturgies, not to be imposed
as obligatory forms, but rather to serve an important end in Securing
an orderly conformity in the general arrangement followed in their
churches " (Bise of the Huguenots^ i. 342). And as Professor Mitchell
has said : '' There is no reason for holding that the Book of Common
Order, while it continued in use, was regarded as more than a guide
or model, at least to the ordaiued ministers, or was ever meant to
be enacted or observed as a rigid Liturgy " (British and Foreign
Evangelical Review, xxi. 103).^ I intended to have given quotations
from the Book of Common Order itself to show that it did not bind
those using it to its very words ; but the letter signed " Scotus,"
which appeared in your issue of the 2nd September, renders that un-
necessary, as it embodies these quotations, as given by Dr. M'Crie in
his Life of Knox, note D.D.
But ^ven setting aside these considerations for the time being, it
<3an be shown that Dr. Sprott is in error in stating th^t '* the idea of
a Ohurch without a liturgy never entered Kuox*s mind." When he
penned such a statement he must have forgotten that, on the 7th of
July, 1556, Knox wrote a Letter of Wholesome Counsel to his
Brethren in Scotland, instructing them how to proceed at the meet-
ings of the Protestant congregations, which had been organised at
that early date. One sentence from that letter is enough : '^ Lykc
as youre assemblies ought to begyn with confessioun and invocatioun
^The opinion of Principal Lee (see Mb LectureSt i. 1^2, n.), of Dr. Lorimer (see his
SeoHHih ReformaHon, pp. 261-262)» and of other eminent sfcudentB of Scottish Church
history, might be quoted to the same effect. Even Dr. Sprott has said that it *' is
but, described as a discretionary Liturgy " (Introduction to the Book of Common
Order, 1868, p. xxiiL). As Laing puts it, it was " enjoined to be used chiefly as a
guide or directory •'* (Laing's Knox, vi. 281). Butherfurd thus distinguishes between
a directory and a liturgy : — " If it be said that neither the Church of the Jews, nor
the Church Apostolique had more a written directory, nor they had a written leiturgy
•or book of common prayers or publick church-service : I answer, nor had either the
Jewish or Apostolick Church any written creed or systeme, written of fundamental!
articles, such as is that which is commonly called the Apostolick Creed ; but they
had materially in the Scripture the Apostolick Crf^ed, and the Directory they had
also the same way, for they practised aU the ordinances directed, though they bad
'no written directory in a formaU contexture or frame : for prayers, preaching, prais-
ing, sacraments and censures never church wanted in some one order or other, though
we cannot say that the Apostolick Church had this same very order and forme : but a
leiturgy, which is a commanded, imposed, stinted form, in such words and no other,
is another thing than a directory, as an unlawful! thing is different from a lawf uU ''
{Rutherfurd's Divine MiffJU of Church Ooverwment and ExeommunioaHon^ 1646, p.
80 : see also liis Dilute touching Scandall and ChriiHan Libertie, appended to the
preceding, p. 88.)
8x4 THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND AND A LITURGY.
of Godis Holj Sprite^ so walde I that thay wer finissit with thaDkes-
givyng and common praiers for princes, rulers, and magistrates ; for
the libertie and free passage of Chrystes Evangell, for the comfort
and delyverauce of oure afflicted brethren in all places nowe perse-
cuted, but most cruelly within the realme of France and Elngland ;
and for such other thinges as the Sprite of the Lorde Jesus shall
teache unto you to bee profitable, eyther to your selves, or to your
brethren wheresoever they be " (Laing's JTnoj;, iv. 139). Can these
instructions be called a Liturgy ?
I now return to the allegations of your first contributor. After
referring to the events of 1560 — ^the Parliamentary establishment of
the Reformation, the holding of the first General Assembly, the
drawing up of the First Book of Discipline, and its recognition of the
Book of Comznon Order — he says : '^ In 1562 an edition [of the Book
of Common Order] was reprinted at Edinburgh, and it was ctgain en-
joined by the General Assembly ^ that an uniform order should be
kept in the ministration of the sacraments, solemnisation of marriage,
<&o., according to the Kirk of Geneva.'" Three things are here
noticeable. First, the word '' again " implies that it had been pre-
viously enjoined, which it certainly had not, for, although the First
Book of Discipline clearly recognises the Book of Common Order,
it does not prescribe it. Second, the " <kc." only covers " Buriall of
the Dead." ^ And third, the word " Kirk," which ought plainly to
be '^ Book," shows that he has not taken his quotation from the best
edition of the BooJce of the Untversall Kirk. Indeed, it does not tally
exactly with either edition. He next professes to quote two distinct
enactments of 1564 ; but the second is only an echo of the first — it
does not exist in reality. The Act of Assembly of 26th Deoonber,
1564, runs thus: ''Everie minister, exhorter and reader, sail have
one of the Psalme Bookes latelie printed in Edinburgh, and use the
order contained therein in prayers, marriage, and ministration of the
sacraments." It is long since Calderwood pointed out that : — "This
must be understood respective : for none but ministers, by the Book
of Discipline, might minister the sacraments " (Calderwood's Mtstory^
1678, p. 39). Your contributor would fain score a point here, but
his argument misses fire. For though ministers were to "use the
order contained therein," in dispensing the sacraments, that does not
imply that they were to adhere to the very words, either in exhorta-
tion or prayer. In point of fact, it is expressly said in one of the .
^Here is the whole of that chapter: ''The corps is reverently brought to the
grave, accompanied with the congregation, without any further oeremonicB : which
being buryed, the minister, if he be present, and required, goeth to the church, U it
be not farre of, and maketh some oomf ortable exhortation to the people, toucliiog
death and resurrection."
THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND AND A UTURGV. 815
t
rabrics: — "Then he [ue,, the minister] taketh bread and giveth
thanks, either in these wordes following, or like in effect.'^
Two quotations may h& given from the First Book of Discipline to
show the relation of the Church to the Book of Common Order. In
the Second Head, it is stated : — " Albeit the Ordour of Geneva, qubilk
now is used in some of oiure kirks, is suffioient to instruct the diligent
reader, how that boyth these sacramentis may be rychtlie ministred;
yitfw (me tmiformitie to be ketpit, we have thocht gude to adde this
as snperaboundand." Then follow three paragraphs, one on baptism
and two on the Lord's Supper. Had the Book of Common Order
been a rigid liturgy, to which absolute conformity was enforced, there
would have been no need for these superabundant explanations and
instructions. This passage occurs in the Fourth Head : — ** To the
kirkis quhair no ministeris can be haid presentlie, must be ap-
pointed the most apt men, that distinctlie can read the Commoune
Prayeris and the Scripturis, to exercise boyth thame selfis and the
kirky till thai growe to greattar perfoctioun."
Over and above the reasons advanced by Professor Baird, a prayer-
book was an absolute necessity in the Church of Scotland at the Re-
formation. Only six ministers were present at the first General
Assembly, and though steps were taken to increase their number, even
so late as 1596 there were '' above foure hundreth paroch kirks desti-
tute of the ministrie of the Word, by and attour the kirks of Argyle
and the Yles " (Booke of the Universall Kirk^ iii. 876). No wonder it
was resolved that the most apt men that could distinctly read should
be appointed to those congregations where ministers could not be had.
There was a difficulty even in getting suitable readers, and some of
these men after long service were still unfit for any higher duty. In
1584, the kirk session of St. Andrews concluded " That Thomas Wod,
redar, in tyme of prayaris, reid onlie the prayar in the Psalme Buik,
and the chaptouris alanerlie of the New and Auld Testament^ with-
out ony additioun of his awin brane, noit, or utherwyis, except it be
gevin him be wreit from the sessioun, and he to reid that without
additioun simplie " {Register of Su Andrews Kirk Session^ ii. 529). A
reader in the west was still more restricted, for, in 1595-6, the Pres-
bytery of Glasgow ordained " that thair be na thing red or sung in
the new kirk be Johne Bucchane, reidare thair, hot that quhilk is oon-
tenit in the Word of God " (Maiiland Miscellany^ i. 79).
Mr. Geddes, in your issue of the 30th August, proves by a pertin-
ent quotation from Calderwood's Altare Damascenum^ that, during
his ministry at Crailing (o. 1604 — 1617), he neither used the prayers
nor exhortations, that the same had been the case with many others,
and that it was free to every one to do likewise. The historian re-
3l6 THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND AND A LITURGY.
peats his testimony elsewhere. '* None," he says, " are tyed to the
prayers of that book ; but the prayers are set down as samplers '
(Calderwood's History, 1678, p. 25). As to the usage of the Church,
we are not left to the bare word of Calderwood, although, in such a
matter, his word would be adequate. Alexander Henderson — ^who was
ordained minister of Leuchars in or about 1612, in replying to the
objection that " they had no certain rule or direction for their publick
worship, but that CTery man, following his extemporary fanaie, did
preach and pray what seemed good in his own eyes ** — says, ** The
Form of Prayers, administration of the sacraments, adtnission of
ministers, excommunication, solemnizing of marriage, visiting of the
sick, etc., which are set down before their Psalm Book, and to which
the ministers are to conform themselves, is a sufficient witness, for
cUthough they be not tied to getforrns and words, yet are they not left a*
randome, but, for testifying their consent and keeping unity, they have
their directory and prescribed order. No where hath preaching and
the ministery more spiritual and less carnal liberty *' (Address to the
Beader, prefixed to T/te Order and Government of the Church of Scotland,
printed in 1641, and re-printed in 1690). To the same effect is the
testimony of Robert Baillie, who was inducted as minister of Kilwin-
ning in 1631 or 1632, and who afterwards became Principal of Glasgow
University. " The Warner," he says — and for Warner I might substi-
tute your contributor — " The Warner is here also mistaken in his
beliefe, that ever the Church of Scotland had any litui^; they had
and have still some formes for helpe and direction but no tie ever tn any
of them by law or practise ; They do not condemne the use of set
formes for rules, yea nor for use in beginners, who are thereby en-
deavouring to attaine a readinesse to pray in their family out of their
own heart in the words which God's Spirit dytes to them ; but^ for
ministers to suppresse their most comfortable and useful gift of prayer
by tying their mouth unto such formes which themselves or others
have composed, we count it a wrong to the Giver, and to him who has
received the gift, and to the Church for whose use that was bestowed ''
(Baillie's Review of BramhalVs Fairs Warning against the Scots Diseip-
line, 1649, pp. 67, 58).
Your contributor winds up his article by saying : — '* It was in 1645,
and with the hope of a general re-union of the British churches in the
Westminster Directory, that the Church of Scotland consented to lay
aside her proper and peculiar order of worship The important
thing to note is, that the Church of Scotland, €U %oeU by law as by cus-
tom, had once its own Liturgy, which continued to be the established and
received order until the period of conformity loith the standards pf the
Westminster Assembly of Divines," That the Book of Common Order
THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND AND A LITURGY. 817
was not used as a liturgy has been already proved ; I have produced
the testimony of three eminent ministers of the Church, who were all
ordained long before 1645, and they unanimously depone that the
ministers were not tied to the prayers of that book. Let me produce
one witness more, one from the other side of the house. William
Cowper was admitted minister of Bothkennar in 1587, was translated
to Perth in 1595, promoted to the Bishopric of Galloway in 1612,
and died in 1619. In his Seven Dayes' Conference hetweene a Catholicke
Christian and a Catholicke Romanes "the orcfer observed in the Church
of Scotland is declared to be conforme to the ancient or<f«r prescribed by
the Apostles, and practised in the Primitive Church." In describing
the ordinary Sabbath service, he first refers to that conducted by the
reader, the prayer "openly read out" by him, the proclaiming and sing-
ing of the Psalm, and the reading of the Scriptures. After the ringing
of the third bell the preacher comes in. ' ' First he will conceive a prayer,
at the which the people humble themselves ; thereafter he reads his
text of Holy Scripture, this the people heare with reverence, then hee
falls to the preaching, which some heare with their heads covered,
some otherwise (in that you may doe as your health requires) ; the
preaching Ifteing ended, he concludes all with a thanksgiving, after which
there is a Psalme sung by the i^hole congregation, and then the minis
tep blesseth the people in the name of the Lord, and so dimits them ;
you will see no other thing here " (Cowper's Works, 1626, pp. 680,
682). If it had been customary for ministers to read their pray-
ers, CoMrper's description would have been somewhat different.
To bring forward any farther proof, as to the custom of the Church
of Scotland in these early days, would only be to fill up your space
needlessly. I therefore refrain. But it may not be amiss to again
quote David Laing — the prince of Scottish historical antiquaries, and
the devoted editor of Knox's Works. "In no instance do we find
Knox himself using set forms of prayer; but that this book was
sanctioned, if not partly prepared by him, is undeniable. The
Presbyterian Wms of worship were totally unlike those of the
English Church, by endeavouring to adhere more closely to Scripture,
and to avoid anything approaching to Popish ceremonial worship.
Thus there was not only this freedom of extemporary prayer, . . .
but there was neither kneeling during prayec; nor while receiving the
Sacrament; there were no responses or coUects for particular days;
the frequent repetition of the Lord's Prayer was avoided ; and the
Litany and the use of the Creed rejected. Congregational singing
also was universally adopted in place of the chanting, and the choral
anthems and instrumental music retained in the English service.
But the use of the Book of Common Order, so far as the liturgical
3H
8l8 THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND AND A UTURGY.
part was ooncemed) had fallen into desuetude long before the time
of the Westminster Assembly " (Laiog's Knox^ vi. 283, 284). Arch-
deacon Hardwiok hit the nail on the hosA when he said that the
Book of Common Order '* did not restrict the minister to the use of
the yery words of the prayers, and therefore was preparing the way
for its own abrogation '' (Hardwick's ReforiMUion^ edited by Stubbs,
p. 141, n.).
Of the three letters which appeared in your issue of the 29th
August, that of Mr. Bremner Lee shows that, in 1638, there was a
strong feeling against a prescribed liturgy. The pretentious letter
of the Bev. Duncan Macgregor of Inyerallochy is utterly unwortihy
of any serious reply. The extracts given by my friend Mr. Craxnond
of CuUen prove that in some parts of the countiy, during the spate
of Episcopacy, readers were revived, and that one of their duties was to
read prayers. It would be interesting to know if the prayers of the
Book of Common Order were used in all these places, and whether
they were adopted to obviate Presbyterian scruples ; but, of course,
the modes followed by the prevailing party at that time can have no
weight with the true adherents of the Reformed Church of Scotland
now. The most striking point brought out in Mr. Cramond's letter
is that, even after the Revolution, schoolmasters were, in some
parishes, paid for saying prayers in the church every morning and
evening. It is well known, however, that, for some time after
the Revolution, Scotch Episcopalians did not venture to use a liturgy.
Merer, for example, says : — " The Episcopal Church have hitherto
used no liturgy at all, no more than the Presbyterians, who now
govern " {Selections from the Ecdesiastioal Records of Aberdeen^ Spald.
Club, p. Ixvii.). And Bishop Rattray dolefully bewails the condition
in which his Church then was :— ^'' The state of this Church with
respect to publick worship ... at the Revolution, and for a long
time after, was very lamentable, and such as scarcely deserved that
name ; for we had no such thing as any offices or liturgie used among
us. The method in our ordinary assemblies on the Lord's-day was
almost the same with that of the Presbyterians. . . . This so great
affinity to them, I say, was without doubt the reason why our people
so generally joined with the Presbyterians in the beginning of the
Revolution, or, as they expressed it, went to the kirk to hear them ;
as perceiving no other difference from what they had been formerly
used to, save only in the omission of the Lord's Prayer and the doxo>
logy, at the times I have formerly mentioned ; which, had the Pres-
byterians been so wise as to have continued, their harvests had pro*
bably been still greater ; for the divine right of Episcopacy, and the
necessity of an ordination by bishops for conferring the sacerdotal
THE CHURCH OF SCOTLANl) AND A LITURGY. S19
powers was then very little known among our laity, perhaps not by
several of our clergy themselves In this deplorable state we
continued till about the year 1707 or 1708| only the English Common
Prayer Book had been used in some private families before, almost
from the beginning of the Revolution ; but about that time [t.«., 1707
or 1708] it began to be introduced into our more publick assemblies;
and as the gentry and people of better fashion were generally zealous
in promoting it, so it came to take very soon with our commons also ;
only some few of our older clergy showed some backwardness to it,
as looking upon every alteration from what they had been accustomed
to, how much soever to the better, as a culpable innovation " (Gordon's
Scotichronicon^ ii. 109-112).
I shall now close this letter, already too long, by quoting the
opinion of a maid- servant of the olden time on the English Book of
Common Prayer. " Truly they have given it a right name, for it is
but common prayer, indeed ; it is not the book of spiritual prayers,
so cannot be acceptable to God, who only must be worshipped in
spirit and truth. Of all the books in the world, it is the most use-
less and unreasonable, to think that a book can teach us to pray to
God, whereas it is the office of Christ as a prophet to teach ; we need
not employ Christ when we have a book to teach us. O, what can
ail Prelacy at precious Christ that they strike so hard to rob Him of
His glorious titles ? The king must have one, the bishop another,
the servico-book a third. 0, unreasonable to print prayers ; prayer
does not consist in words, Rom. viii., 26 : The Spirit hel2>eth our irir
firmities with tighs and groans which cannot he uttered. Great Mr.
Samuel Rutherford said. They cannot print sighs and groans ; so,
then, printed prayers are but toothless and pithless. John Knox,
writing to a gentlewoman, exhorts us to beware of the service-book,
for it was but the dregs of Popery. It is a roost unreasonable book,
if we will consider the relation God comes under to His people — He is
their hiuhand and their father. What needs the wife a book to learn
how to speak to her husband ? or the child a book to speak to his
father ? The intimacy that is betwixt them produces converse ; but
it seems the prelates and their companions have little intimacy with
Christ, for as a godly minister said, They speak to Him as if they
had never spoken to Him all their days before. They think by their
printed prayers to compliment Christ out of His right. Many sweet
hours the people of God enjoy with Him without a prayer-book.
Where got Jacob his prayer-book when he wrestled all night and
prevailed 1 To be sure printed prayers cannot be wrestling, so
neither can they prevail. What if a man going to a physician with
a distressed, distempered body, one meets him and says, I will give
820 EVANGELISTIC WORK.
you a prayer-book that will teacl^ you how tp make your distemper
known to the doctor. 0, says Xhe man, that is unreasonable. I
know my trouble better than all the. books m the world can tell me.
They need not want a prayer-book that* has an ill heart '* (Memoirs or
Spiritual Exercises of Elizabeth Wast, vnitten by her ovm hand : fourth
ed., 1730, pp. 201, 202). How many of those nurtured on "beauti-
ful services " and read prayers, with the too usual accompaniment of
a short, shallow sermon, could say as much in defence of their
Spiritual food as this humble domestic could for hers ? — I am, ^.,
D. Hay Fleioko.
EVANGELISTIC WORK : ITS WEAKJSTESS AND ITS
. STRENGTH.
AK ADDRESS DELIVKRED AT A MEETING IN CONNECTION WITH TOUNG X£>*'s
CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATIONS.
The evangelist deals chiefly with two great facts, and the first of
these is, that every human being is a sinner. I care not from what
soil a man has drawn his birth or with what powers of mind or body
he is gifted. I care not whether he be adorned with the gaudy trap-
pings of tBxik or gfbvel in obscurity on the ground floor of society.
One aw fid fact brings all the varieties o£ mankind to a common
ground : we are all by nature enemies of God. There is a great
difference between a peaceful landscape where nature wreathes herself
in sweetest green, and the crater of Vesuvius, but ^ere is reason to
believe that beneath the fairest sward which covers the crust of this
globe of ours, beneath every inch of the earth's, surface, all the elements
of the volcano are for ever surging. Just so in every human heart,
until the touch of God's Holy Spirit has renewed it, there is the foid
principle of alienation from God. It may not have assumed as yet
that forqx of impassioned godlessness which you find in the pages of
men like Byron and Shelley. The pleasing fomis of unswerving
rectitude and kindly disposition may cover it. But it is there ; and
its presence there stamps ibe character of imm with degradation and
guilt. He is a rebel against his Sovereign, and there hangs above him
a rebel's condemnation and a rebel's doom. There is no heaven in the
universe, no possibility of blessedness for the man who does not love
God, for he carries in his bosom all the rudiments of the worm that
dieth not and the fire that shall not be quenched.
On this dark background it is fhe evangelists busin)&ss, in the
EVANGELISTIC WORK. 821
second place, to paint the bright picture of the gospel. He comes
with a message of grace to the gailty and salvation to the lost. With
the insight of a personal experience he interprets to his fellow sinners
the thoughts of love jnitXi which the heart of our Father in heaven
yearns over Hia wayward children.
Evangelistic work, then, has a very definite aim. When we
ascend the platform to give an evangelistic address we mean to bring
such considerations before the minds of our audience as will convince
them of their guilt and danger. We ply them with motives to repent-
ance— instant thorough-going repentance. We tell them of the grace
and mercy of God. We point them to the atonement of Christ. In
one word, we seek to bring these two weightiest of topics, man's ruin
and God's remedy, into living contact with the heart and conscience
of those who hear.
These are commonplace truths^ no doubt, l^ut it is of the utmost
moment that all who engage in evangelistic work should have a clear
idea of what they mean to do. The best way of going straight to an
object is to keep your eye on it. The methods of evangelistic work
are determined by the purpose of evangelistic work. Within the
limits of Scripture and common-sense everything which has a clear
tendency to lead men to repentance and faith in Christ should be
done, and anything which drives men away from Christ should be
avoided. Now let us test our methods of carrying on evangelistic
work by this plain and rational maxim. Take, for example, the
practice of button-holing people at our meetings and asking them
questions regarding their spiritual state. Observe I do not for a moment
object to speaking personally to men on the all-important subject of
religion. Far from it. Some of us are very eager in discussing
politics, for example, with any one who cares to speak on that topic,
and there is no ground for banishing the subject of personal religion
from our conversation. If our hearts are on fire about divine things,
it would be intolerable to hjive our lips sealed. But there is a Chris-
tian wisdom as well as a Christian zeal. There is a fitting time and
place for religious conversation, and that time and place are seldom
found in a public meeting. In some cases this practice, so far from
doing good, has caused unmitigated mischief. It keeps away from our
meetings many persons who would otherwise attend them. It has
produced in not a few, a life-long disgust at religious men. It often
results in a spurious imitation of the work of the Holy Spirit. Mark
you I do not say that it should never be done, but I do say it requires
uncommon prudence and tact to save it from proving an evil. That
stranger must have a very reassuring countenance and a very winning
manner who would induce a man with proper self-respect to lay his
822 EVANGELISTIC WORK.
bosom bare, especially in the presence of others. I dislike this Pro-
testant confessionaL It saps spiritual modesty. I object to pour out
my soul into the ear of any man who chooses to put me into the
evangelistic witness-box.
Here, too, let me allude to a practice closely allied to this, which I
have noticed somewhere. Following the evangelistic meeting we
sometimes have a short time of prayer with those who wait behind.
At such times we have often felt Grod's presence very near, but it did
seem a pity that on such an occasion a weak-minded brother, on
whom nature had bestowed no sense of the fitness ^f things, should
flit about amongst the worshippers asking them questions and other-
wise disturbing their devotions. I have no hesitation in saying that
such conduct displays a shocking want of reverence. What ! is
prayer such a trifling thing that any kind of surroundings will do for it 1
How can your soul be bushed as it bught to be in the presence of
the Most High, while the din of conversation is falling on your ears?
Anything that is won at the expense of reverence for God is a very
questionable gain indeed, and I will not consent to sacrifice the very
essence of religion on the altar of a foolish zeal.
Then about street preaching t Well, for the open air meeting iu
itself, I have nothing but the warmest commendation. There is a
class of persons — a large and, unhappily, a growing class — who are
utter strangers to our church services. They will not come in. Here
our duty is as clear as daylight. If they will not come to hear the
Oospel, we must carry the Gospel to them. We need no higher
warrant for any practice than the example of our Lord and His
apostles, and amidst the scorn of foes and the cold pity of friends,
we feel assured that we are walking in His steps when we speak for
Him in the streets of our towns and cities. The voice of Christiau
expediency plainly bids us amidst the density of our lapsed masses
to ''go out into the highways." But a just and sober view of the
purpose of evangelistic work seems to forbid our procession from the
open air meeting to the hall. We inherited that from the Salvation
Army I suppose. I admire the courage and energy of that enter-
prising body very much, but I fervently wish that we had copied
their virtues without stealing their clothes. Besides, we cannot. do
the procession so military like as they : we have not had the drilL
In truth, I utterly abhor the practice, and I do not know a single
sensible thing that can be said on its behalf. What rational purpose
does it serve 1 It makes open air work ridiculous and that gratuit-
ously. Good men pity us, and bad men laugh at us, and no wonder
Just imagine a dozen young men coming along the street in a kind
of straggling disorder, singing a tune which the composer never
EVANGELISTIC WORK. 823
meant for inarching purposes, the front rank at the third line while
the rear guard is mangling the chorus. I tell jou, sirs, it is funny ;
and I defy a spectator with the least tinge of humour in him to keep
from smiling. I suppose you will call me a coward, but even at the
risk of that, I frankly admit that I never joined in a procession with-
out a feeling of shame. I say seriously we have no right to make
fools of ourselves. You remind me that Paul gloried in being a fool
for Christ's sake. Yes, but his was a grand and manly folly without
the least bit of childishness in it. Beware of needlessly filling the
scofifer's quiver. Make the religion of Jesus impressive if you can ;
aye, make it hated if you must ; but spare, oh, spare its sacred form
from pity or contempt
One great source of weakness in evangelistic work is the prevailing
want of any just sense of its necessity and importance on the part of
Christian people generally. N<T one will accuse me of any want of
respect for the organised Christian churches, and I cheerfully acknow-
ledge the energy and devotion with which, for example, Foreign
Missions have been sustained during the present century by the vari-
ous churches in this country. It is more in sorrow th^.n in censure
that I say deliberately that the Church, as a general rule (for there
are not a few honourable exceptions), has shown an alarming calloua-
ness towards evangelistic effort at homa This will not be denied by
any man who knows the facts of the case, and believes in his heart
that apart from faith in Christ men will be lost A Christian con-
gregation is the natural centre of evangelistic work. It is a conveni-
ent base of operations. It fiimishes a permanent organisation to
which the new converts would naturally attach themselves. This
last point is of vital importance, for we must remember that ^the
evangelist s work, even when successful, is only the first stage in a
long process. When a man has been persuaded to trust in Jesus
Christ for salvation, he has only taken the first step in the career of
Christian discipleship. Beligion is a life-work. Abiding in Christ
must follow believing in Christ If there is anything in the use of
means at all, they are more applicable to the preservation of spiritual
life than to imparting it at first. How many, alas ! have we known
who seemed to take the first step and afterwards went back t I fear
we have not used our personal influence with these persons, and that,
too, at the very point where influence can tell most eflTeotively. Why
did we relinquish our attack upon the fortress when we had gained a
good foothold within it ? We cannot lay too much stress on the
value, under God, of Christian fellowship for these converts. Let us
bind them to the regular institutions of the Church until Christian
principle within them hardens into fixed Christian habits. Ltet our
824 EVANGELISTIC WORK.
congregations open their arms and encircle these persons within their
sheltering bosoms with a generous loye and a watchful care. This is
the Church's proper task, and, to encourage it in doing the task, I
would haye eyangelistic work concentrated round our congregations.
It is at the Church's peril if it treats this matter with indifference.
What does It exist for, but to advance the glory of God through the
salvation of men ) If you turn this noble institution from its holy
purpose into a mere commercial concern^ in which the uppermost in-
terest is the state of the funds and the number of carriages which
draw up at its gates, you are perverting it most shamefully, and the
hand which held the scourge of small cords in the temple is raised in
warning against those who dare to prostitute the house of God to such
miserable ends.
A closer connection with the Church would save evangelistic work
from another source of weakness, whith you will permit me to men-
tion. None of us in this large meeting has any sympathy, I presume,
with that incipient Plymouth brethrenism which turns away **ith
narrow-minded bitterness from those organised institutions in which
our fathers worshipped God. We have not caught- the spirit of that
folly which expects to cure sectarianism by building up another small
and miserable sect with all the vices and none of the virtues of the
existing denominations. Let me, then, make this suggestion. Would
it not be well that the Church €hould recognise evangelistic work ic
some official way, to the extent, at leasts of reconunending such per-
sons as might be found fitted by gifts of character and knowledge and
speech to conduct evangelistic meetings. A long course of observa-
tion has fully convinced me that many who attempt this work are
not ^usefully employed in so doing. Their proper function is not that
of public speaking. It would be a delicate matter for a private per-
son to tell them so, and we feel the need of a recognised authority to
decide the point. Bat more even than this» we need a real, living
faith in that God who sceth in secret that may lead us to go and do
the humble things which do not catch the world's notice, and reap
not man's applause. We need a manly common-sense, and a self^
forgetful humility, to climb down, if need be, to the post that suits
us. And then, on the other hand, there are some brothers who might
well lay aside the false modesty or cowardice, or whatever else it be,
that keeps them from laying their gift of speech on the altar. It
may be only a silly pride, after all, which holds them in the rear
rank and the back benches. Oh ! for a baptism of single-hearted
loyalty to Christ just to lead us to take our proper place> be it high
or humble, in the great army of the Crosa
And then among those of us who do speak, is there not sometimes
EVANGELISTIC WORK. 825
the hurtful notion that anything is good enough for an evangelistic
address ? Kemember this is very solemn work and it carries a fearful
responsibility with it. You cannot tamper with the honour of the
King of kings and the eternal destiny of your fellow-men with im-
punity. The illustration you employ, the text ypu quote, your very
forms of expression may be small matters in themselves, but, in view
of the issues that depend on them, they assume an importance which
naakes us tremble as we think of it.
An evangelistic address is an instrument for a very definite pur-
pose. Let it be suitable for that purpose. Keep your eye fixed on
the end you aim at. Give your subject keen, prayerful study. Do
not suppose that I am pleading the cause of starched essay-writing
for a gospel meeting, for my soul sickens at the smell of the midnight
oil. Leave your manuscript at home — unwritten. A good address
must come fresh from the lips of a man 'who can both think and
feel. It is the natural outflow of a clear head and a godly heart
filled with intense convictions on spiritual things, and throbbing with
love to man. It is manly, sincere, earnest — the outward expression
of great truths, which are known and loved within. Beware of the
infection of cant. Resist the temptations alike of vulgarity and
twaddle. In one word, aim at speaking as a man must speak who
has gazed so long on eternal things that they have become part of
the world he lives in — to whose inward sight the invisible God, and
judgment, and heaven, and hell, have gained a reality and a per-
manence, compared with which the things of earth are a fleeting
shadow.
Let me briefly mention two things on which the strength of
evangelistic work mainly depends. The first of these is consecration.
In respect to his power for good, a Christian is just what his personal
character makes him. A holy character is an epistle Of Christ
known and read of all men. It is written in a language all can
understand. Eyes which have never looked upon an open Bible can
see it, and ears which seldom hear the gospel preached are open to
this most powerful of addresses. Let us call in this potent foi'ce
to help us in our evangelistic work. Oh ! if we Christians realised
how short the time is and how urgent the call to whole-hearted work
for God, how differently we would live. Every thought, and word,
and action would be bent to the single purpose of advancing the
glory of the Lord. The world needs this. Are men to perish because
we choose to be selfish and slothful 1 They are pressing on to per-
dition all around us, and our plain, imperative duty is to strive to
arrest them in their downward course by the persuasive eloquence of
consecrated lives.
826 EVANGELISTIC WORK.
Our success in this depends, in the second place, on tke work of
the Holy Spirit Not one inch of real progress shall we make in
evangelistio work until we realise our utter powerlessness apart from
Him. We must reach the end of our own strength, and get rid of
the last atom of confidence in the *flesh, ere we are meet for the
Master^s use in this business. We need the help of the Spirit our-
selves to guide us into the truth, and to touch our hearts and lips
with fire. Our hearers need the Spirit that the inward ear may be
opened to our message. I know that some persons regard every
reference to the Holy Spirit as a kind of pious remark which must be
made for form's sake. I have no hesitation in saying that such a
state of mind utterly unfits a man for taking any part in evangelistic
work. *^ We believe in the Holy Ghost^" so runs the language of the
universal creed of Christendom. Yes ; but what we need is to take
that article of the creed and translate it into the abiding conviction of
our inmost soul, so that it may become the object of habitual, con-
fident dependence in ail our religious work.
Ours, my fellow-workers, is a noble cause — a cause in which arch-
angels would be proud to join. How petty are all those interests
i^'hich men call great, compared with that of bringing, the glorious
gospel of Christ into living contact with human hearts, and thus
blessing them with the untold riches of eternal life. There is room
for enthusiasm in a work of such magnificence. Bring the best
fruits of your best gifts and lay them imgrudgingly at the feet of
Jesus. And let the work be done with manly perseverance and in
no craven spirit. No doubt there are discouragements. Appear-
ances are against us. The world is against us. The Church is not
always with us. But the Almighty God is on our side, and we
labour in a cause which lies near to His heart. Our arm is feeble,
but it is linked in a common purpose with the omnipotent arm which
moves the universe. Be strong, therefore, and of good courage.
Lift up your eyes and look beyond these days of weaiy and yet
hopeful endeavour. A brighter day is coming. In the distance I
seem to discern a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness
dwells. Through the influence of these holy principles which jou
teach with your lips and exhibit in your lives, there is surely rising
into realised existence a world free from the touch of sin and sadness,
in which the righteous God shall rejoice with unmingled complaisance
over a redeemed and sanctified humanity.
PAGES FOR THE YOUNG. 827
^ageg for tljt gouug.
BIBLE QUESTIONS.
I HAVE found it rather a difficult task to arrange the prize-list for you, my dear
children. Some of you have stepped from one class into another during the
last two years, and, I am afraid; that some have not retained the same motto
during the whole of each year. I have done my best to keep count of your
appearances and answers, and if I have made any mistakes I will be very
pleased if you will just let me know. The first list I give contains the
names of those who have been most regular during the last two years—those
with an asterisk prefixed having sent in answers 12 times, the others 11 times.
Prises, provided by kind friends, will be forwarded to each of them in a
short time.
Aberdeen — ^William Hannan ; Ayr — * Annie Bryan, ♦Ella Bryan, *Catherine
J. Bryan, *G. T. Cowieson, *Jane Jack, *J. Robertson Cuthbert, *D. J.
Oowieson; Coupar-Angtis — Annie Irvine, ♦Maggie B. Irvine; Carnoustie —
♦Paniel Patrick; Duttdee — *Robert M* Vicar; Birsay — Lizzie G. Moar; Glas-
gow— William Jack; Hamilton — ♦Maggie K. W. Martin; Kirkcaldy — ♦John
SomerviUe (now gone to live at Blackhill, Durham) ; Perth — ^♦D. M. Adaipson
(Newburgh), ♦Davina S. Morton ; Olrig — ♦Ellen Calder ; 5^^rcwtra€r— William
Crawford, Maggie Hamilton, Bessie Hamilton, Axmie C. Crawford.
The second list contains the names of those who have sent in six answers
during the past year, and who may expect to receive some little recognition
ere long.
JuKiOR Class. — Aberdeen — Mary D. Hannan : Ayr — William Jack, Netta
Bryan ; Dundee — Charlie B. M'Vicar ; Edinburgh — Annie M. Youngson,
Annie Brodie, Magdalen Sturrock ; Kirkcaldy — W. Somerville (now in Black-
hill, Durham); Stranraer — Mary Hamilton; Thurso — Jessie Keith.
Middle Class. — Aberdeen — Ebenezer Ritchie Hannan; Ayr — Christina R.
Cuthbert; Edinburgh — Jessie Sturrock; Hamilton — Mary H. Martin;
Stranraer — Marion Crawford ; Thurso — Maggie Keith.
Senior Class. — Olasgoio—-Creorg\nA M. Scott; Edinburgh — James Gorrie
Brodie, Charlotte Thomson Brodie, David Sturrock, Walter Sturrock ; Shotts-
hum — John Baillie ; Stranraer — James A. Crawford.
The third list I give contains the names of those who have only failed once
during the past year. I can give them only honourable mention, and they
deserve it.
JuifiOB Class. — Aberdeen — Alexina Dunn ; Kilwinning — Jessie R. Matthew;
PeUsley — Jeannie R. Auld ; Stranraer — David P. Caldwell.
Middle Class. — A berdeen — Mary Dunn ; Balloch — * *Berta " (name not given) ;
KUvfinning — R. Smith Knox ; Kirkcaldy — Henry £. Anderson ; Kirkintilloch
— Gilbert Lang ; Thurso — Maggie Keitli, Frank Keith.
Senior Class. — Birsay — Mary F. Spence, John George Brown ; Dundee —
Agnes M* Vicar; Carluke — ^Euphemia Weir; Kirkcaldy — Jessie Anderson;
Shottsbum — George Stewart (Carnbrox).
Some of these, I believe, only began to answer in the beginning of this year,
and have zealously persevered since beginning.
I shall now give the list of those who have answered not quite so long or so
regularly, and this includes the names of those who sent answers to the last
828 PAGES FOR THE YOUNG.
set of questions. I shall not be able this month to give any of the
bat I may say that the papers are quite equal in merit to any that have been
sent in before.
Junior Class. — Edinburgh — Qeorge Sturrock ; KUwmning — "Honey-
suckle" (name not given); CasUetown — John Gillies, Bella M'Dcmald, Thomaa
Mnir ; Thurso — Julia Keith.
Middle Class.— JDundce— Peter M'Vica^; 0/Wjr— John M'Crae; PoUok-
shawa Garland.
Senior Class.— ^lyr— Alex. C. Cuthbert"; CaWtii&e— -Jeannie M'Laren ;
Olrig — Jane Fraser, M. J. M'Kenzie, Creorgie Bell Sandison, Barbara M'Kay,
''Ivy," ''Scotch Thistle," (names not given) ; PcUohshawa Garland ;
ShoUsbum — Elizabeth M 'Go wan ; ^S^ranroer— Nathaniel P. CaldwelL ,
The motto "Diligence," Shottsbum, was inadvertently left out of the list in
September, and this mistake has been rectified. Some of yon in the last list
have only begun recently to send answers, and I trust that when we may
reach the end of another volume, if it shall please God to spare as, yoa will
be found among those who have never failed to answer and to answer weU.
The questions that follow are the first of a now series. The answers are to
be sent to me addressed, 0. S, Magazine^ Rev. R. Morton, Allanbank, Perth*
not later, if possible, than the beginning of December. You can choose any
motto you like, but keep to the same one month after month. Never change
it until you are asked to do so. Be sure and put the name of the congregation
to which you belong, or of the locality where you live, beside your motto. I
hope that now, since we have fairly got under weigh, we shall have a pleasant
and prosperous voyage for the next year. May God speed us, and put it into
the hearts of your pastors, parents and Sabbath-school teachers to interest
themselves in the work.
Under 10.
1. What made Samson so strong, and how was he to keep his strength.?
2. Name three wonderful things he did that showed his strength ?
3. How did he lose his strength ?
4. What state was he in after he lost it ?
5. How did he get it back, and how did he tae it when he got it back ?
Under 13*
Read Dan. vi.
1. What would you say was wrong with the laws of the Modes and Persians ?
2. Why did Daniel pray towards Jerusalem ?
3. Name another instance of a man who prayed three times a day.
4. What sin would you say Daniers enemies were guilty of ?
5. Prove from Scripture that those who honour God will be honoured by
Him.
Above 13.
1- Prove that men ought to work for their daily bread.
2. Give two examples from the Old Testament, and two from the New
Testament of bread being provided by a miracle.
3. Where does Jesus liken Himself to bread ?
4. How does He show Himself to be better than ordinary bread ?
5. In what places do we read of Him using bread to represent Himself?
PAGES FOR THE YOUNG* Sig
5HE LIGHT-HOUSE.
" Let your light ao shine before men." — Matt. v. 16.
Some months ago I visited with some friends one of the Buddonness light-
houses, at the entrance to the river Tay. It stands about 103 feet high, from
ivhich a beautiful view is obtained of the German ocean, the river Tay, and
the surrounding country. We ascended a long spiral stair, winding like the
thread of a screw. After getting up about 123 steps, we had to ascend an
iron ladder into a room where there were a long seat, a chart, a barometer, a
thermometer, and various things conoecteji with light-houses. From this
room a door leads out to a balcony from which the view we have described is
obtained. By ascending another ladder from the foom, we entered the apart-
ment which contains the lantern. This lantern is about 12 feet in diameter.
One is impressed with the mass of thick glass scientifically arranged so as to
throw all the light on one point. There are two lights in ^e Itotern, one for
the river, and the other for the sea. Now, I wish to point out to you we
shduld all be in life wha^ the light-house is by the sea, casting forth Ught to
guide and warn thcBe in darkness ; and the earlier girls and boys begin the
longer will be their career of usefulness.
To he like the Itght-houae toe must have light in order to be of service to others.
The value of a light-house lies in its light. In like nuumer, our value morally
and spiritually to the world of mankind around us lies fn the light of Christ we
reveal. We must reveal the light of His truth. The Lord Jesus said, "I am
. . . the truth." And in proportion as we reveal Him will we reveal His
truth. He never told an untruth, nor acted a lie. Those who speak lies and
ffrct lies are like light-houses with no light in them. The Lord Jesus was
never like that. Living constantly in a dark world, morally and spiritually,
the light of troth was always seen In Jesus. So should it be with us. XiCarn
to hate .the wicked way of lies. We must^ too, reveal the light of ChrisVs spirit.
It is here very particularly where many fail to be like the light-house, giving
forth that which will attract, and guide, and bless others. What we see in
<:niri8t is a tender, and not a wounding spii*; ; a sympathetic, and not an un-
feeling spirit ; a forgiving, and not a revengeful spirit ; an unselfish, and not
a grasping spirit ; a helping, and not a thoughtless spirit. A very beautiful,
steady, attractive light shone forth from Christ in these respects. What a
priceless possession, to have the light of a winsome spirit !
Very great is the work Divine grace has to accomplish in improving the temper
and disposition of young and old. Some girls and boys occasionally with their
quick temper blaze up like gun-powder, some are stubborn as the mule, and
some are sour as vinegar. But the more we get of the spirit of the Lord Jesus in
us, the more will we be pleasant and bright. How cheery the woods are when
the birds sing. As cheery will we be when we hav6 the bright, kindly spirit
of Christ in us.
It is as netdffvA thaJt vae reveal the light of a pure life. How pure the life of
Christ was from everything like deceit,^dishonesty, and vice. The light which
the light-house casts out upon the dark sea is a pure light. We too, if we fere
to be light-reflectors, must reveal purity. Never grow up hypocritical, dis-
honest, vicious. Purity will attract and win others to the Saviour. A young
man on the verge of infidelity said, there was one argument in favour of
Christianity he could never refute, 9nd that was the consistent godly example
of his father. You have heard of that little creature commonly called the
830 ^ PAGES FOR THE YOUNG.
glow-worm, which we are told in an interesting book, entitled, *' Haunts of
Nature," is not a worm but an insect. Its scientific name means the lamp that
shines by night, a very beautiful and appropriate name. In the darkneaa ita
body becomes luminous. That id a picture of what we should be. Our
character and life should be so luminous with the light of purity and upright-
ness as will make us like lamps that shine in darkness.
But to be like the light-house toe mu8t let our light shine before others. This
means, in order to be serviceable to others, it must appear. We may not
cover it up and keep it to ourselves, but let it be visible to all around ua. The
light-house does not shine for the light-house keeper's benefit, but for those
out on the dark sea. Its light consequently must be shed forth into the
darkness without.
" Let the light burn all night mother, cried little Mary then ;
'Tls bat a little light, hut stlU It might saye drowning men.
That night on the rocks below as, a noble ship went down :
But one was saved from the ghostly wreck ; the rest were left to drown.
We steered by a little light, he said, till we saw it sink from Tlew :
If they'd only left that Ught all night, my mates might have been here too.'*
Our light also should shine brightly. The lantern in the light-house is 90
constructed that none of the rays of light are lost. By a beautiful scientific
arrangement of glass the rays are all thrown on one point, with the result that
a bright light is thrown out on the sea. The larger of the Buddonness lighta
can be seen fifteen miles away, and the light-house keeper said it has been seen
at a much greater distance. But if the lantern is to shine brightly everything
about it must be clean. And, indeed, this was one of the things which most
impressed us in visiting the light-house. Inside and outside it is marked by
cleanliness. The light-house keeper is bound by rule to see to this particolarly.
We, too, should let our Christian light shine brightly. The darkness which
gathers around many a voyager to eternity is intense. The surroundings of
many are very cheerless, and they are drifting they know not whither. They
need all the help we can give them ; and if we let light flash across their path
we may arouse and interest and save them. But if our light is to shine
brightly, we, too, must be careful to be pure, pure in thought, word, feeling
and action. Many mar their religion by a hasty, sour, or dour temper ; by
teasing, bad language, and a bad life. Guard against everything which would
hide or mar religion in you.
Then our light ia meant to shine steadily. The light spoken of in the coo-
text is a candle, or fixed light. But all light-house lights are not of thia
character. The light in the Bell Rock light-house is a revolving one, visible
every forty-five seconds, and is alternately white and red. The light-ship at
the mouth of the river Tay exhibits a flash light ; while a splendid four-flash
light may be seen on the May island in clear weather at a great distance.
The Christian light of some people is like the latter. You only get it in
flashes. For a time their Christianity seems to go out. However useful and
necessary flash lights may be on the sea to let the mariner distinguish one
light from another, our Christian light should be different ; it should be a
fixed steady shining in the darkness. Let your light so shine before others.
Moreover, we are to let our light shine fearles^y tmd courageously, No
light- house keeper Is ever alarmed by the light he casts out on the sea. He
never thinks he will injure the sailor by the brightness of his light. He says,
the brighter the better. It should be the same with us. Let us not think we
will hurt any with the brightness of our Christian light. The light-bouse is
PAGES FOR THE YOUNG. 831
not A curse, but a blessing in the darkness. So is it with Christian light.
Besides, the keeper of the light-house, so far from^being ashamed of his lights
(flories in U, He feels he is helping others — giving them the feeling of safety,
cheering their hearts, and gladdening their lives. He has his reward in the
lives he saves, brightens, and helpe. No more should we be ashamed of our
religion. A poor boy named Willie, fourteen years of age, gave his heart to
Christ. He felt he must do something for his Saviour. He began to sell
tracts and Bibles. One morning he called at a farm-house. The farmer
refused to buy. Willie then asked pennission to leave one. "You can't
leave one in my house,*' said the farmer; **if you leave it at all, the bam is the
only place that's fit for it," expecting to drive Willie o£f by his wicked words.
'* All right," said Willie cheerily, thankful to be allowed to leave it within
reach of the household ; " our Saviour once lay in a manger, and that will be
a very good place for it." So he carried it to the bam, and with a prayer that
it might be read, he went on his way. The farmer, impressed by Willie's
gentle and courageous words, wondered what the Bible had to say about.
Christ in a manger, until he went out and began to read the book. That
reading led to his conversion, and his conversion led his family to seek and
find the Saviour. Here was a boy who was not ashamed of his light. Let
yonr light so shine before others.
One other thought, and that is, our personal responnbUity in the matter.
Let your light so shine. Not some other person's, but your own. That the
men in the Bell Rock light-house keep their light burning will not free the
men on board the light jship of all responsibility to flash their light. Nor may
the men in charge of the Buddonness lights say, the light of the light ship is
flashing, we need not trouble ourselves about our's burning. Each is bound
to have the shining in his own light-house as if there was no other. It is the
same with us. Further, the light-house keeper can never tell how many lives
he has saved, and brightened, and cheered by the light he casts on the sea.
But many a sailor's heart blesses him for his care. We, too, are as unable to
tell all the good we may do by our light. But may we not have our reward
in the thought that we are helping to save and gladden others T Girls and
boys, have light, and let your light appear to bless the needy.
TOTAL ABSTINENCE.
Across a valley a huge stone wall of great thickness was built. Behind the^
wall an enormous mound of earth was placed. The streams of the valley were
thus stopped, and a lake formed from which the villages and towns further
down were supplied with water. Near the mound a house was built and in
the house lived a man whose duty was to prevent too much water collecting in
the reservoir, as well as to make sure that the proper supply was allowed to
pass. It was also his duty to examine the mound frequently to see that it was
safe. One day he saw a drop of water oozing gently from the wall, then an-
other, and another— drip — drip — drip, but so slowly did they come, and so
small they were, he merely looked at them and passed on, forgetting he had
seen them. Some days later he passed, and saw the drops once more, but they
were coming fastdr this time. He looked again, and again he passed on.
Once more he came and found that a tiny stream was escaping from the wall^
but it was so thin and harmless-looking — ^not much thicker than a hair — ^that.
832 PAGES FOR THE YOUNG.
he again passed on. He noticed, however, that it was daily becoming larger,
and ho called one or two of the managers of the reservoir to examine it. They
looked at the tiny stream and then at the huge wall from which it came, and
at the great mound of earth which seemed so secure, and they laughingly said«
** Oh, that's nothing— a mere trifle ; it can do no harm," and they went their
way. The flow of water continued till it became like a brooklet. It became
muddier and carried with it earth and stones. The managers were called.
They said they would send men in a day or two. Before the day or two passed
they were again called. They speedily sent for workmen, but it was too lat^^
for human effort now. As night approached every nerve was strained to stop
that swift current, but it gained upon them rapidly, and as night fell a cry
was heard, "A horse! A horse!" Swiftly down the valley the horseman flew,
and swiftly flew the message : *' To the heights at once or you are lost; '* but
Bwifter than the horseman's flight and swifter than the warning voice
followed the foaming torrent. The rampart heaved ; the waters, with a roar
like thunder, broke through the gap and in their headlong course carried
nusery and ruin before them. The smiling fields were a waste of muddy slime;
the huts of the poor, the mansions of the rich, villages and towns were swept
of their inhabitants by that terrible rush of water. The country was filled
with lamentation and weeping over happy homesteads rendered desolate by
the all-devouring flood. The ruin and misery could not be reckoned up — they
were so great. All might have been avoided if the watchman and the
managers had paid more heed to the drip, drip, drip of the water at the
beginning. A handful of earth might have stopped it then.
A flood more terrible than that in the American valley is sweeping over our
land, carrying with it ruin and misery. It is not men*s bodies but their im-
mortal souls it is carrying away. Its victintis are more in number than those
hurried into eternity by Uie water of the reservoir. Ministers from the pulpit,
members from the pew, the old, the young, the rich, the poor, are being
swept away by its resistless current. Its victims are everywhere. We be-
come sad as we listen to the plaintive songs that remind us of the ghastly
throng of dead that lay around our Kitag on Flodden Field ; but this current
sweeps away, every year, more manly strength and beauty than lay, statk
and stiff, around the King on that memorable day. We shudder as we read
of the Great Plague, and how the people fled from London, in mortal fear, to
escape its ravages ; but this tide is not confined to one city — it sweeps over a
whole country, leaving desolation in its train. Our hearts bum hot within us
as we think of the carelessness that left our soldiers l3ring for many a weary
day dying of cold and hunger in the trenches before Sebastopql ; but this
flood leaves behind it more famine and misery than many Sebastopols. You
know, boys and girls, that a great flood of intemperance is continually sweep-
ing over our land in spite of all that can be done to stem its currant. I have
told you of the death it brhigs, but it is not the drunkards only who die. In
one limited district in Scotland, and within the shoit space of four ^eeks,
there were recently no fewer than seven violent deaths through strong drink.
Strong drink fills our jails, our poorhouses, our ragged schools. Children
who might be happy and comfortable like you, are starved and poorly clad
that their parents may get a little more drink. Besides the misery yon can
see there is the misery you cannot see. If you only kxiew how many sad
hearts it makes — how many happy homes it renders miserable — you would
tremble for the safety of your own. There are men going about the world to*
THE MISSION FIELD. 833
day doing their work with smiling facee while their hearts are breaking, be-
cause wife or daughter is a drunkard. There are mothers and wives who
seem to you bright and cheerful, but who weary to be left alone that they
may shed many bitter tears because husband or son has become intemperate.
And there are little boys and girls who wonder why sometimes in the evenings,
when they say, " Mother, where is father 7 " she turns away her face with a
quivering lip, but does not speak.
Npw, boys and girls, what are you going to do to save yourselves and others
from this awful danger ? Pray constantly that God may give yon grace to
keep you from falling. But prayer is not all. What do you mean to do? Do
you mean to do nothing ? Do you think you are quite safe ? Or that you are
too young to think about doing anything ? The drunkards you see around you
once thought theoiselves as safe as you think yourselves to be ; and what is
stranger still, if you were to tell them to-day that they are drunkards you
would hardly get them to believe you. Many plans have been tried to save
men and women from falling into intemperance. But the best plan — the only
sure one, I think, is what is called total abstinence. That just means that
you are never to take drink at alL Refuse to taste it. Begih where the
watchman should have begun. Begin with the little drops. If you never take
drink you will never become a drunkard. That is as plain as daylight. If
you never taste it you will never like it. If you do begin to take it you
may begin to like it, and as the days roU on you will find it more and more
ditficult to stop. Then, like the watchman at the reservoir, you may find
when it is too late that your bad habit has obtained the mastery. The
ministers and elders of our church have agreed to do all they can to help you,
and if any of them ask you, some day soon, to become a total abstainer, you
will be ready with your answer, will you not ? If you become a total ab-
stainer you will be glad of it all your days. I have never heard any one say
he was sorry he had been an abstainer, but many are the men and women who
have earnestly wished they had never allowed a single drop to cross their lips.
CENTRAL PROVINCES OF INDIA.
Thb map which is found on the opposite page was prepared for Dr.
^ieorge Smith's most interesting and instructive life of Stephen
Hislop^ the pioneer missionary in the Central Provinces of India. By
his kind permission and that of the publishers, Thomas Nelson & Sous,
it appears in our pages. It conveys an excellent idea of the situation
of our mission in that populous and needy district. If you examine
the map you will easily discover Seoni, and the scale attached to it
will help you to understand its distance from Chindwara on the west,
where there is a mission station, and from Nagpoor and Bhandara on
the south, where the Free Church has well-equipped mission stations.
At these places are found our misBionary's nearest neighbours and
fellow-workera in the gigantic ta»k of evangelising this heathen land.
What a wide field has thus been opened to us, that we might enter
in and take possession of it for Christ. Our missionaries, time after
31
X
THE MISSION FIELD. 835
time, have given us glimpses of the people who inhabit it, their
appearance, their homes, their mode of life, their snperstitions. It is
a solemn thought for us that since God in His providence has opened
the door into this vast field and has asked us to enter in, we are
responsible for the progress of the Gospel among these people. Have
we realised this as we should have done, and all taken our share in
the work by constantly remembering it in earnest prayer 1 If the map
would but serve to bring the district clearly before our minds, and to
impress upon us its needs, and our responsibility in relation to them,
it would do a good work. It finds a place here just that it may
thus deepen our interest in Seoni and surrounding district, where Mr.
Finlayson, at present single-handed, is endeavouring to maintain our
various mission schemes in operation. It is unfortunate that our
agents, time after time, have had to return home, just when they
were getting into the work, acquiring facility to speak the language
and beginning to understand the people. A glance at the map will
enable us to trace the way they have come and gone — by the railway
from Bombay, which appears at the extreme west of the map at
Bhusawal, and travels along by Akola, Amraoti, Wardha, and
Nagpoor, and then from this point to Kampti, where they left the
railway and took the ox- waggon to Seoni. The present railway from
Bombay to Calcutta strikes off at Bhusawal and goes away to the
north-east, but soon the route by Nagpoor and on past Bhandara and
Raipoor, which is shorter, will be completed and opened. It is at
Nagpoor that Mr. Whitton, who has always taken the deepest interest
in our mission, and who addressed our Synod a few years ago, carries
on his labours in connection with the Free Church. He has recently
been taking part in the founding of a new medical mission at
Wardha> where Dr. Dugald Revie has commenced operations.
OUR FOREIGN MISSION.
It was intimated at last meeting of Synod that Mr. Blakely had been
under the necessity of tendering his resignation on the ground of the
state of Mrs. Blakely's health. The reason assigned for Mr. Blakely
quitting the foreign field so soon after going out to India was such
that the Synod, with very deep regret, accepted the resignation, and
permitted him to return home in September if he could not prolong
his stay. Accordingly Mr. and Mrs. Blakely left Seoni on the 20ch
August^ somewhat earlier than they intended, and sailed in the
Anchor Liner " Armenia " to Marseilles. The passage was not the
8^6 THE MISSION FIELD.
most pleasant ; but through favour of Divine providence it was ae-
oomplished in safety ; and, after spending a few days in England^
they reached home and were warmly welcomed by their friends.
At a meeting of the Foreign Mission Committee, held on the 21 at
October, Mr. Blakely attended and gave a lucid description of our
Mission Station, and interesting details concerning the converts, the
schools and the Orphanage. By means of a map of the Seoni district,
he enabled the members to understand more distinctly the extent of
the territory which requires to be evangelised, the immense number
of villages with which the district for many miles around Seoni is
studded, and the need for aggressive work so as to reach the many
thousands of people resident there with the light of the Gospel. A sight
of that map with its hundreds of towns and villages, peopled with their
thousands of inhabitants, and having our Mission located in the centre
as the only Christian agency at work to spread the knowledge of
Christ, may well lead to sad and solemn reflection ; for, notwithstand-
ing all we can possibly do, there will still be multitudes who cannot
be reached with the Gospel, and who are perishing in their sins.
Before Mr. Blakely left Seoni, he was successful in obtaining a
new head-master for the Boys' School. This man is a Eurasian, who
had been employed in a similar position in Jubbulpore, and has
acquired considerable experience as a teacher. In August, Mr.
Finlayson writes concerning him and his wife in the following
terms : — " Since Mr. 0*Donell came among us he has won our love.
He is so unassuming, and kind, and gentle. He is, moreover,
thoroughly conversant with the school system of India, and a good
teacher. Under his guidance I have no doubt but that the School
will prosper." Then, a month later, Mr. Finlayson says: — ''Since
Mr. and Mrs. Blakely left, matters in the compound have been going
on pretty smoothly. The girls especially feel the want of Mrs.
Blakely, and so does the Catechist's wife. Mr. and Mrs. O'Donell,
however, have come to live in the Bungalow until their house is
ready for them. The former is working very hard, is very popidar
among the boys, and is in every way all that could be desired. He
relieves my mind very much of educational troubles and anxieties.
He is a decided Christian, and is a great acquisition to the Mission.
Mrs. O'Donell is taking a great interest in the girls, and in the Girls'
School, almost filling the place Mrs. Blakely vacated. She takes the
girls over to the Bungalow every evening, and Caches them English,
sewing, knitting, 6ic, On Sabbath, she teaches Bible lessons in the
afternoon, taking the boys along with the girls. I am very much in-
debted to her for her kindness at this juncture in the Mission. It is
-7ery fortunate that she should be here just now, and that she should
LITERATURE. 837
do as she is doing without solicitation. I cannot but see the hand of
God in it."
Among the changes recently transpiring in connection with our
Orphanage, it may be mentioned that James Smellie and his wife
have gone to reside at Raipoor. Andrew Thomson and Adam Rettie
have been sent to Poena to learn the printing trade. They will be
under the care of the Rev. Mr. Small of the Free Church Mission,
and will have the best possible training. Philip Grordon has gone
to study medicine with Dr. Revie of the Free Church Mission at
Wardha. The last little boy admitted to the Orphanage has been
adopted by Messrs. J. k A. Wallace — Mr. Blakely's brothers-in-law^
and at his baptism received the name of James Alexander Wallace.
John Moses, our excellent Catechist, is actively employed in visiting
village fairs and the Town's Bazaar, and speaking to his fellow-
countrymen about the Saviour, whom he has found to be so precious.
Nathu Dds is still busily engaged teaching in the village of Bandole.
There are from 40 to 50 boys enrolled as scholars ; but some attend
very irregularly. When the work of the school is over, the teacher
spends much of his time in visiting the villagers, and speaking to
them about the salvation of their souls. He is reported to be a
thoroughly devoted and intelligent man — a decided acquisition to
our staflf of workers. Zenana work is meanwhile suspended ; but the
Committee will consider very soon what arrangements can be made
for resuming this most important hranch of mission work.
We are not without proof that our Mission in India is being re-
membered by kind and sympathising friends far and near. It is a
cheering sign when the great Lord of the harvest inclines Christian
men and women to contribute of their substance for carrying on His
work in Central India. Let us have more faith in God ; and let us
abound in prayer, so that good fruit may result from all the labours
put forth among old and young in that necessitous district where our
Mission has been planted, and where a banner for the truth has
been for a number of years displayed.
ICiterature.
Thb Bible has been put into many a furnace, and has come scatheless
through them all. In its history we find one of the strongest and
most convincing proofs of its Divine supernatural character. No
book merely human could have survived the attacks to which it has.
been subjected — could have come out of the searching and too often
hostile. investigation of which it has been the object, with its glory
338 LITERATURE.
untarnished. Its real character is being made the subject of con-
troversy at the present time ; but we need have no fear as to the
ultimate issue. Against those who call in questiou its being an in-
fallible record of a supernatural revelation, and who explain away tbe
outstanding doctrines exhibited in it, Dr. Bobert Watts of Belfast takes
up his pen in the volume now before us, Thk Nbw Apologbtic, or
THE Down-Grade in CRITICISM, Theology, AND SciBNCE (Edinburgh :
T. <fe T. Clark, George Street. 1890). It is a collection of papers,
produced by the author from time to time, to point out the false
principles underlying the positions advanced by those who have been
advocating a reconstruction of our Keformatiou theology. They are
all characterised by clear thought on the different subjects taken up,
marching analysis of the positions adopted by his opponents, laying
bare the ultimate principles on which they rest, and exact and
vigorous reasoniug. The main central topic iu the first six chapters
is the Inspiration of Scripture. He maintains against the advocates
of the New Apologetic the full verbal inspiration of the Bible record,
and its absolute inerrancy as it came from the hands of its Divine
author. He first shows that these advocates can find no sanction
for their views in the writings of Calvin, or in the Westminster Con-
fession, to which they have appealed. In neither is the inspiration
ascribed to Scripture confined to its substance and abstracted froui
its form. He then takes up the testimony which the Bible bears to
its own character — the claim which it makes for itself — and con-
tends that it claims for the record as well as the revelation, for the
form as well as the substance, the fullest inspiration. Here we have
a masterly induction of Scripture, and a vigorous exposition of its
teaching. The logical issue of dissociating inspiration from the form
— so as to allow mistakes and inaccuracies — and confining it to the
substance is pointed out in the treatment to which Spinoza, who
adopted this distinction, subjected the Scriptures.
The refuge which the advocates of the new theory seek in the
testimony of the Holy Spirit in believers, guarding them against the
mistakes that may occur in the divine record, and guiding them into
a knowledge of the revelation really given, is also shown to be unten-
able. Placed at the bar of reason and Scripture alike, it is found
wanting. It is not reasonable to believe 'Hhat the Spirit of God,
because of the fallible frailty of the inspired writers, could not
produce an absolutely infallible record," and at the same time believe
*' that He can instruct uninspired men infallibly through this same
fallible revelation." And Scripture nowhere states it as part of the
mission of the Spirit — as part of the object of the illumination which,
he brings to believers — to correct mistakes in the external revelation.
** The process, i.e., of illumination, is indeed correctional, but the
subject of the correction is the sinner, who, apart from this divine
illumination, can neither receive nor know the things of the Spirit.
Wherever this function of the Holy Spirit is referred to in the Scrip-
ture, the subject of it is the sinner, and never the objective revelation.
It i^not what the Scriptures teach about the Kingdom of God which
needs to be recast in order to attract the minds of men, but it is the
LITERATURE. 839
sinuer himself who needs to be bom again before he can see it or
enter it."
The way in which Dr. Watts deals with the Down-grade in Criti-
cism may be taken as a sample of the way in which, in subsequent
chapters, he deals with the Down-grade in Theology — in which Dr.
Dods' St. Gile's Sermon, and the views of Barnes and Bushnell on
the Atonement, are subjected to a vigorous criticism — and in Science,
in ^hich the bearing of evolution on present problems is examined.
The subject of the too brief memoir found in th^ volume we next
take up would be classed by Dr. Watts among his opponents.
Pbofessob W. G. Elmslis, D.D., Memoir and Sermons. Edited by
W. Eobertson Nicoll, M.A., LL.D., and A. N. Macnicol. (London :
Hodder & Stoughton. 1890). Although he never publicly expressed
his views on the critical questions that have been raised in connection
with the Old Testament, it is plain that his sympathies were with
those who are seeking to reconstruct Bible history. It is said here,
however, on this very matter, that he was " exceedingly sceptical as
to the finality of the critical verdicts generally accepted at present.
He believed that the analysis would be carried much further.'' But
apart from this, his life, as sketched for us in these pages, is one that
is very stimulating.
He was a son of the manse, having been born in the Free Church
roanse of Insch, Aberdeenshire, on October 5th, 1848. The atmo-
sphere surrounding him as he grew up was that of the sturdy evange-
licalism of which the Disruption was one of the outcomes. A deep
genuine piety pervaded his home and the circle in which his parents
moved. Under such influences he, like Timothy, became a Christian
almost unconsciously, without any such crisis as that through which
many pass. When a mere boy the duty of conducting family wor-
ship fell upon him in the absence of his parents, and he writes to
them thus about it : *' It required a great deal of previous thought
and prayer, too, for I have found that is useful, and not study only,
in preparing for the service of God. Yet, I have good cause to be
glad and thankful that I am able to do it ; and I feel it a real relief
and privilege to commit all to the care of God." The intellectual
life of the manses in that Aberdeenshire district was of a high order.
From three of them about the same time came three young men,
who have gained a world-wide fame. Professor Eobertson Smith from
Keig; A. M. Mackay of Uganda, from Rhynie; and from Insch, Pro-
fessor Elmslie. The educational equipment of the neighbourhood
was also very good, the teachers being men who loved their work,
and who took great pains with any promising pupil. After passing
through the Free Church School and the Parish School at Insch,
young Elmslie came to the Aberdeen Grammar School, where he was
two years under the Kev. William Barrack, a teacher of rare attain-
ments and enthusiasm. In 1864, and so in his sixteenth year, he
was enrolled among the students at the Abei*deen University, and
though among his fellow-students there was an unusual proportion of
brilliant men, he, by dint of steady application aud perseverance,
840 LITERATURE.
made his way to the front. He dosed bis brilliant University career
by carrying off the gold medal awarded by the Aberdeen Town
Council to the first student of the year in April, 1868. The intense
application^ however, told upon his health. *^ From the first his
studies brought on some occasional headaches, and the first triumph
resulted in a serious illness, which his wise and skilful physician, I>r.
Davidson of Wartle, warned him would reappear twenty years later
— an ominous prophecy which was but too exactly fulfilled." Along
with .his earnest pursuit of learning, he was over-brimming with
innocent fun, in which his bright joyous nature found an outlet. He
carried both with him — his habits of application and his overflowing
humour — to the Free Church College, Edinburgh, where he under-
went his theological discipline. He maintained here the same place
that he had done at the Aberdeen University, and in the end won, in
a very brilliant way, a scholarship which euabled him to pursue his
studies in Germany. While a student at the New College, Edin-
burgh, he threw himself heart and soul into mission work, and
achieved great success in teaching the ragged neglected children in
some of the worst parts of the city. Shortly after his studies were
completed, in the autumn of 1873, he came to London as assistant
in Regent Square Church. There, and then as minister of Willesden
Presbyterian Church, and latterly as Tutor and Professor of Hebrew
in the Presbyterian College, London, he spent the remaining years of
life. Latterly, they became years of crowded life, for his popu>
larity as a preacher made him in great demand, and his conspicuous
ability as a literary man involved him in many undertakings which
greatly taxed his strength. It was indeed overtaxed, and when disease
fastened itself upon him in the shape of typhoid fever at the end of
last year, he had not strength to resist it. £ven in the unconscious
wanderings of his last hours the master-passion of his life asserted
itiself. Sometimes he would fancy himself in his class-room teaching
Hebrew, and urging the students to put heart into their work. Over
and over he spoke to his wife of what had been the leading thought
of his teaching. Lifting his hand he would say with great earnest-
ness, " No man can deny that I always preached the love of GodL
That was right. I am glad that I did not puzzle poor sorrowful
humanity with abstruse doctrines, but always tried to win them to
Christ by preaching a God of love.'' The sermons and addresses
that, with the memoir, make up the volume, confirm this his own
estimate of his style of preaching. They are not doctrinal but
practical, showing the bearing of truth upon man's daily duties and
wants. The sterner aspects of truth, though not altogether lost sfght
of, receive no prominence. They leave upon one the same impression
which the very imperfect biography does, that Elmslie was a man in
deep sympathy with the struggles of his fellows, and was anxiotis to
bring to them the strength that comes with faith in a living personal
Saviour — the strength by which he himself had overcome.
1
ECCLESIASTICAL INTELLIGENCE* 84 1
SccIestjEifitical Intelligence.
Glasgow, Bridg£TON. — The Home Circle of this congregation was opened for
its 7th session on Tuesday evening, 14th October. Mr. Matthew, Mair presided.
The meeting having been opened with praise and prayer, the Chairman intro-
duced the Rev. J. M'Kay, Hon. President of the Aasocation, who delivered
an able and instructive lecture on " The Solemn League and Covenant." In
his introduction the lecturer referred to the state of the three kingdoms, and
related the causes which led up to the signing of the Covenant. The Bond, as
subscribed by the various parties, was read over, and testimony quoted from
Dr. Hetherington and Mr. Martin, Strathmiglo, as to the genuine principles it
contained. Reasons were given why Seceders hold the Solemn League and
Covenant and the National Covenant to be still binding. It was also pointed
out that the principles of Covenanting was the only efifectual means of resisting
Popery. Popery had nowhere been cowed as in the land of the Covenant.
Mr. James Conn, in a very able way, proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. M'Kay,
which was seconded by Mr. James Robertson and heartily agreed to. Air.
John Allan drew the attention of the audience to the splendid syllabus the
Committee had got up, and called upon all to attend the meetings. A most
enjoyable evening was spent, and brought to a close by the benediction.
PRESENTATION TO THE REV. A. SMELUE, M.A., STRANRAER.
Ok the evening of Friday, Oct 3d, the New Town Hall at Stranraer was the
scene of a most interesting gathering. The Original Secession congregation
and friends, to the number of 400, met for the purpose of giving to Mr. Smellie,
their able and esteemed pastor, a tangible expression of their regard and affec-
tion. The movement thus so happily consummated was begun after Mr.
Smellie had elected to remain with his attached flock notwithstanding the
attraction of a city charge which had been offered to him. Subscriptions
flowed in from all quarters, and after a few weeks the Committee, who had
charge of the matter, had a very substantial sum on hand wliich they resolved
to dispose of by presenting their pastor with 1 10 sovereigns and a solid silver
salver.
Mr. Rankine of Aird worthily occupied the chair on the occasion^ and
beside him on the. platform were the Rev. Mr. Smellie and the Rev. Messrs
Martin, Smith, and Johnston, Stranraer; Robertson, Ayr; Hobart, Carluke
Provost M'Gibbon, Stranraer; Councillor Crawford, Stranraer; and Messrs
Cameron, banker; Thorborn, wood merchant; Gordon, solicitor; Jeffrey, solici
tor; M'Lelland; Balyet; McCartney, Inland Revenue officer; Ross, County
Buildings, &c. Letters of apology were received from the Rev. Messrs. Stur
rock, Edinburgh; Spiers, Darvel; Struthers, Greenock; Muirhead, Stranraer
Duff VVatson, Insch, &c. After tea, the Chairman made a very happy speech
referring to the occasion of their gathering and the circumstances of the con
gregation. After the Rev. Mr. Martin had spoken, he called upon Mr. J. M
Gordon to make the presentation, which he did in a very able speech, referring
to Mr. Smellie's labours and influence in the congregation and in the com
inunity, and the high esteem in which he is universally held.
842 ECCLESIASTICAL INTELLIGENCE.
The salver is of solid silver, of chaste design, and bears the following
insoription : —
Presented, with a Puree of 110 Sovereigns,
to the
Rsv. Alxxawdbr Smsllzx, M.A.,
bj Members of
Stmnraer Original Seoeesion Congregation and Friends,
in appreciation of his
Great faithfulness as a Minister
and his
SeU-denylng labours in every good cause.
Prov. xxli. 4.
Stranraer, Srd October, 1890.
Mr. Smellie made a most feeling and impressive reply, and in the coui^e
of his remarks said : *' I can only thank you a thousand times over. It is tesi
years now and more since my ministry in Stranraer began. There are certain
thoughts which that fact awakens in me. First and foremost there are thoaghts
of gratitude. I am thankful, I trust, to Grod to-night that He has led and
guided me so far. His mercies have been new to me every morning, from
January to December, through all these years — the pity is that olten I have
not observed and acknowledged them as I should. And I am thankful to yoa
for the unfailing courtesy which you have shown roe, and for the abundant help
which I have had from you in numberless ways — ^to those of you who are more
closely connected with my own congregation, and to the friends in otiier con-
gregations who have dealt with me just as kindly as my own have. When I look
back to my ordination day and remember how I came among yoa, ignorant o'
much that a minister of Christ ought to know, and by no means thoronghly
furnished unto every good work, I can only marvel at the way in which yon
have borne with me. These years have had their troubles and griefs, no donbt.
There have been moments of anxiety in them, and moments of pain. The ro&d
has sometimes run in the darkness as well as in the light. Even for those
seasons and experiences I am sure that I ought to give thanks. It is good for
the Pilgrim to face the Slough of Desx>ond and the Hill Difficulty and the
Valley of Humiliation as well as to rest in the House Beautiful, with its
chamber called Peace whieh looketh toward the sun rising. But the bright
days have been far in excess of the dark ones, the pleasures have immensely
outweighed the pains. And I owe all this, first to God, whose name I have
proved to be Love, and then to you, who have been bo patient and
gentle, so willing to advise and assist, so full of mercy and of good fruits.
My first thought is one of gratitude. But on an occasion like this there
cannot but be thoughts of regret as well. When I look back on those past
years, I can see so much that has been left undone and so much that has been
done wrongly, golden opportunities that have been missed, foolish and hurtful
mistakes that have been made. I can see that €rod gave me many chances of
speaking and working for Him of which I have not availed myself. I can see
that there might have been many jewels in my crown to-day that will never
flash in it now at all. That is a conviction which must humble and sadden
me. I read the other day, for the second or third time, a- most powerful and
earching sermon, one of the University sermons of the late Canon Mozley, an
the reversal of human judgments — on how in the end some of those whom meo
counted among the first will have to take their places among the last in Christ's
kingdom, if they are permitted indeed to cross its threshold and to taste its
joys. I do not know any sermon which goes to my conscience and heart like
a sharp knife as that one does ; I always feel as if it were meant for me. Yoa
have spoken of me so warmly, you have treated me so generously— you always
OBITUARY. 843
do. Bat God, I know, intended me, when He sent me here, to be a more
faithful servant, a braver soldier, a truer copy of Christ His Son, than I have
been ; perhaps He puts last the man whom you are honouring with your kind-
ness. At any rate there are regrets which will come to-night, like guests who
have not been bidden to our feast. Yet these cannot be my last thoughts.
This is a time — is it not ? — for courage and hope, for making a new start, for
forgetting what is behind and reaching forth to what is before. You and I
must leave the failures of yesterday, its incompleteness, its unfaithfulness,
its folly, its sin — leave them to the mercy of God in Christ. To look back for
warning is wise, but to brood over the past until we despond is wrong. Yes,
and we must leave the successes of yesterday, whatever these may have been.
Many a man is mastered and limited by his successes, he falls a victim to
them, he never gets beyond them. The musiciau once struck an original
chord, but it has not been a lost chord since ; you hear it through all his
singing and all his playing. The preacher in a happy moment said a great
truth, but it looks as if he had hardly been able to see anything else ever
afterwards. It is a bad thing, a benumbing thing, to think too much about
the past. We must look up ; we must toil on ; we must press forward. So I
hope that this will be a kind of fresh spiritual birthday for you and me. I
hope that, from this evening on, we shall so run that we may obtain. I do
want to be more and more Christ's servant and your helper in that life which
Christ would have us live. I do want to be a true brother and friend to all of
you — the children, the young men and' women, the older people, the little
company of Seceders, and that larger company outside who do not seem to
understand the glory and privilege of being Seceders. I think I can say with
Samuel Rutherford that ** my heaven will be two heavens " if you are there
along with me. And meanwhile I pray that the God of peace who brought again
from the dead our Lord Jesiui, that great Shepherd of the sheep, may make
you and me perfect in every good work. I thank you with my whole heart."
Interesting speeches were also delivered by Provost M 'Gibbon, Mr. M'Cartney,
Mr. Cameron and the Rev. Messrs. Robertson and Hobart. After the usual
votes of thanks proposed by Messrs. M'Math and Little the memorable meet-
ing was closed with the benediction.
©fiituarg.
At 4 Beechgrove Terrace, Aberdeen, on the 8tb September, 1890, Jamea
Lorimer, sen., aged 76 years.
With reference to Mr. Lorimer's death it was said on the Sabbath follow-
ing : — ^It is a great loss to the Church below when the godly are taken away
and we are deprived of their fellowship, counsels, sympathy and aid in the
Lord's work. We feel our loss very keenly to-day when one of the elders has
been removed by death, and all the more as it follows so soon after the re-
moval of others of our number. We feel that another of the few links that
remained connecting us with the godly of former generations has been broken.
We find from the Session Minutes that the deceased was ordained an elder of
this congregation in the year I860. His piety, prudence, and unassuming
manner, and the fruits of his faith and love, are well known to the members-
of this congregation and to other numerous friends and acquaintances.
But knowing that our loss is his gain, we desire to acquiesce in the Lord's
holy will, and since Jesns Christ is the same yesterday, to-day and for ever,
and since we are appearing for the maintenance and defence of His truth and
u^ > ' • ^
■/ - T
S44 NOTICES.
cause, let us not be faint-hearted nor discouraged. Let as rather close uur
ranks as soldiers do when their comrades fall in battle, and let us stand hat
with one spirit and one mind. We trust that the young and those who arc in
the prime of life will feel their increased responsibility. It now falls to you
to take up and display the banner of truth, when hands that formerly held it
have become cold in death.
But let us all lift up our eyes to the hills whence cometh our ud. Let ua
not trust in man nor make flesh our arms, but in the Lord and seek His
presence and guidance, all-powerful help, and if God be for us who can be
Against us ?
Syllabus of Course 0/ Instruction appticMt to ail Students under the Inspection
of the Synod of United Original Seceders, to be carried into effect by tk^
Presbyteries, by order of the Synod.
L — Students ik Abts.
Between 1st and 2nd Sessions at the University. To be eitamined on Sub-
jects of previous Session's study — M*Crie's Life of Knox, and Luke's^Gkispel iii
Greek, first five chapters.
Between 2nd and 3rd Sessions. To be examined on Subjects studied duriui;
the previous Session — Buchanan's Latin Psalms and Historical part of Testi-
mony.
Between 3rd and 4th Sessions. To be examined on Subjects studied durii.i,'
the previous Session — Confession of Faith, and in Greek, Part of the EpistJe
to the Hebrews.
Those who pass any part of the M.A. examination will be exempted from
examination on the Subjects on which they have passed.
n. — Students of Theoloot.
Between 1st and 2nd Sessions at Hall — Westcott on the Canon ; Blaikie on
the Work of the Ministry ; Fisher's Church History, first three centuries.
Between 2nd and 3rd Sessious — Fairbaim's Hermeneutics ; Fisher's Church
History from the fourth to the twelfth century ; Doctrinal pai*t of Testimony :
Hebrew, first five Psalms ; Greek, Romans 6tli to 12th chapter inclusive ; and
Cunningham's Historical Theology, Vol. L
Between 3rd and 4th Sessions — ^Fisher's Church History from 13th centui-y
to end ; Lindsay's Reformation ; Macpherson's Presbyterianism ; Cunning-
ham's Historical Theology, Vol. II. ; Hebrew, Isaiah 40-53 chapters ; Greek,
New Testament ad. ap.
Students will also require to deliver a Sermon, Lecture, and Homily during
Intersessional studies.
We are pleased to learn from Mr. Ritchie, Paisley, joint-convener of the
Psalmody Committee, that the Selection from the Psalms for Sabbath School-,
Bible Classes, and Evan^^elistic purposes, authorised to be published by the
Synod, will be ready for issue in jN^ovember, at the price of Id. each. Onlen^
are to be sent to
Mb. Robert Robertson,
35 Lutton Place,
Edinburgh.
One hundred. portions have been selected, numbering over 1900 lines. The
type is minion, and the stanzas are all of four lines, so that they wUl be very
distinct for old and young. At the head of each portion the names of two
tunes are put for the guidance of those who may lead the singing. It is hopt^
that the superiuteudeut will try and teach the children the use of these tunes,
{iiid see that they are used for the portions to which they are affixed. The book
is bound in limp -cloth.
We do trust that the different congregations will largely avail themselves
of this selection, now that it has been so carefully piepared^^/^
Jj^C^
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